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 “good ol’ worker an’ a good ol’ who toiled “15 miles on the Erie Canal.” The song reflects a bygone era on thenow 184-year-old Erie Canal. In the 21st companies such as have no mules to haultheir Rather, they are driven by 225 horsepowerr and 95 horsepower diesel engines. And the longest trip is now 12 milese from Lockport to Gasport and But there is a connection betweemn earlier canal usersand today’s entrepreneurs, say Michaek and Sharon Murphy, ownera of the Lockport-based company. “I feel a definite Murphy says.
“The Erie Canalo is like my and for the oldcanal captains, it was their officr too as they took their boats back and What’s Happening: The Murphys’ business offers boat banquets, souvenirs and special events. Employees: 65-70, including part-timers; 6 off-season. Revenue: $875,000 History: Establisheds in 1987, the company is entering its 23rd When it was Murphy was a Town ofTonawandsa patrolman; his wife was a teacher. Owning a commercialp boating company for a secondcareere – his encore career – was a natural transition for Murphy when he retiredf from the police force in 1989. “We were alwaya involved in boating.
Sharon and I bought our firsf boat in 1969 and the kids grew up on Murphy said. Service providers: CPA, Richard Legal, Myron “Mike” ; Informatioj Technology and Computers, Len Thorntonm MBA. Greatest Challenge: After getting their business operating, obtaining financing in 1996 to purchaswe two former canalside industrial buildingsin Lockport’e Lowertown section for their was the couple’s biggest hurdle. “We couldn’t get conventionao loans from banks because they thougjh we were too big of a risk so we had to use ourcredirt cards,” Sharon said.
“At one time we probablyh had 12 different cards and werepayinyg $6,000 a month in interest,” she said. By periodicallu paying off balances on some cards by taking out loans on othersz that offered low or zero introductoruyinterest rates, the Murphys kept costse down. “But that isn’t something we could do in the same way Sharon said. “Now, there are transfer fees that backthen didn’ft exist or were lower.” The Murphys paid off the credit card balancex in 2001 from a loan they receives from the city.
Proudesft Achievement: “When we started, no one had done anythinb exactly like this around here andthere weren’rt many on the canal at all,” Murphy said. Quote: Sharohn Murphy, a onetime dean of , in acknowledging the risksw of launching thefamily business: “Az ship is safe in the but that’s not what a ship is made for.” What’sz Ahead: Notwithstanding the current the Murphys anticipate a slight increase in business this year as a result of stepped-up advertisingh and promotions. “We carried aboutr 47,000 people on the boat s last year and servedabout 30,000 inside at parties and special events,” Murphy said.
“Ws expect the boat volume to increase aboutg 5 percent this year and our food service to go up about 10 percent based on advances bookings wealready have.” New this year from June througuh August are 10 ethnic-themed evening cruisesd featuring live Polish, Irish and Italian-stylre bands from Western New 210 Market St. Lockport, NY 14094 Web site: www.lockportlocks.com captainmike@lockportlocks.
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