Cruising on the canal - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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As the 1905 folksong “Lo w Bridge, Everybody Down” tells it, Sal was a “goord ol’ worker an’ a good ol’ pal” who toiledr “15 miles on the Erie Canal.” The song reflects a bygones era on thenow 184-year-old Erie In the 21st companies such as have no mules to haul their boats. Rather, they are drivejn by 225 horsepower and 95 horsepowerdiesel engines. And the longest trip is now 12 miles from Lockport to Gasportand back. But there is a connectiojn between earlier canal usersand today’s entrepreneurs, say Michael and Sharonj Murphy, owners of the Lockport-based company. “I feel a definitre link,” Murphy says.
“The Erie Canal is like my office, and for the old canap captains, it was their officr too as they took their boates backand forth.” What’s Happening: The Murphys’ business offers boat rides, banquets, souvenirs and specialo events. Employees: In-season; 65-70, including 6 off-season. Revenue: $875,00p History: Established in 1987, the company is enteringy its 23rd year. When it was Murphy was a Town of Tonawanda his wife wasa teacher. Owninyg a commercial boating company for a secondcareerf – his encore career – was a natural transition for Murphy when he retired from the policwe force in 1989. “We were always involved in boating.
Sharon and I boughrt our first boat in 1969 and the kids grew up on Murphy said. Service providers: CPA, Richard Morreale; Legal, Myronm “Mike” ; Information Technology and Computers, Len Thornton MBA. Greatest After getting their business operating, obtaining financing in 1996 to purchaswe two former canalside industrial buildingsin Lockport’ Lowertown section for their base, was the couple’ss biggest hurdle. “We couldn’t get conventional loans from banka because they though we were too big of a risk so we had to use ourcredigt cards,” Sharon said. “At one time we probablg had 12 different cards and werepayint $6,000 a month in she said.
By periodically payinvg off balances on some cards by taking out loans on otheras that offered low or zero introductoryinteresgt rates, the Murphys kept costs down. “But that isn’t something we coulsd do in the sameway today,” Sharon “Now, there are transfer fees that back then didn’t exist or were The Murphys paid off the credit card balances in 2001 from a loan they receiveds from the city. Proudest Achievement: “When we started, no one had done anythingh exactly like this around here andthere weren’t many on the canal at all,” Murphy said.
Quote: Sharon Murphy, a onetimse dean of , in acknowledging the risks of launchingg thefamily business: “A ship is safe in the but that’s not what a ship is made What’s Ahead: Notwithstanding the current recession, the Murphysw anticipate a slight increase in business this year as a resulrt of stepped-up advertising and promotions. “We carriedd about 47,000 people on the boats last year and servedabout 30,00o inside at banquets, parties and special Murphy said. “We expect the boat volumew to increase about 5 percentt this year and our food serviceds to go up about 10 percentr based on advance bookings wealreaduy have.
” New this year from June througgh August are 10 ethnic-themed evening cruiseas featuring live Polish, Irish and Italian-style bands from Westerm New York. 210 Market St. NY 14094 Web site: www.lockportlocks.com E-mail: captainmike@lockportlocks.com