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DOWAGIAC — A local business that provides boat and lake enthusiasts with a variety of services recently celebrated its expansion with the community.

Chamber of Commerce representatives and business owners recently gathered at Luna Marine & Storage, 56625 Woodhouse Dr. in the Dowagiac Industrial Park, celebrating the occasion with a ribbon tying ceremony.

A SouthBay boat dealer, the business offers certified Mercury and Suzuki Marine sales and service and marine, dock, lifts and storage solutions in Southwest Michigan, including boats, PWC’s, RV’s and more.

“We’ve been in business for a couple years here in this location, doing a lot with boats for the past few years, and expanded it into a larger scale,” said Mike Luna, a Dowagiac firefighter who co-owns Luna Marine & Storage with his mother Mary Beth. “We service all makes and models, any type of watercraft. We’re expanding into the power sports atmosphere as well.” 

He added that Luna Marine & Storage is expanding into a separate building next door that will be renovated into a showroom. For Mike and Mary Beth, bringing jobs to Dowagiac is one of their biggest goals.

“I used to hear stories about Dowagiac in the past and I love it,” Mike said. “We’re such a great community and the people here have been overwhelmingly supportive. We can’t thank everybody enough for that. Our goal is to be here for a long time, do a lot of different sales and all different things.”

Mayor Don Lyons was on hand to welcome Luna Marine & Storage to the community.

“What (this) represents to me, is a very healthy community,” he said. “Healthy economically, healthy with the direction that it’s going. So often when a business leaves and they leave a building vacant, it sits that way for years. When somebody sees an opportunity in that old building, comes into it, does what you’re doing – that transforms what had been a derelict building into an asset for the community. We’re seeing this all across the community; we just saw the old National Copper building get restored and fully functioning. The buildings have been sold and restored and back on the market, and these are being done by people from outside the area. In the case of National Copper, from Dallas, Texas. 

“So when I see a local person stepping forward and doing it, that’s even better. Congratulations.”

For more information, contact Luna Marine & Storage at (269) 444-5862 or visit its website at lunamarine.com.