Weekly 5: Sea Pro plans $5.5 million new plant in South Carolina

The BI Weekly 5 is a collection of tips, news and data affecting the boating industry this week. Be sure to look for the BI Weekly 5 every Tuesday on BoatingIndustry.com.

1. Sea Pro plans $5.5 million new plant in South Carolina

Sea Pro Boats will spend $5.5 million to build a new 200,000-square-foot factory, creating 238 jobs in Whitmire, S.C.

Sea Pro Boats was started in 1987 and sold to Brunswick Corp. in 2005. Brunswick shut down the brand in 2008.

The brand is being relaunched by Jimmy Hancock, one of the original owners of Sea Pro, along with Tidewater Boats’ founder Preston Wrenn. The line will feature seven new models, which are expected to be introduced by the end of this summer.

2. Flagler Beach will challenge Sea Ray expansion

The city of Flagler Beach, Fla., has opted to challenge the rezoning of land around a Sea Ray plant to build a new parking lot.

That comes after the change was approved at the county level. The facility is not located in the city, but the city’s attorney said the rezoning could be challenged at the state level by the city as a property owner in the county.

3. Everything in Rio will be ready for the Olympics – except the water

Describing it as a “miracle,” the mayor of Rio de Janeiro said all construction is on pace to be done in time for next year’s Olympics there.

The waters to be used for sailing and other events, though, are a different story, the mayor admitted.

4. Millennials staying with parents despite improving job market

Even as the employment situation continues to improve, Millennials are still living with family at a higher level than earlier generations, new research from the Pew Center shows.

In fact, the nation’s 18- to 34-year-olds are less likely to be living independently of their families and establishing their own households today than they were in the depths of the Great Recession, study authors said.

5. Windows 10 shares your Wi-Fi with contacts

Here’s an interesting tidbit to think about if you’re looking at upgrading to Windows 10: If you’re not careful with your security settings, the new Microsoft OS will default to sharing your WiFi networks with anyone in your Outlook or other address book, reports Krebs on Security.