In This Issue

It’s one thing to win awards like Top 100 and CSI awards from manufacturers, but the only true way to understand how you’re doing with your full customer base is to actively engage them and provide opportunities for them to offer real, tangible solutions to improve the customer experience. A few years ago, Desmasdon’s Boat Works in Pointe au Baril, ...

While many government training programs have been less than successful, the government can help address the workforce shortages by advocating for and utilizing funding – specifically on the state and local level. The Rhode Island Marine Trades Association offers a pre-apprenticeship program, funded by Real Jobs Rhode Island, to help provide Rhode Island residents 18 and over earn skills needed ...

One challenge the industry faces is a lack of awareness of the open jobs in marine trades and the lifelong careers they build. Marine trades associations can introduce young people to the boating industry through a variety of educational programs.  The Rhode Island Marine Trades Association offers a summer marketing internship and a youth summer boatbuilding program to reach these ...

As four-year university programs have become the main – if not the sole – focus for high school students’ post-secondary path, marine industry companies are putting themselves in front of those students to introduce them to the opportunities in technical careers. SeaDek partners with the Melbourne High Business Academy to expose the academy’s students to local manufacturing opportunities. High school ...

Since the very beginning the personal watercraft industry has bucked convention and marched to its own drummer. Back when boats all followed fairly conservative designs, personal watercraft exploded onto the scene with brilliant colors, bold graphics and a huge, motorcycle-like emphasis on matching clothing, wetsuits and more.  As those initial PWC buyers began having families and the expectation was that ...

Dealers and manufacturers have implemented apprenticeship programs to address their workforce shortages. These programs often take an employee who has a technical background – in marine trades or otherwise – and trains them on the job with a mentor.  At Russell Marine in Lake Martin, Ala., the apprentices start their six-month trial period at the dealership’s rigging facility, as rigging ...

Marine trades schools offer students the opportunity to learn specifically about the boating industry and its intricacies at the high school and post-secondary level. While these students may require additional training beyond their education, the base provided by these schools is invaluable. The Landing School is a community college in Arundel, Maine, that offers four one-year diploma programs in wooden ...

So much of our time in sales and marketing is focused on the next sale: the next new prospect who doesn’t know us yet, the next new client on the books.   The thrill of the chase or the big sales are fantastic and every new sale adds a nice chunk – maybe $3,000, $7,000, $15,000 or more of gross ...

Developing a workforce doesn’t stop once all the jobs are filled. Ensuring employees stay in the industry long term is as vital a piece to the workforce shortage puzzle as getting employees hired.  Keeping good employees is significantly easier if they have a career path, and training shows that the company is investing in that career path. Engine manufacturers are ...

Winterization is pivotal for proper boat care in a seasonal climate. Equally important is getting boats out of winterization and ensuring they run smoothly for customers the first time they are ready to finally hit the water. Right now it’s time to get your shop ready and stocked now so you can meet those boaters’ needs. “Wintertime is the hardest ...