Dream boats: the finest power boats around.

• Author: Skertic, Mark
• Position: Company Profile

A small manufacturer in Decatur is doing something that has eluded some of the country's largest companies.

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler may gnash their teeth and complain publicly that restrictions prevent them from making inroads overseas, but a boat builder about 45 minutes south of Fort Wayne has had tremendous growth in foreign markets.

"Auto companies won't put out a car with right-side steering wheels for Japan. Then they can't understand why they can't sell cars over there," says Rich Roegner, director of international sales for Thunderbird Products. "You've got to be willing to respond."

That willingness has helped the manufacturer of the Formula powerboat increase its share of the foreign market several times over the past half decade. Foreign sales now account for about 35 percent of Thunderbird Products' total sales.

The company currently produces 14 models, ranging in length from 20 feet 6 inches to 41 feet 9 inches. Retail prices start at about $35,000 and reach more than $200,000.

"We employ about 300 here, and people will ask me how many are in our foreign retail market," Roegner says. "It may sound trite, but I tell them 300. That's the kind of attitude you've got to have."

Thunderbird CEO Vic Porter began building and selling fiberglass runabouts in 1958, carving out a niche in the Midwest and Northeast. Duo Inc., as his company was known, was purchased by Starcraft in 1966.

In 1970, Porter joined with five others to found Signa Corp., a company building trihull boats in Decatur. The growing company caught the eye of Fuqua Industries, based in Atlanta. Fuqua bought Signa in 1973, and Porter was named president of the small-boat division.

Three years later, he joined with several family members to purchase Thunderbird Products from Fuqua. According to a corporate history, the decision to consolidate corporate and production headquarters in the Midwest was based on "employee work ethic and integrity factors. A product of such unusual quality requires a dedicated, conscientious work force."

Workers are willing to make the adjustments and alterations that might be necessary for a boat to meet the standards of various foreign governments, Roegner says. That attitude, which extends from the offices to the production lines, has helped Thunderbird capture a share of the market in countries that include England, Germany, Japan and Italy.

Some changes are necessary, such as the type of electrical voltage the boat is designed to...