There’s a lot going on inside the Elmwood Township Marina. There’s even more going on outside the marina, where major road work will have a big impact on boaters looking to use one of the only deepwater launches in the area.

The Ticker connected with Harbormaster Dan Jenuwine to discuss harbor improvements, M-22 construction and more.

Raising the bar

Jenuwine, who brings a diverse downstate business background, was hired last year. He says he’s very eager to raise the bar in terms of customer service at the roughly 175-slip marina, where people pay many thousands of dollars per year for a slip and often wait years to get one (anyone can get a slip there, with township residents making up a small minority).

 “My goal this year – and this is my first full year –  is to really increase the emphasis on our service level from what we did before. Not that we didn't give good service, but 85% of the revenue from the marina comes from those slip holders, and the service level is going to go up five notches for them,” he tells The Ticker. “They pull up here and they got some stuff to go to their boat? Well then we're going to help them carry it. We’re changing (the focus).”

Good service starts with good workers, and to that effect Jenuwine earlier this year asked the township board for big pay boosts for marina staff. Last year, he says, he had a very hard time finding and keeping folks around with pay starting at $16 an hour. The township board agreed to boost pay several dollars an hour across the board, and in addition greenlit a $2 per hour retention policy for employees who hang around.

“I went in and explained to them that we can’t have turnover every single year. We need quality employees because this is a business, and a business is only as good as its employees,” he says. “Now everybody here is making a minimum of $20 an hour.”

Each of those employees is getting an earful from Jenuwine about his overall vision.

“What I'm expressing in my training sessions with our employees this year is my vision is that Elmwood Marina becomes the Augusta of marinas,” he says, referring to the famed Georgia golf club. “I want it to sparkle like Augusta does during the Masters.”

Aside from services, the amenities are also going up a notch with the addition of a 3,200 square foot boater’s building. It’s under construction now and should be done by July. It will include showers, locker rooms, a day room, televisions, internet acccess and much more.

“I ordered the furniture and I came back and told (Township Supervisor) Jeff Shaw that we’re going to have to change the name from Elmwood Marina to Elmwood Yacht Club, because it’s really going to be that nice,” he says. “The boaters are going to love it.”

Construction impacts

Elmwood’s marina isn’t just valued by those who have slips there. Hundreds of additional boaters use it in the spring to launch their boats for the season, and it is strategically important as it’s capable of handling much larger vessels than most other marinas, including Traverse City’s Clinch.

But a massive rebuild of M-22 is underway and will soon cause significant access issues for boaters. Jenuwine opened his marina early and strongly encourages everyone with large boats to get in now before things get really hairy in about a week.  

“All oversized boats can flow through the construction zone now until April 21. After April 21, I'm not saying they can't, but they're going to have difficulty,” he says. "So, you've got a boat (wider) than 8.5 feet, you want to get it in the water before April 21st.”

Those boaters that don’t already have a slip to place their boat (for whatever reason) are welcome to stay at Elmwood for a while until their home slip is available, Jenuwine says.

A memo prepared by Jenuwine includes these other tips for those who will have to launch after April 21:

“We suggest that you make your way to the north marina entrance by coming up the middle of the (Leelanau) Peninsula and making your way to East Grandview Road. East Grandview Road ends directly across the street from the marina north entrance and will allow you to get to the marina by crossing the construction zone but, not driving through it.” (Crossing the construction zone is allowed, while driving through it is not.)

“When leaving the marina with a trailer, making a right or left turn into the two-lane construction zone will be very difficult. We suggest that you exit the marina via our north entrance, proceed across the construction zone back onto East Grandview Road. Once on East Grandview, you can turn left in about 600 feet into the Brewery Creek Parking Lot. Follow the road through the parking area to exit the large driveway next to Subway. This will allow you to turn either northbound or southbound with your trailers into the construction zone.”