In an abrupt change of plans that has left many Yakima employees surprised, WaterMark announced that it will relocate all of its remaining operations to Portland, Oregon by September 30, 2005. The existing leased Arcata facility will be vacated by year-end. Local papers are reporting that employees arrived at the office this week to see a “for lease” sign in front of the building, alerting them to the coming move. A select number of employees in the additional departments affected by this decision will be offered the opportunity to move to Portland. Other employees will be eligible for standard severance and unemployment benefits.
“Our initial plan was to keep various departments here in Arcata for the foreseeable future,” said Jim Clark, CEO of WaterMark. “Since we announced the move of our headquarters and some of our departments to Portland, the difficult realities of such a transition have become more evident. In addition, our rent at the Arcata facility has risen dramatically. As a result, It is clear that the sooner we have all of the departments operating together as a single team, in a single facility; the better it will be for our business and our customers.”
WaterMark has received much criticism for its pending move from former employees, including Yakimas former owner, Don Banducci (BOSS_0451), who blames the company, not the town, for its recent difficulties.
The company originally said that the move was primarily an effort to attract high-quality talent to the company, but it appears that the controversy is having the opposite effect. Recently, Thule hired Chris Dannewitz, a 15-year Yakima veteran, as V.P. of Business Development. Denewitz wanted to remain in Arcata, so Thule will now have its own office in the town that built Yakima. Additionally, word on the street has a group of former Yakima engineers launching their own design firm to be based in Arcata.
Local Arcata papers are also reporting that Watermark is in discussions to sell its Perception and Dagger businesses. Sources at Confluence, one of Watermarks two largest competitors in the boat market, have told BOSS that the PE firm behind Confluence, American Capital Strategies, has been in discussions with Watermark for two years, but no deal has been made.
>>> It seems that Watermark is preparing Perception and Dagger for a sale, even if Confluence is not ultimately the buyer. Last year, Watermark executives were moved to Arcata from Easley, S.C. Now, as part of the move to Portland, Watermark will move all Watersports team members back to Easley. If Watermark wants “all of the departments operating together as a single team, in a single facility,” then it seems that Perception and Dagger are not part of that team
