Crains New York - August 12, 2013 - (Page 38)
Fishing trips lure business
Continued from Page 37
saltwater fishing is available just a
few miles off the shore of Manhattan,and the Hudson attracts migratory fish that are safe to consume.
“It used to be a novelty, fishing
with the skyline in the background
or by JFK with planes flying directly overhead,but now New York City
has solid fishing, and it’s getting
more well known,” explained John
McMurray, owner and operator of
NYC Fly Fishing, which operates
three charters in and around the city.
With the Clean Water Act and
fisheries in New York instituting
tighter regulations, there has been
a great improvement in terms of
what can be caught.
“It’s no longer like the Wild West
out here, with people fishing things
out of existence. People can catch
some great striped bass, tuna and
flounder right here,” said Mr. McMurray, who has been running fishing charters in the area for 14 years.
The season goes from April to
December or even January, with
some of the largest fish, such as
tuna, swimming in these waters in
the late fall and early winter.
Sandy’s effect
Still, the industry has been running against the current in recent
years. According to the National
Marine Fisheries Service, New
York state had nearly 4.2 million
recreational-angler fishing trips in
2011, either through private charters or party boats or on the shoreline. And while the pastime employed more than 4,100 people and
added more than $212 million to
the state economy in 2011, those
figures were down from the peak of
6.2 million trips and $511 million
in economic impact in 2007, before
the financial crisis.
Add to those woes Superstorm
Sandy, which nearly decimated the
industry last fall. Docks and boats
were destroyed, and debris and oil
were swept into the waterways
miles offshore. Although docks in
some areas still need to be rebuilt,
the water is clear again, and fishing
has mostly come back.
Mr. McMurray said steady fishers kept his business afloat during
the financial crisis, though many
smaller and part-time charter boat
operators went under. He said his
business is just beginning to recover, and is up about 5% from a year
ago, but still well
below where it was
in 2006 and 2007.
John Fisher, the
aptly named manager of Manhattan-based
baitand-tackle shop
Urban Angler, said
that although his
business has fully
recovered
from
Sandy, it still has a
way to go to get to where it was before the financial crisis. He estimated that sales fell about 40%
during the depths of the recession.
Eric Collins, general manager
of Capitol Fishing Tackle Co., also
in Manhattan, reported that his
business is likewise improving and
added that fishing is becoming hip
with a new generation.“We are seeing a lot of first-time fishers come
in here wanting to learn about what
to buy and getting our advice,” he
said. “It seems like it’s becoming
the hot new pastime, particularly
for people in their 20s.”
For Chris Hessert, fishing was a
lifelong passion that became a career. He spent much of his childhood living as an expat in Central
and Latin America, where he
learned to fish in the Amazon and
‘It’s one of
those unique
things clients
remember’
THE FEMALE ANGLE
and sons, but don’t count out women entirely. Juliana’s Anglers, a
Manhattan-based group for women fly-fishers, has been reeling in female
fans of the sport for years.
FISH TALE: The
The group takes its name
women-only
from Dame Juliana Berners, a
Juliana’s Anglers
15th-century prioress and
has more than 40
author of A Treatyse of
members.
Fysshynge Wyth an Angle, the
earliest-known published work
about fly-fishing. More than
40-strong, Juliana’s Anglers
focuses on conservation and
education.
The largest such club in the
city, Juliana’s Anglers has had a
steady membership of 40 to 50 women since its founding in 1995, with
new members quickly replacing those who move away. The group organizes
fly-fishing trips in the New York metro area, including Westchester,
Connecticut and New Jersey, and offers a fishing school every spring for
new members.
Linda Hotchkiss, a principal at Wind Driven Marketing, a sales and
marketing consulting firm, is the president of Juliana’s Anglers. She joined
the group more than 10 years ago and found that angling is a great
stress reliever. “Fly-fishing requires a lot of skill and technique, so the men
in this sport who come across women who fly-fish have a lot of respect for
them,” she said. “We’re on the same footing because it’s really the skills
—JEN GELLER
that matter.”
istockphoto
FISHING MAY BE a time-honored male-bonding tradition between fathers
38 | Crain’s New York Business | August 12, 2013
lakes in the Andes with his father.
After college, he went to work
on Wall Street as an equities trader, but after the dot-com bubble
burst, he decided to start his own
business running saltwater fishing
trips around New York.
With his wife pregnant with
their first child nearly nine years
ago, it wasn’t the ideal time to start
a new business. And the first year
was much harder than he expected.
“I thought it would be so easy,
just advertising on the Internet,” he
said. “But the phone wasn’t ringing.
It was really tough.”
When Mr. Hessert began taking
out old colleagues
and clients, things
started to click.
Word of mouth
spread, and the
business grew from
there. His charter,
Manhattan
Fly,
docks in the Newport Marina in Jersey City and sails in the waters from
the Hudson River to the Atlantic.
Starting from scratch eight
years ago, Mr. Hessert estimated he
now takes out 70 to 90 charters a
season, with weather being the
biggest factor. His numbers have
grown steadily. While repeat customers year after year are the backbone of his business, he has seen
new business grow about 18% each
year for the past several years.
“A lot of what we do is catch and
release, but some [fish] are great to
cook up to eat,” he said.
