THE SYLVAN STORY
The following excerpts are from an article published by Boat & Motor Dealer The article outlines Sylvan’s emergence in the marine industry

The entire article is available upon request.
“Harold Schrock is living proof that anonymity is a gift that any industry, no matter how small, can bestow on its own, no matter how large. With a name known only to a handful within the industry in which he has spent most of the past four decades, Schrock was Mr. Starcraft most of the time and now is president of Sylvan Marine.
“Schrock literally grew up in the boat business, having been identified during much of his working life with family business, Starcraft, Inc. Organized by his father, Arthur, a farmer (who died in 1966 at 85), in 1903 as the Star Tank Company, the company for years manufactured steel livestock watering tanks and other livestock feeding equipment. “For nearly 75 years, the Schrock family has had its roots and Starcraft its headquarters in Goshen, nd., a small county seat in Northern Indiana.
“Schrock and his family sold out to Bangor Punta in 1966... “His selling to Bangor Punta was not the first time Schrock had been determined to sell. In the late 50s, during the 1958 downturn, Schrock became disenchanted with the boat business and agreed to sell to Chris Craft for $1.5 million. Having agreed to that figure verbally with their New York office, Schrock and his attorney went to Pompano Beach headquarters to sign. But they were told by someone there that the figure was actually $1.4 million, not $1.5 million, $100,000 less. Angered by this, Schrock flew home
without concluding a deal. Instead of selling, he decided to make a public offering among Goshen residents and wound up selling 20% of the stock for $3 million.
“From 1966 to 1969, Schrock continued as president of Starcraft, then a part of Bangor Punta’s marine group. “He decided to re-enter boat building. His son-in-law, John Graft, had acquired Sylvan Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of houseboats and pontoon boats in 1965. Houseboats were dropped in 1968, and the line of pontoon boats expanded. Schrock first acquired from Graft the majority of stock in Sylvan, then a controlling interest in Smokercraft, a line of aluminum fishing boats and canoes. He merged operations of these companies to form Sylvan Marine, and immediately began work on a new line of fiberglass runabouts and deck-type boats.
“Schrock makes clear that his objective in boat-building is not to ‘build all the boats in the world: or even become a large builder, much less ‘one of the larger ones' He explains ‘I want to build a good quality boat at a reasonable price. I want to remain a small builder with the volume required to make a decent profit return'
“Though Schrock has been devoting a considerable amour of his time in the past year or so to Sylvan marine, he has a number of other business interests he actively heads”