Walleye fishermen are a lot like Harley Davidson fans, says Pat Kovash. They know what they want – in this case, premium Warrior fishing boats. And they’ll go to impressive lengths to get it.
“It’s a cult,” the outspoken marine dealer says with a smile. “Once someone has had a Warrior boat, he’s not going to settle for anything else.”
That devotion draws customers to Moorhead from far and wide – from as far away as Wisconsin, Canada and Wyoming, as well as across Minnesota and the Dakotas. They’re headed for Kovash Marine on First Avenue and 14th Street North, where 100 boats and trailers crowd the parking lot on any given day of summer.
Their devotion to Warrior boats has helped make Kovash Marine the number-one dealer in the nation … and in only his fourth year as a dealer. “We were number two for two years in a row. This year we made it to the top,” Pat says.
The top-end fiberglass fishing boats are manufactured in Melrose, Minn. Models range from 18 to 21 feet, each customized to fit its new owner’s tastes and dreams. Warrior produces only 120 to 130 carefully crafted units per year, Pat says; together with the other two top dealers, Kovash Marine accounts for sales of half of them. The dealership also handles the moderately priced Skeeter line.
“Warriors are perfectly designed for fishing walleyes,” he explains. “They’re a drier boat with higher windshields. The quality control is unbelievable in terms of fit and finish.”
Selling brand-new watercraft was far from Pat’s mind when he launched the business in Glyndon 13 years ago. A graduate of the recreational engine program at the State College of Science in Wahpeton, he started his career at University Motors. Better pay and year-round work drew him into working on heavy equipment for Krider Equipment and Industrial Builders. He’d run his own part-time small engine repair business out of his garage for the last eight or ten years before, in 2004, he finally took the big leap to self-employment.
“I rented a place in Glyndon to start out,” he remembers. “A few months later, the whole lot was full of boats for winterizing … and I just kept going from there.”
The next year he found his present location, a single-story structure built 70 years ago as a potato warehouse, then used as a bakery thrift store. Today the expanded Kovash Marine occupies about two acres just north of the railroad tracks, including a second 3,000-square-foot addition built two years ago.
Though handsome boats – new and used – are lined up on the lot, Kovash Marine’s roots are deep in service rather than sales. Pat built his reputation on repairing and rebuilding boat motors. That continues to be a key to his business. Not only does he stock a deep inventory of new and rebuilt parts; he and his staff of four mechanics spend their winters remanufacturing engines that they’ll sell the following summer. He also employs three men who work at the parts counter and in boat sales. An average of 65 boats and motors pass through their doors every week.
“That’s enabled us to be a year-round business. I can keep my guys working all winter instead of laying them off,” he points out. “That’s how you keep a great staff.” He also respects their weekends – another rarity in the boat business. “We’re open 7 to 5, Monday through Friday, period,” he says. “We don’t work Saturdays. That’s how you keep good help.” It keeps the owner happy as well. Pat is passionate about fishing and boating, mostly on North Dakota’s Devils Lake.
Pat remembers his father telling him a key to success in business: “Leave it better than you found it.” He’s dedicated himself to that principle on behalf of the city of Moorhead and its business community. He was one of the five business owners who founded the Moorhead Business Association in 2010. Now the longest-serving member of the MBA’s board of directors, he represents the 160-member business association on the city’s Economic Development Authority.
After his single season in Glyndon, Pat moved his business to Moorhead, he says, because “you could actually find a property here that you could afford to start in. And once you’ve gotten going, why would you consider leaving?” Instead, he expanded onto the adjacent corner lot, formerly the site of Aggregate Industries, as part of the city’s establishing a whistle-free zone.
“You might say that Moorhead was going through a kind of rough stretch when I first got here,” he concedes. “But in the last 13 years, we’ve come a long, long way. Now we’ve got to keep the growth going.”
He sums up the gospel that he and the MBA preach: “You can definitely open a business here in Moorhead and succeed.” Kovash Marine is, in fact, one of the prime examples: Its sales and bottom line have grown every single year since he arrived in 2005.
Pat and Joanne, his wife of 23 years, have one daughter, Charlotte, who often helps out at the business. She’s learning the business side of the dealership. “If she’s interested, she can certainly have it someday,” he adds.
As for the future of the boat business, he paints a bright picture. “When the economy is good, the guys who buy these boats want to spend their money on the very best,” he says. “When it dips, we do even more repair business to keep their older boats running.
“Sometimes customers will drive right by two or three competitors to come to us,” he reflects. “I want our customer service and knowledge of the marine industry to be better than they can find anywhere else.”
