Congratulations to Steve Lochmueller and Sumerset Houseboats

Did everyone see the piece CBS News did on Sumerset Houseboats? It was much too short for anyone wanting to know “the rest of the story”, so I called Steve to ask a few additional questions. I first congratulated him on his newly-acquired star status, and asked how he felt about it. Steve humbly replied, “Well, I won’t complain about it”. Then I wanted to know how CBS chose Sumerset. Steve said, “There was an article in the Christian Science Monitor about Sumerset Houseboats. A CBS Producer was searching for note-worthy stories, and he thought this was something that would be of public interest. CBS then called Sumerset to ask if they could visit, saying they wanted to do a story on houseboating, and find out what houseboating really is. During the CBS news piece, they intereviewed houseboat owners, Roland and Amy Wiggington. Their enthusiasm for owning a Sumerset was quite evident, but CBS failed to mention that this was actually Roland’s 4th (or possibly 5th) Sumerset purchase. To me, that says a lot.
I commented on the brevity of the piece, wondering what Steve may have said that got edited. He said they actually spent about five hours taping, and although he was happy with the piece, he laments the fact that they did not air his answer to the question, “why is houseboating so popular”? Steve answered, “because it brings families together, as does boating in general”. I wanted to know whether they had received orders as a direct result of the newscast. Steve said, “We have had quite a bit of increased internet activity, as well as several international inquiries, but at this point, we don’t know if this is a direct result of the piece or not. We will know more once we have had an opportunity to speak with those who have made inquiries online.” I asked Steve how he came to be in the industry. He said, “I was in the wireless business for many years, and about 4 years ago, actually made a conscious decision to come back to Kentucky. I wanted to buy a manufacturing industry. Sumerset became available due to the fact that they were going through some tough times; they had been for sale, but had not yet sold. My partners and I bid on the company, and were fortunate to purchase a great brand name, an unbelievable facility and most importantly, inherited some exceptional employees. Speaking of employees, Steve mentioned that he had just returned from his Third Annual Sumerset Employee Golf Tournament. I commented that I thought that was an exceptional thing to do for his employees, to which Steve replied, “if it weren’t for them, Sumerset would not be successful”. I was curious, so I asked how many Sumerset employees there are. I was surprised to learn that there are 250! They build an average of 8 houseboats per month, nearly 100 each year. Congratulations again to Sumerset and all their fine employees! www.ummaonline.com

By Jill Gunzenhauser for UMMA Marine Marketing News, Vol. 6, Issue 3