Edgewater, MD; Chicago, IL; and Brooklin, ME: 

As arguably one of the most important action items to come out of the 2005 Conference on Marine Industry Technical Training (COMITT) 2005, 22 representatives have been selected to form the Marine Industry Technical Education Council (MITEC).

Over the past few months, the MITEC Selection Committee worked tirelessly to develop criteria for the selection of the MITEC members, solicited candidates to serve on MITEC, reviewed close to 50 volunteer candidate resumes and finished their work by confirming 22 members to serve on the MITEC.   The following candidates hale from across the North American continent and represent a cross section of boat manufacturers; boat yards, repair facilities, and marinas; community workforce development partnerships; dealers and retailers; education and training institutions; engine and systems manufacturers; independent technicians; surveyors and yacht brokers:

• Barry Acker, President, The Landing School, Kennebunkport, ME
• Curt Ainsworth, Senior Instructor, Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, Bourne, MA
• Dolores Blueford, Project Coordinator, Northwest Center for Excellence for Marine Manufacturing & Technology, Mt. Vernon, WA
• Ed Boncek, Director of Dealer Channel Management Systems, Sea Ray Boats, Knoxville, TN
• Peter Dahl, Program Director (CEO), Quadrant Marine Institute, Inc., Victoria, B.C., Canada
• Joe DeMarco, President, Association of Marine Technicians (AMTECH), Roswell, GA
• Sarah Devlin, Manager, EMarineTraining.com, Brooklin, ME
• Greg Eck, Manager for Special Projects, Yanmar Marine USA, Adairsville, GA
• Larry Goudy, Owner/Operator, G&G Marina, Roach, MO
• Roger Hellyar-Brook, Systems Program Manager, The Landing School, Kennebunkport, ME
• Jack Horner (NAMS), Principal Surveyor & Senior Designer, Marine Survey & Design, Co., Davidsonville, MD
• Steven H. Kitchin, Vice President, Corporate Education & Training, New England Institute of Technology, Warwick, RI
• Conrad Kreuter, Owner/Operator, Moriches Boat & Motor, East Moriches, NY
• Ed Lofgren, Owner/Operator, 3A Marine Services, Inc., Hingham, MA
• Tom Marhevko, Vice President, Engineering Standards, National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), Chicago, IL
• Thomas Miller, Service Training Manager, Mercury Marine, Fond du Lac, WI
• James Mills, National Service Manager, Yamaha Marine Group, Kennesaw, GA
• Scott Miser, Chief Operating Officer, Rybovich Spencer, West Palm Beach, FL
• Ed Sherman, Curriculum Development Administrator & Senior Instructor, American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC), Edgewater, MD
• Charles Teran, President/CEO, Fiberglass Specialties, Lake Tahoe, NV
• Joe Thompson, Executive Director, Yacht Brokers Association of America (YBAA), Annapolis, MD
• Kenneth Weinbrecht (SAMS), Principal, Ocean Bay Marine Services, Yaphank, NY

 “On behalf of the COMITT co-producers and the MITEC Selection Committee I want to first thank everyone who submitted a resume, and also thank the MITEC Selection Committee for all their tireless work in choosing the MITEC representatives,” said Skip Burdon, ABYC President.  “Next, I would like to congratulate all the newly chosen MITEC members,” continued Burdon.  “We had a large number of qualified individuals to choose from, which demonstrates commitment by industry and educators to become involved in finding solutions to the technical workforce shortfall!  I am excited that MITEC will soon be getting down to work to help shape the new model for facilitating technical workforce education and training within our industry,” concluded Burdon.

MITEC will be administratively and financially supported by ABYC and through contributions made by industry organizations and individuals to the ABYC Foundation.  MITEC will later determine if MITEC will ultimately form its own not-for-profit organization.   

As a Selection Committee member, Mark Amaral, Executive Director of the American Boat Builders and Repairers Association (ABBRA) said, “ABBRA was delighted to be a participant in the open, fair and transparent selection process which led to the formation of the MITEC.  It is a good signal for the future.  The real work now begins!”

Ed Lofgren, Owner/Operator, 3A Marine Services, Inc.  “It is an honor to serve our industry on MITEC.  The acute shortage of marine technicians is a severe growth inhibitor for our industry.  It would be difficult, to say the least, to 'grow boating' without addressing and without some resolution on this issue.  I believe MITEC is poised to tackle this challenge.”

It is planned that the MITEC will soon be holding a series of teleconferences to select a Chair, develop and approve a mission statement, along with some operating policies and procedures, and to create a number of support working committees.  MITEC will hold its first formal face-to-face at the International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition & Conference (IBEX) in October.  A specific date and time will be agreed upon shortly.

Greg Eck, Manager for Special Projects, Yanmar Marine USA said he expects, “MITEC to provide us with an opportunity to set industry guidelines for the training and certification of technicians.  It is the technician that has a great deal to do with the customer's ultimate experience.  We as an industry must embrace the technicians and give them learning tools so they can do their best job.”

Larry Goudy, Owner/Operator, G&G Marina said, “One of the first objectives of MITEC should be to focus marine industry resources on developing industry recognized technical training guidelines.  The importance of MITEC cannot be overstated in the industry's growth initiative.  As a dealer, master technician, and trainer I hope to offer valuable balanced insights for the program.”

COMITT will continue to serve as the industry’s conference of choice for gathering industry representatives and educators together to discuss and debate current and future marine industry technical education and training needs, while MITEC is being established to:

• catalog all marine industry technical education and training being offered in North America;
• provide a coordinating entity for those industry and educational organizations desiring to participate in this voluntary, consensus-based program;
• Set recommended and voluntary  guidelines for marine technical workforce training and certification, which could later develop into industry accepted standards;
• develop criteria for and assign continuing marine educational credits (CMECs) to technical courses (outcome based examination or performance-based demonstration of minimum required skill sets) offered by participating organizations;
• develop criteria for and assign of continuing marine educational units (CMEUs) for approved events (seminars, workshops, conferences, exhibitions, professional reading, etc.); and,
• coordinate and maintain an automated, electronic database management system to provide essential educational record keeping, certificate production and transcripts for workforce personnel who volunteer to participate in the program.

 The theme for COMITT ’06 is “Resources for Success,” which will be held  January 23 – 24, 2006 at the Safety Harbor Resort & Spa in Safety Harbor, FL.  Visit www.abycinc.org and click on the COMITT logo for updates on COMITT 2006.

Co-produced by the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC), the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and Professional BoatBuilder magazine (PBB), COMITT will continue to provide a much needed forum to discuss, present and demonstrate industry support of technical workforce education, training, certification and professional development.  COMITT’s purpose is to become the internationally recognized leading summit to highlight the marine industry's commitment to developing and maintaining a highly skilled and technically proficient workforce.