Alan J. Freedman Award

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) honored Frank Marciano, President, Dometic Americas, with the 2017 Alan J. Freedman Memorial Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who’ve made outstanding contributions to the marine accessories industry through leadership, creativity and personal motivation. The award was presented during Progressive Insurance Miami International Boat Show’s Innovation Breakfast.

“NMMA congratulates Frank Marciano on his exemplary work in the recreational boating industry and is proud to bestow upon him the Alan J. Freedman Award,” notes Thom Dammrich, NMMA president. “Frank’s attention to detail and commitment to marine product excellence and customer service have helped paved the way for marine manufacturing’s growth and innovation.”

Frank Marciano started with Marine Air Systems in 1991 as the production manager.  Under Frank’s leadership, the factory was divided into eight self-directed teams, which in turn worked directly with the sales team to satisfy customers.  Frank’s main priority has always been bringing value to customers and exceeding their expectations.  To do this while growing the company, processes were developed that supported customer behavior.  Along these lines, the “virtual product” concept was developed so the organization could respond to unique customer requests as part of the normal course of business.  This is still a hallmark of Dometic Marine today.    

Frank continued to recruit and retain the best people, build strong teams and invest in engineering, and in 2006, put a plan in place to redesign every product family over the next eight years, incorporating what he termed the “Marine Optimized Design.”  This concept ensured that all products utilized the latest composite materials to reduce noise, vibration, and eliminate rust while improving performance and efficiency in all harsh marine conditions. 

Dometic Marine’s strong focus on innovation, problem solving and engineering investment has resulted in an unprecedented amount of industry innovation awards: 2007 IBEX Innovation Award for Vector Turbo, 2009 DAME Special Mention for the Portable Breath Easy Air Purifier, 2010 IBEX Innovation Award for In-Duct Breathe Easy Air Purifier, 2010 DAME Nomination for the Bypassable Variable Frequency Drive, 2011 Pittman Innovation Award for the Sail-Vac Toilet System, 2012 IBEX Innovation Award Honorable Mention for the Gold Series Air Handler, 2013 IBEX Innovation Award, Pittman Innovation Award and DAME Nomination for the  MasterFlush ORBIT Toilet, 2014 IBEX Innovation Award for the Variable Capacity Chiller (VARC), and 2016  Boating Industry Top Products award for the new CRX refrigerator.  In addition to the awards, in 2015-2016, the company developed a patent-pending titanium coil for use in its new Titan Chillers, which make the heat exchangers virtually impervious to harsh sea water conditions. 

In Frank’s early years, he participated with the ABYC standards committee for Marine Air Conditioning, assisted in teaching classes and, along with several industry partners, created the ABYC Marine Certified AC Technician program. During Frank’s tenure, he served on the NMMA Accessory Board from 2011 to 2014 and NMMA’s main Board from 2012-2014. He has supported the MIASF, ABYC and the MLA.