Southern California Boat Towing company named king of the fleet at annual TowBoatUS Conference
by Scott Croft 22 Jan 2023 11:00 PST
(L to R) Capts. Michael Del Grande and Ken Walker of TowBoatUS Long Beach, California, accept the coveted TowBoatUS Tower of the Year Award at the 2023 TowBoatUS Conference in New Orleans © Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore / BoatUS
TowBoatUS Long Bech, a towing and assistance company much like an on-water auto club that helps boat owners get home after a boat breakdown, was awarded Tower of the Year at the annual gathering of the TowBoatUS fleet in New Orleans. Owned by captains Mike Del Grande and Ken Walker, TowBoatUS Long Beach was chosen from more than 130 independently owned TowBoatUS towing companies across the nation.
The coveted Tower of the Year award recognizes professionalism in providing recreational boaters with 24/7 on-water towing and assistance services. This includes a near-perfect 24-hour towing dispatch operation, high customer satisfaction surveys and on-water towing case management.
Also figuring into the company's commendation is the captains' willingness to help other new TowBoatUS companies learn the ropes of providing routine on-water assistance to recreational boaters 24/7 under all types of weather conditions.
"TowBoatUS Long Beach goes above and beyond to help mentor others who can benefit from their experience and operations," said BoatUS towing services vice president John Condon. "If someone has a question, captains Del Grande and Walker are always willing to help. They are role models who increase the professionalism and esprit de corp of the fleet."
The company also supported October's Breast Cancer Awareness month activities, including changing a red towboat to pink to help grow community awareness of the insidious disease.
Providing towing, soft ungrounding service, battery jumps and fuel drop-offs, the company is part of a nationwide network of more than 600 red TowBoatUS towboats at 300-plus locations - 10 in Southern California alone - that responds to more than 90,000 requests annually for routine on-water assistance.