Nor-Tech At 35—Hurricane Ian And A Matching Mission Of Mercy

As a rule, Nor-Tech directs its philanthropic efforts toward charities serving children in Southwest Florida. Despite the considerable wealth and resources in the region, there is still plenty of ongoing need. Meeting that need is integral to the Cape Coral, Fla.-based company’s culture and vision for long-term sustainability.

When Hurricane Ian erased portions of Southwest Florida, Nor-Tech and Mercury Racing wasted no time stepping up to help.

Short version? If you want to do business in a community, you need to serve its needs. Community service is not optional.

But when Hurricane Ian obliterated several locales in the area in September 2022, the Nor-Tech crew went beyond its usual children-focused, philanthropic role. The company teamed up with Mercury Racing to create a launched funds campaign.  Each company donated $25,000 in matching funds for the Cape Coral Caring Center.

And so began a charitable avalanche. Combined with more than $50,000 in private donations, that translated to $114,983 raised to benefit 32-year-old food pantry.

“As news spread of our donation match, Nor-Tech Boats—one of our boat builder partners that is based in Cape Coral—stepped in and also offered to match up to $25,000 in donations made to the Cape Coral Caring Center,” said Stuart Haley, the former general manager of Mercury Racing, said at the time. “From there, a group of Nor-Tech’s business connections made additional contributions.”

Those “connections” included Nor-Tech customers, dealers and vendors.

 Launched in early October that year, the program was two-fold. In addition to the matching-fund effort, Mercury Racing produced limited edition Hurricane Ian T-shirts. The proceeds of those sales went to Fort Myers Offshore, a nonprofit powerboat club that raises scholarship funds for local students. 

Major contributors to the Nor-Tech-driver Hurricane Ian Relief program benefitting the Cape Coral Caring Center included Nor-Tech’s entire dealers network, Jay Ganzi of Cape Coral Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Michael Richter of Ecolabs, Rick Townsend of AMG Glass and an anonymous Nor-Tech benefactor

“It has been over a month since Hurricane Ian made landfall, however, not a day goes by that we do not see someone who lost everything and is still trying to get their lives back together,” explained Julie Ferguson, executive director of the Cape Coral Caring Center, shortly after the program began. “The need is still very real for so many, with whole communities devastated. We are so grateful to our friends at Nor-Tech and Mercury Racing for offering matching funds so we can make a difference in a deeply damaged and hurting community.”

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