MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — A new dock and boat lift repair business is booming on Anna Maria Island. The business owner says his work is helping to fill a void the community needed during storm recovery last year.
After starting operations in January, it is now booked weeks out for important cleanup work.
Working on the water feels natural for James Taylor.
But now the Manatee County native’s career path has a new meaning — he has put his name on it.
“I’ve been a dock master at a marina here in Cortez for about 15 years,” Taylor says. “And after the storms, we also sustained some damage. And all the local companies were just swamped. So that kind of resulted in me building my own barge and dock building business.”
On this day, Taylor and his crew with Taylor Marine LLC are removing a boat lift that was destroyed by Hurricane Milton. He says the business addresses both pre- and post-storm concerns — including storm prep services, custom dock construction and dock repair.
“We’ve been nonstop since we started, since post-storms. Yeah, we’ve been going every day,” he says.
Almost every dock and boat lift on Anna Maria Island was damaged by Milton, Taylor says, and each repair job takes one week to complete.
“It’s awesome. We certainly enjoy helping people and trying to restore where I grew up, my home, back to its full potential,” he says.
Rebuilding structures like boat lifts is helping Taylor build his brand while supporting the community ahead of future storms.
Julia Hazel
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