For me the story of Steber International is the epitome of the quiet achiever, an entirely ethical family-owned company which moves with the times, but more importantly a company which stands the test of time. For me, Steber International are one of the real success stories of the Australian Marine industry, and I put them right up there with iconic world-class all-Australian companies such as Aqualuma, Ronstan, Hydrive, Austal and Incat.
Like those companies, and it is a rarity in this day and age, you just never ever heard a bad word said about them. They just get on with the job of building export-quality, world-class products.
You don’t see brash over-the-top headlines, there are never redundancies or bad press in any way shape or form – simply because one can only ever say and write good things about a company like Stebercraft. They don’t appear to ever have peaks and troughs in their business cycle, because they quite obviously have a good focus, a good game plan – and they adhere rigidly to it.
Most obvious from my perspective in the media, and it is certainly most refreshing in this day and age of so-called hard times, Stebercraft maintain R&D programmes, they continue to employ apprentices, and they continue to embrace technology by ensuring their highly organised state-of-the-art operation features the very latest in machinery, materials and technology; a very recent $750,000 re-vamp of their entire operation, is testament to that! That is the strength of their company, now and into the future.
Steber is a company built on respect, ethics and plain old service and satisfaction – they go the extra yard and as a result, their clients become their friends. But even more important than all of the above, is a good product. Look in the classifieds, how many Stebers are for sale? And if you do happen to find one, the price will invariably be indicative of the exceptionally good re-sale value a Stebercraft vessel offers. That is a very integral part of my personal judging whether or not a particular boat is a good boat!
I have water-tested virtually every model Steber have produced, over a significant number of years now and I can honestly say I have never found a Steber model that didn’t 100% come up to my expectations. Stebercraft vessels are built to survey, so you get exactly what the commercial boys get – handling, economy, dependability and durability. Few other boating packages genuinely offer that, for the boats are proven in the most difficult of conditions, when used by authorities such as Coast Guard, VMR, police, Navy, Army, Border Control and Customs.
The Steber name to me, is all about integrity, it is what I describe as a good wholesome boat that can be dressed up or down to precisely accommodate each owners precise requirements in a vessel – at an affordable price!
Barry Tyler – Editor