It’s not lost on Ryan Rogers, director of operations at 1000 Island Airboats, that three of this year’s final four “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin” candidates fell into the category of health and lifesaving equipment. And it was the Marion-made product that ultimately prevailed in Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s annual online competition, boosted to the top by votes from enthusiastic first responders who can attest to the search and rescue vessel’s heritage saving hundreds of lives every year.
Ryan says 1000 Island manufactures about 8 to 10 custom airboats annually for customers ranging from volunteer fire departments and state troopers to ice fishing guides and the U.S. Coast Guard. They offer comfort and transportation utility in non-emergency applications, but more importantly they are typically the best or only way to reach someone facing danger in wintry waters.
“It’s very rewarding; it keeps you going,” Ryan says of his company’s mission.
The boats, which have been significantly upgraded in both amenities and size over the last 20 years but still utilize their original 1993 mold for hull design, are considered the gold standard for traveling in icy waters. Unlike an aluminum airboat you might find in a place like the Florida Everglades, the 1000 Island 24-foot Search and Rescue Airboat has a durable, enclosed hull that can navigate varied and changing conditions including open water, normal ice, deep snow and breaking ice, explains company president Fawn Rogers, Ryan’s mother.
“We’ll often have departments call us, or we find out about different rescue missions and how they went,” says Fawn, adding that it is rewarding when rescue workers discover how powerful 1000 Island’s products truly are. “When they purchase our [boat] and get a rescue, they’ll realize their old airboat could never have done that.”
The company was purchased by the Rogers family in 2007 from Gary and Terry Anderson, who pioneered the innovation 32 years ago in response to tragedy. Named “1000 Island” because of its roots along the St. Lawrence Seaway, Gary Anderson designed the product after he lost a friend who couldn’t be rescued from the icy passage. Before the Rogerses purchased the company and moved it to Wisconsin, it operated in Ontario, Canada along the St. Lawrence River.
But moving operations to Marion has been a positive one from a manufacturing standpoint, Ryan says.
“We don’t have a huge volume of employees, but we do have a lot of companies helping us out — all in Wisconsin,” he says. “I don’t think we realized how lucky we are in this state … that within 50 miles of us I can find multiple suppliers that are happy to help.”
1000 Island customers come from “anywhere the water freezes,” Fawn says, including such far-flung destinations as Bethel, Alaska and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. They are also used as close to home as Green Bay and Lake Winnebago.
The Rogers family had no experience building boats at the time it purchased the company, but Ryan says purchasing 1000 Island has given him confidence in their supply chain and manufacturing capabilities.
“We have learned that, with focus and time, we can build anything we need to build,” he says.
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