Reggie Fountain might have resigned from Fountain Powerboats, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s out of the industry for long.
Although he has nothing set up at this time, Fountain said this morning that his phone has been ringing off the hook with possible opportunities since the news of his departure came out Friday afternoon.
“I love [the industry]. It’s all I’ve done for 30 years,” he told Soundings Trade Only. “If I do start another company, I think I have plenty of work I can do down the road.”
Fountain, who last year filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and saw his company purchased by Liberty Associates, said that although he was initially happy that Liberty bought the company, there were differences of opinion.
“Sometimes when you get to know people better, things don’t work out like [you] thought they would, whether you’re getting married to another person or whether you’re getting into business,” he said. “After a while it became apparent to me that there was a very substantial difference in both philosophy and opinion as to how we should run the business.”
He wouldn’t give specifics, but Fountain said those differences were substantial.
“It was a difference in opinions and philosophies as to how you run the business including, but not limited to, the engineering, the manufacturing, the sales, the marketing and also the financing of the operation,” he said.
John Walker, who was named president and CEO of Fountain, said it was not a shock that the company’s founder resigned, although there was some surprise.
“Typically when you have somebody that owns a company for as long as Reggie has and then you have new management, there’s typically differences in how things should go and we’ve always appreciated Reggie’s position,” Walker told Soundings Trade Only.
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