Entrepreneur Lands Government Contract Building Boats
“Hann, who still lives with his family in Destin, was doing well enough in 2001 to order a custom-made 50-foot recreational boat from a Fort Myers company called Maximum Thunder Powerboats. He is a licensed captain and was considering doing charter excursions.
The boat became an obsession, and he often dropped by the company’s headquarters to check on the boat’s progress. But about halfway through construction, work stopped after the company’s leader began having legal problems.
Hann, however, wanted the boat badly enough that he worked with the crew to finish the project in 2003. Shortly after, he said, a photograph of his boat somehow ended up on the Internet. A consultant for the Navy saw it and contacted him: It was the sort of fast-moving small boat the Navy was looking for.
Working with the crew left from Maximum Thunder, Hann said, he applied for and won a contract to build a similar model for the Navy. The boat was delivered in 2004. […]
Blume said it is common for the Navy to make contracts with small businesses, rather than larger boat manufacturers, in part because the military is not looking to buy in bulk. And Hann’s previous experience with the Navy was a plus. […]
‘I love boats, and I’m an entrepreneur,’ Hann said. ‘If I can make money doing it, that’s great.’”