Main Sections

Waterfront Specialists Of The Region Meet The Dock Doctors

photo by Photo Provided

photo by Photo Provided

photo by Photo Provided

photo by Photo Provided

Tuesday January 12, 2016

By Cookie Steponaitis

It was 1985 when Jeff Provost had an idea. Working out of his parent’s garage and using a Sears Credit Card with a $2000 dollar limit, Provost purchased tools to build wooden picnic tables, Adirondack Chairs, swim rafts and play sets. Creative Carpentry was born and with it a unique combination of a passion for excellence, an eye for detail and a love of both wood and water.  As Provost began his business he quickly became known for projects that enhanced new home construction including decks, gazebos, and commercial and residential dock systems for the waterfront side of the business. Provost chose to focus on his love of the lake and everything to do with products associated with boating recreation and Creative Carpentry became The Dock Doctors in the early 1990’s expanding the dock products side of the business.   
    The Ferrisburgh based business is unique in that it offers design, manufacturing and installation of residential, commercial and municipal waterfront products which include docks, commercial marinas, boatlifts, stairs, hillside elevators, boathouses, gangways and just about any other waterfront access product you can imagine. The main location is in Ferrisburgh where manufacturing sales and service needs are met by forty-five trained professionals. There are also two seasonal showrooms in Lake George and in the Lake Placid/Saranac area. What began slowly has morphed into a business that not only serves the Lake Champlain Basin but draws a lot of its business out of state in the Adirondacks and Hudson River Valley of New York. What surprises most of the clients is that the design and fabrication all happens at the Ferrisburgh facility with Vermont and New York staff.  
    Early on Provost and his crew took on the task of working with the Burlington Water Front docks. Provost was initially hired to perform numerous repairs on the aging dock systems and worked with the Burlington Parks and Recreation Department to create a masterplan for the upgrades needed for the waterfront. “Over the years we slowly built it up with seven different phases to what it is now, including the docks within Perkins Pier and the Burlington Boardwalk,” explain Lynn Provost. “We just recently designed the plan for the south harbor facility which the city has received a Tier Two Boating Infrastructure Grant that has not yet been constructed.” The personal attention and ability to begin at the planning stage and take the customer to a finished system has enabled the Dock Doctors to not only grow but expand to other projects and products. No matter the needs, the baseline of how this organization runs is the focus on the customer and the needs are assessed to see what the best way to proceed is. “In addition to performing site visits and designing waterfront systems, manufacturing and installing our products we also provide the permitting service for the customers that we are contracted with,” explained Lynn Provost. “We currently provide products and services throughout the entire Northeast and have recently added a distribution facility on the West Coast of Florida to primarily market our paddle products.”
    While the Dock Doctors can service the largest companies and waterfront properties in the region, it is still devoted and focused on the need of the local water enthusiasts and their family. Whether it is the newest addition of products associated with paddle crafts such as storage racks, trailers, dock launching systems and more, The Dock Doctors never says no to any type of situation that is presented to them by a customer. Whether it is an individual dock, product or a city or marina that needs fabricated dock systems, the staff is ready to move on a project large or small. Perhaps most importantly people who come in to work with The Dock Doctors people can not only meet and work with Jeff and Lynn Provost, but brother Dan Provost who heads the entire service department and Tyler O’Leary who is the Production and Facilities Manager who has been there over eighteen years.  Rounding out the sales department is General Manager Chris Girard, Sales Manager, Mike Savioli and Sales and Project Estimator, John Gobeil who are a crew of Vermonters who share Provost’s passion for the water and the people who live, work and play on it.
    Open during the winter from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the main facility and summer from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday and 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays, the Dock Doctors has also added the red barn building located at the old Skyview Motel property as a warehouse for their products, the gold building to expand their web sales as a packing and shipping facility and the brown building as an assembly area for premanufactured products. Whether it is a small or large project, the answer is the same; the Dock Doctors is a place where  the design, manufacturing and  installation are handled by the same people.  Stop in and see for yourself. Located at Little Otter Lane in Ferrisburgh, they are not only ready and waiting to assist you but have no shortage of ongoing projects even though the winter winds are blowing and Mother Nature has found Addison County with her winter coat of snow. Start with an idea and then go see the Provosts and the whole gang at The Dock Doctors, a place where quality, tradition and ingenuity come together to truly be the waterfront specialists of the region.

Printer Friendly

Top

Advertisements

Search our Archives