From chasing alligators out of their first shop to using artificial intelligence, the crew at Frank & Jimmie’s Propeller has navigated much change during its 78 years in business in Fort Lauderdale.

Started in 1947 on the New River, Frank & Jimmie’s sells and repairs running gear, propellers, shafts, struts and rudders for outboards and now megayachts.

Current owner Jimmie Harrison, 65, has been involved since 1965. As a 6-year-old, he worked the Fort Lauderdale boat show with his father, H.V. “Jimmie” Harrison and business partner, Frank Baron.

Personal connections were everything.

“It was always kind of a bar and grill after work,” he said, when relationships were strengthened while brokers, captains, and marine workers congregated.

Harrison lives and works a mile from where he was born at what is now Broward Health Medical Center and has watched the boating industry grow from those Mom and Pop days.

To succeed, Frank & Jimmie’s refined and became more professional. Now they have a 10,000-square-foot headquarters with seven locations.

“It was never about the money, but when you do this, the money comes,” Harrison said. “What motivates me is when I’m out, in the Bahamas or anywhere, and people remember us with [by saying], “You saved our weekend, thanks.”

As other businesses start and fail, Harrison watches.

“I’ve struggled with growth and keeping things the old way,” he said. “I’m swinging to growth.

He understands it’s a balancing act that entails a watchful eye.

“We wish people wouldn’t move here, but we can’t,” he said. “We just have to be active and engaged in local politics.”

Challenges include head-hunting for welders, painters and mechanics, for other industries and technological changes. The company has integrated artificial intelligence, but propeller work is done by craftsmen who heat and pound the metal.

“AI tells you where to hit the prop to repair it, but it can’t do it for you. We’re in the business of labor,” Harrison said. “In the Amazon age, the appreciation is not there. People want it tomorrow, perfect, and efficient.”

“We’re in the Space Age with computers but in the Stone Age with fire and torches.”
Visit their website at fjprop.com

Communication speaks

Kristina Hebert, 53, has been plugged into the marine electrical industry all her life. Her grandfather, Ward Eshleman, Sr., started Wards Marine Electric, and then her father, Ward Eshleman Jr. took over.

Now, she is president and CEO of the company that offers marine electrical sales, engineering, engraving and production at three locations.

Since 1950, this Fort Lauderdale business has provided service from the days before boats and docks had much by way of electrical systems to today’s clientele of superyachts and U.S. Coast Guard and Navy vessels.

For 75 years, the company has innovated with technology including corrosion surveys, a freestanding switchboard, custom adapters and boosting equipment.

But there have been many changes.

“Ironically, I believe communication is more of a challenge, harder than it used to be,” Hebert said. “In the 1980s we made phone calls and left voicemails. In the 1990s we added fax machines, pagers, push-to-talk phones, and finally, cell phones.”

Today, communication technology and options are endless, yet with so many options, communication is more difficult, she said.

“...It’s keeping the attention span of those you need to communicate with,” Hebert said. “How many conference calls, or Zoom calls, have we all been on, muted, and multi-tasking?”

Fortunately, communicating with vessels anywhere, anytime is easier, she said.

A key to success at Wards is the employees. Three employees are celebrating 40-year anniversaries.

“If you can develop a vision and a culture that promotes growth, change, evolution, and a desire to always learn and improve, with both your business and your employees, then longevity becomes the result,”

Hebert said. “Longevity is infinite with evolution.”

Reflecting, she said she does sometimes miss the “old days.”

“I miss the simplicity of doing business,” she said.

And she wishes people could meet her grandfather, the company founder, and spend time with him.

Visit www.wardsmarine.com.

A local treasure

Sailorman, self-proclaimed “World’s Largest and Most Unique New and Used Marine Emporium” is considered a giant treasure hunt by those who come seeking hard-to-find parts, marine surplus, scratch-and-dent, trade-ins and consignment marine gear.

They have served boaters from Fort Lauderdale since 1975 after Cliff and Maggie Hunt sailed into town seeking space to store their newly acquired Chris Craft parts from the Thunderbird Flea Market. They opened a consignment shop in the location now home to the Hilton on 17th Street.

Today, Heather Valdez, 53, is the general manager. Her father, Chuck Fitzgerald, purchased Sailorman from the Hunts in 1985. The company has grown from a garage to a 10,000-square-foot warehouse.

In 2017, Fitzgerald sold the business and the property, but two days before, the deal changed.

“So, I ended up with a business and no real estate,” Fitzgerald said. “Heather asked if she could give it a try.”

She took the lead and Sailorman expanded again a half mile south on Andrews Avenue. The company has weathered the rise of big-box stores and online marketplaces.

“We used to have clientele that loved to dig through the bins,” Valdez said. “Cruising sailors had a different tolerance. Today, they want fast, clean, and working parts. The clientele has changed.”

Personal touch

“It’s not that the internet hasn’t hurt us, but what keeps us in business is our knowledge,” Valdez said of her diverse and experienced staff.

To know all these parts, you have to be over 75 years old, Valdez said with a laugh.

Usually, employees help shoppers find unique parts and the customer walks out with the part and finishes their boat project, Valdez said.

But today’s online shopping habits can be a challenge.
“When they say, ‘I can buy it at the same price or a little cheaper on Amazon,’ I say, ‘But you’re standing here now and we helped you.’”

Sailorman’s Fitzgerald summed up one key to these longstanding businesses: “...There are people who prefer to buy from a family business.”

Online at www.sailorman.com.