A shared sense of “win”

Two generations of the Borisch family built their careers as entrepreneurs in the defense and aerospace industry. In 2010 the family sold the business, and because of a non-compete agreement, channeled their enterprising spirit in a new direction.

In 2012, with ties to the Northern Michigan community, the Borisch family began the redevelopment of Walloon Lake, Michigan (the summer home to Ernest Hemingway), which included investments in numerous businesses such as restaurants, marinas, retail, and office space, and eventually a hotel.

With a vision of creating a store that served the water sports enthusiast in Walloon Lake Michigan, Matt Borisch connected with Tommy Phillips who owned Tommy’s Slalom Shop in Denver, Colorado. Tommy Phillips started his company in 1981 after years of being active in the water sports community and teaching hundreds of people how to ski, and it quickly became a known destination for all water sports enthusiasts. Tommy’s Slalom Shop offered boat sales, a full-service department and a wide array of water sports equipment and accessories. Upon Tommy’s retirement and the purchase of his Colorado dealership in 2012, the entrance into the watersport industry and Tommy’s Boats began.

Shortly after, another boat dealership, Liquid Sports Marine was purchased in Orlando, Florida and was rebranded to become the second Tommy’s location.

In June of 2013, Matt Borisch realized his vision of a Tommy’s in Michigan and opened a Tommy’s location on Walloon

Lake offering boat sales, service and an extensive selection of the best water sports gear and accessories. In addition, Barrel Back, a new restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating also located on beautiful Walloon Lake opened.

Towards the end of 2013, the historic venue, the bed and breakfast style Walloon Lake Inn, was purchased and renovated into a fine dining restaurant on the shores of Walloon Lake, officially opening in May of 2014. Walloon Lake Inn offers an unparalleled fine dining experience complete with Walloon Lake views, creative cuisines, and sommelier selected wine pairings.

In 2014, Tommy’s Florida moved their existing Orlando location to Clermont, Florida. Malibu Boats, the worldwide towboat leader and world’s largest manufacturer of water sports wake, ski and surf boats indicated that the Grand Rapids, Michigan territory would be the location of the next Tommy’s in 2015.

In late 2014, construction began on what would become Hotel Walloon, which was originally the site of a turn-of-the-century resort hotel for vacationers who would take trains from Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana to visit and summer.

In May of 2015, Hotel Walloon opened and has since been named one of the top three resort properties in the Midwest by Travel and Leisure magazine.

In June of 2015, the fourth Tommy’s dealership location in Grand Rapids, Michigan opened.

With the rapid and expansive growth of Tommy’s dealerships, the options for software that could manage information and data in multiple locations was limited. As a result of talent inside the business and several years of investment, a dealer management software was created to fulfill sales, service and parts and make that accessible from any browser without installation. Licenses to this game changing technology were sought by competitor dealerships as well as manufacturers.

In 2018, Tommy’s acquired Skiers Pier in Detroit Michigan, which became the fifth Tommy’s dealership location and the Tommy’s footprint now encompassed Michigan, Florida, and Colorado in near entirety.

In the spring of 2018, the Borisch family sold both Hotel Walloon as well as Walloon Lake Inn and Barrel Back restaurants.

At the same time, based on previous manufacturing industry expertise and a significant gap in the supply chain, General Dynamics approached Matt Borisch to start a new manufacturing business to build the SMET/MUTT program, a fully autonomous electric vehicle and thus the conversations began.

In late July, General Dynamics was awarded the SMET/MUTT program and development and staffing of the newest business of MKB Holdings/Simplified Investments, Gen3 Defense & Aerospace, a manufacturing integrator began. The name, Gen3, pays homage to the first two generations of family who built a formidable reputation in the defense and aerospace industry. Gen3 Defense and Aerospace moved into their facility, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan in November 2020.

After several years of conversation, Tommy’s acquired Boulder Boats, who held a considerable market share in the West region. This significantly increased Tommy’s footprint with stores in Fresno, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona.

In addition to growth on the west coast, Tommy’s expanded its regional footprint in the state of Tennessee through the acquisition of the family-owned dealership, Marine Outfitters, as well as Moses Watersports, which has resulted in two new dealerships to the Tommy’s family, one in Knoxville and the other in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Early in 2022, Tommy’s announced the addition of Waterski America to the Tommy’s family, a premier Malibu/Axis dealer serving the North-Center Texas area in Lewisville and Ft. Worth. In addition, Tommy’s Boats continued its expansion by green-fielding two additional dealership in the greater Los Angeles area.