FORT LAUDERDALE, FL

The recreational marine industry is at a “critical turning point” when it comes to recruiting, training and educating employees, according to Bill Yeargin, the Rybovich-Spencer executive who is moderating this week’s Conference on Marine Industry Technical Training.

The idea behind COMITT is to bring together representatives of industry, academia and work force development agencies to discuss the industry’s needs, generate more collaboration and develop a strategic plan to improve recruitment and education. This morning’s opening session focused primarily on the current state of the industry and some of the existing regional programs, as well as the main goals that participants hope to accomplish at the Fort Lauderdale conference.

Yeargin spoke of a divergence of demographic trends in the United States — such as an aging work force, less interest in hands-on technical jobs among younger workers, and foreign competition. He says all of those things are making it difficult for the marine industry to find qualified employees. However, he said, he expects the conference itself will set the stage to resolve some of those issues.

“I think we may look back on these two days in 10 or 15 years from now as a real turning point for our industry,” he said.

Representatives from the three main sponsors also expressed high hopes for the conference.

“This is the United Nations for the marine industry on education,” said Skip Burdon, executive director of the American Boat & Yacht Council. “This is not about one of us and one of our programs. It’s about all of us and all of our programs.”

“We have a lot of responsibilities to come out of this unique gathering,” added Carl Cramer, publisher of Professional BoatBuilder magazine and founder of IBEX, the International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition & Conference.

Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, drew a connection between COMITT and the industry’s Grow Boating Initiative, which involves spending millions of dollars to bring more people into boating. “We have to have certified and trained technicians, a cornerstone of building this initiative,” he said.

“I think these two days are very important for our industry,” Dammrich continued. “Hopefully we can come out of this with a path forward.”

Yeargin asked the 200 or so people in the audience to share their reasons for attending the conference and to list the goals they hope to accomplish. Some of these included improving skill sets across the board; bringing in young people; creating a database of education and training programs; establishing a school accreditation board; identifying the basic skills needed for marine technicians on their first day of the job; management training; and certification recognition nationwide.

The conference continues this afternoon with breakout sessions by industry segment to discuss specific needs, and a presentation on the importance of certification and accreditation in the workplace. Tomorrow’s agenda includes presentations on how the recreational vehicle industry unites in training, different approaches to education, and in-house training programs.

Facilitators then will provide a recap of the industry segment breakout groups, a presentation on ABYC’s plans for a more coordinated approach to training and education, and discussion among all participants on what the next steps should be.

- Melanie Winters

m.winters@tradeonlytoday.com

This article is courtesy of Trade Only Today