Harvey RV and Marine in Glenburn has a new owner, but he’s already worked there for 17 years.
Matt Rublee bought Harvey RV and Marine for $6.5 million from one of the founders, Nancy Harvey, in July.
The 41-year-old doesn’t have plans to change the business he’s worked at for “half my able life,” or for longer than any of his five kids have been alive, because it’s been doing so well in recent years.
“For [my kids], they’ve only ever known dad as the camper and the boat guy. They probably, in some circumstances, think I invented campers and boats,” Rublee said.
Don and Nancy Harvey built up Harvey RV and Marine starting in the 1980s. The couple ran the business for decades, even after Don Harvey died in 2014, but Nancy Harvey was ready to retire and looked to Rublee to continue the business, he said.
Rublee started building a connection with the Harveys and their business as one of four employees in 2009. More than 80 employees now work for the company, he said.
The business on Broadway in Glenburn began as selling and servicing recreational vehicles but expanded to boats and marine sales in 2019. Marine sales expanded the business so much that an additional building and lot were built.
“We really started experiencing a lot of growth in those early years,” Rublee said.
Sales have grown or been flat for each of the past 15 years, he said. While campers and recreational vehicles make up part of those sales, boat sales have been successful.
Harvey’s is the top seller of Princecraft boats, a company that makes pontoon and fishing boats, and the top seller of Lund fishing boats on the East Coast, Rublee said. That success brought Harvey more attention from other brands, like luxury pontoon band Bennington, that the company now sells.
Part of the reason why Harvey RV and Marine has grown and attracted more customers is because campers and boats are ways people can access Maine outdoors, Rublee said.
“Between the two segments, we basically cover everyone outdoors in Maine,” he said.
A more important part of the business’ success is how employees interact with customers. Every employee is an expert because they use the products and are passionate about them. Their knowledge and the company’s policy to help customers before anything else has gotten the business to this level, Rublee said.
In the month since he bought the business, not much has changed for Rublee. He’s still going to the same meetings and talking about strategies. In his mind, he’s always felt a stake in the business, even if it doesn’t seem like he’s been working there for nearly two decades.
“I don’t feel like I’ve been here for 17 years. When I talk about it, it’s kind of surreal to look back and be like, ‘Wow, 17 years is a long time,’” Rublee said.