‘Nice change of pace’
Bryan Donohoe, previously at
Deutsche Bank,said the location of
charters such as Manhattan Fly allows him to fish a lot more than he
ever expected, living here.
“From my apartment in the
West Village, I’m at the boat in,
like, 10 minutes,” he said. “It’s just
a nice change of pace from sitting
at a desk eight or nine hours a day.”
Mr. Donohoe added that he found
fishing a refuge during the height
of the financial crisis.
“I’ve taken some clients out, and
it really is a unique experience for
them,” he said. “So many people go
out in a foursome to play golf. It can
kind of get anonymous after a while.
Fishing is one of those unique
things that clients remember.”
Mr. Prober, the hedge funder,
said the backdrop of New York City
adds to the wow factor. “We had
some guys out here a few weeks
back from Cleveland for work. We
took them out. They were catching
fish and looking right at the Empire
State Building. It was very cool.”
Mr. Hessert, who estimated
that nearly 60% to 70% of his business comes from people who work
on Wall Street, has seen some interesting patterns over the years.
“By the time they are on the boat,
the hard selling is usually done,” he
said.“This is a chance for them to relax and spend time together. Still,
the head honcho almost always
catches the biggest fish.” Ⅲ
SOURCE
LUNCH:
BRIAN GRIFFIN
by Barbara Benson
Bringing the Blues
to new exchange
B
rian Griffin became
president and general
manager of Empire Blue
Cross Blue Shield in
January. The insurer first
recruited him when he was 21 and a
recent college graduate, tapping him
for key Empire labor accounts. Mr.
Griffin’s career includes being part of
the startup team at U.S. Healthcare
and chief executive of Medco’s international business, where he recently
was based in Amsterdam.
The father of three who married
his high school sweetheart is leading
Empire, a unit of national insurer
WellPoint, during some of the most
significant changes in health care in
years.New York state is implementing
the Affordable Care Act, and in October it is launching an insurance marketplace called the New York Health
Benefit Exchange. For the first time,
consumers can shop for insurance on
the small business exchange (known
as the SHOP exchange) or the individual exchange.
What are the challenges of
selling on the new insurance
exchange?
One of the exciting aspects of launching in the
exchange model is to reach
previously uninsured populations. We are switching
from
a
business-tobusiness to a business-toconsumer model. We are
making all the appropriate
investments to capture
market share.
Does that mean you can
market directly to New
Yorkers now?
That’s a significant shift as well.
How do you reach multicultural,
uninsured consumers and explain what
the exchange is about?
It is really a grassroots effort.We have
a Hispanic initiative that accesses
every level of communication—digital, print, phone calls—every way we
touch a consumer. Our initial reach is
into the Hispanic market because of
its size. We just announced a relationship with Univision, leveraging
their communications platform in
TV advertising and print.
What investment did Empire make to sell
on the New York exchange?
A significant one. I can’t share a
budget, but I spend 50% of my time
on ensuring we will be in a position
to succeed. As a Blue Cross Blue
Shield plan, we’re the brand consumers recognize for providers,security,safety and choice.There’s a comfort level consumers have in the
Blues name.We’re uniquely positioned as the trusted
brand in health care, and as
a result will succeed on the
exchange.
WHERE
THEY
DINED
CAPITAL GRILLE
WALL STREET
120 Broadway
(212) 374-1811
www.thecapital
grille.com
AMBIENCE:
Vibrant, a bit
noisy; a pleasant
country-club
decor
WHAT THEY ATE:
Ⅲ Two Capital
Grille Cobb salads
TOTAL: $53.00,
What are your concerns?
There is an amazing
amount of change occurring over a very short period. I feel good from a
readiness perspective, but
there is an enormous challenge in educating New
Yorkers about how to gain
access to the exchange. For
this to be successful, we
need to spend on public
awareness. It is a logistical
challenge to get that
awareness.
We’ve historically marketincluding tip
ed to government, labor
What surprised you most
unions and corporate employers. The significant change is a about your first six months at Empire?
shift to consumers, both on the The level of intense focus on the
SHOP and individual exchanges. launch of the exchange. We are reorWe spent a significant amount of ganizing the entire company around
time on how to reach consumers and the consumer. Transparency, health
be successful in our communica- and wellness, culturally appropriate
tions. It is a population we really had communications—that’s the shift in
health care. That’s the challenge.
little experience with.
How is the marketing different?
We tailor to consumers by providing
information that helps them make
decisions about our products and
services. And on an ongoing basis we
will have conversations about health
information, positioning consumers
to manage their own health care.
After Medco was acquired by Express
Scripts, that meant moving to St. Louis.
Is that one reason why you joined
Empire?
St. Louis is a great city, but I wanted
to stay in New York. I love New York.
My family is here, and my heart is
here. Ⅲ
INSIDE TIP: The regulars at Capital Grille
swear that the lobster mac ’n’ cheese is
worth every calorie.
http://www.thecapitalgrille.com
http://www.thecapitalgrille.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - August 12, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
SMALL BUSINESS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
STEVE HINDY
GREG DAVID
REAL ESTATE DEALS
REPORT: SPORTS BUSINESS
FOR THE RECORD
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS
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