Naden Boats

Naden Boats is a line of aluminum fishing boats manufactured in Canada by Temagami Boat Manufacturing Inc. Six models are offered, ranging from 11’11” to 16’ in overall length. They are noted for their expanded polystyrene flotation, rigid construction, and semi-V planing hull with five keels.

Naden Industries, a company in Webster City, Iowa, built the first Naden boat in 1955. Made from aluminum, the hull design was a semi-V bottom. By 1964, eight models were offered:

The factory was located at 505 Fair Ave.

From its founding in 1935 (as Naden and Sons Electric Scoreboard Company), Naden Industries’ primary business was the manufacturing of electric scoreboards. By the early 1970s, Naden was selling most of its boats to Canadian customers. Naden stopped manufacturing boats in 1972 and spoke to one of its Canadian dealers to see if it would be interested in taking over the boat line.

Wilderness Enterprises (later Gordon Enterprises) of Vermilion Bay, Ontario was the first dealer that the Iowa-based Naden Industries had for its boats in Canada. Naden boats had proven to be popular in northwestern Ontario, especially with operators of tourist lodges. In the early 1970s, Gardner Naden (of Naden Industries) and Boyd Gordon (of Gordon Enterprises) discussed the possibility of relocating the Naden boat factory to Vermilion Bay, as most of Naden’s boats were sold in the Vermilion Bay area. The process of purchasing Naden Boats from its American owners began.

Negotiations took nearly one year. Gordon was joined by partners Al Adolfson and Ed Gawley. Kenora – Rainy River MP John M Reid provided support and was instrumental in helping Naden obtain a $67,000 Department of Regional Economic Expansion (DREE) grant. Assistance was also provided by the Northern Ontario Development Corporation (NODC). MPP Leo Bernier also cleared obstacles for the new company. Jack Hanslip was brought on as director of marketing, and Roland Gauthier (with extensive experience in boat manufacturing) as the plant manager.

Construction on a new 14,000 sq. ft. factory began in 1973 on the east side of Hwy 105 just north of Hwy 17. Gardner Naden, one of the designers of the first Naden boat, traveled to the new Vermilion Bay plant to help it tool up.

The first boat in the Canadian operation was completed in early 1974, and 1200 were built in the first 12 months of production. By 1975, six models were built on four production lines, and the factory produced 7 to 8 boats per day with a workforce of 18. By 1986, 20 people were employed by Naden.

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Wikipedia