Troy Tiedeman, president of Blue Water Finance, speaks as if threatening the recession: “I’m going to hire people. I’m going to. Someone has to take a step.”

He’s optimistic about the future of the economy, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Tiedeman and his wife Maureen established Blue Water Finance in Stuart, Fla. in 2004. “Maureen is the heart and soul of this operation,” said Tiedeman. “I couldn’t have done it without her.” The company helps dealers by computing financing on recreational vehicle purchases; they focus mainly on boats, but also work with RVs and horse trailers.

The main reason for their success? “We live and breathe with our customers,” Tiedeman said, “and we cultivate long-term relationships with our lender group.” After enjoying explosive growth right up to the beginning of the recession, Blue Water Finance was bought by Brunswick Corporation in 2006. Instead of taking an early retirement, Tiedeman stayed on as president of the company.

He explained to The Suit that the boat finance industry is uniquely indicative of the state of the economy—a barometer of the American dream. “[Boats and RVs] are discretionary purchases,” Tiedeman said. “When things go sideways, people are always going to let them go first.” Citing stats from the National Marine Manufacturers Association, he estimates that between 2008 and 2009 there was a 24 percent drop in boat sales. Consumers who were used to paying no money down met a harsh new reality. Even today, as the economy creeps toward recovery, banking reforms have made loans hard to come by.

“The changing of the lending spectrum due to government regulation has hurt us dramatically. The lenders aren’t lending like they used to,” said Tiedeman, although he notes that the company’s long-standing relationships with their lender groups give them a continued edge over the competition.

Still, underwriting for recreational vehicles has always been stiffer than underwriting for mortgages and cars, and it became proportionally rigid during the recession’s worst. But before you count him out, there are a few things you should know about Troy Tiedeman.

First, he’s an avid triathlete who has completed over 20 marathons and triathlons, even competing in the brutal Ironman race. For years his daily routine included waking up at 5 a.m. to run eight to 10 miles and breaking from work at 3 p.m. to bike or swim. In 2009 doctors found that he had hip dysplasia, a joint dislocation formed at birth that should have made it impossible to ever run a marathon or ride a bike. After an invasive reconstructive surgery, Tiedeman—now with six eight-inch rods installed in his pelvis—still runs or swims every day.

At work, Tiedeman is a lead-by-example manager. He inspires a staff of 16 with his triathlete’s intensity. He’s not afraid to work Sundays, and he enjoys getting his hands dirty. Even as president of the company, Tiedeman is still in touch with clients, still closing deals. “I swear to God they live off the energy,” he says. “Maureen and I have a whole brood of people that work in Blue Water Finance that are like that.” It’s hard not to factor that in to Blue Water’s success.

“There are a lot of people who ask me after selling in 2006, ‘Why are you still working, Troy?’ Number one: I love the recreation industry.”

Tiedeman is a northern Minnesotan whose father has been in banking for 35 years. Boating figures heavily in his childhood memories of the Land of a Thousand Lakes, from driving his grandma around by outboard motor to waterskiing alongside sheets of ice. “That’s what we try to instill as we come out of the recessionary world we live in. It’s about getting back to the fun. Getting the family out on the boat is important.”

So when the boating industry was suffering from restrictive lending, it wasn’t time to quit; it was time to change the game plan.

“We went out and found credit unions and other lenders whose portfolios hadn’t been hurt by the recession as badly, and we became partners with them to help the dealers finance. That increased sales dramatically. Last month we were up 40 points.”

He also makes sure to see the positive in tough economic times. Interest rates are low, and Tiedeman says the responsibility consumers are showing with their credit is a promising trend.

Blue Water Finance saw an upswing when dealerships that had cut in-house finance departments began outsourcing those needs. “They saw outsourcing to a financial services company as a cost-effective way of doing business.”

In 2012, Tiedeman and his wife hope to expand into motorcycle financing, an “area of recreation that needs our help.” And it’s not just for Blue Water’s benefit. “I want to really get in there and enhance those businesses, besides financing them. I want to show [dealers] there are other profit centers for their businesses as we get out of the recession.” For instance, finance and insurance—often referred to as F&I—can be virtually outsourced to cut costs and increase profits, and Tiedeman knows how to make these sorts of smart changes effectively and efficiently.

And Tiedeman is not narrowly looking at the recreational vehicle market. He sees the larger positive influence he can have by counseling dealers. “Small business carries something like 70 to 76 percent of employment. In my opinion, we’re going to help us get out of this recession,” he says.

Coming from anyone else, this determination might seem overly optimistic—but Tiedeman is no stranger to tough odds. Despite having recently relearned how to walk in 2010, he’s already training for two marathons in the upcoming year. He characteristically notes, “I could run one now, but I want to do it right.”

For more information, pleases visit: www.bluewaterfinance.com