Fort Myers, Fla – Offshore Sailing School President and CEO Doris Colgate announced the promotions of Director of Marketing Beth Oliver to Vice President, Director of Sales & Marketing, and Chief Operations Manager Bryce Jackson to Vice President, Director of Operations. Oliver and Jackson will manage company personnel and services on behalf of founder/owners Steve and Doris Colgate, who remain integrally involved in company and community affairs. “For more than 57 years, Steve and I have grown the company, added courses and special events to our offerings, and added boats to our fleet. It’s time to begin the company’s transition to a new era,” Doris Colgate said.
The company also announced the hiring of sales professional and sailor, Paul Klutes, joining the company’s sales team based at its headquarters office in South Fort Myers, Florida. Colgate added, “we resumed full operations in June 2020, after a two-month break due to the pandemic. Our customer levels have more than doubled versus a year ago and our business growth trend is very positive into 2022.” The company continues to seek additional, qualified instructors for its sailing and powerboating faculty, both in Florida and the British Virgin Islands. Likewise, to accommodate unprecedented demand, the company is actively recruiting sail and powerboat owners to place owned boats in the company’s fleet in St. Petersburg, Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach, and Captiva Island, Florida. “Boating and other outdoor activities experienced exponential growth in 2020,” explained Colgate.” The desire to get out on the water and enjoy boating continues to be robust according to the National Marine Manufacturers’ Association (NMMA) which monitors boat sales and markets boating through its Discover Boating outreach.
Offshore Sailing School was founded in 1964 by Olympian, America’s Cup sailor and National Sailing Hall of FameInductee, Steve Colgate. Doris Colgate joined Steve in running the Company in 1969. The school provides a full range of sailing and boating instruction with US Sailing & Powerboating certification – from beginning sailing to racing, advanced cruising, and passage making – at six locations in Florida and the British Virgin Islands. Offshore Sailing School’s philanthropic efforts in the past ten years have generated over $175,000 to help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society find the cures for blood cancers. The company also supports several other charitable, artistic, and community organizations where its employees live, work and play. Visit https://www.offshoresailing.com/.
