Marine Industry Technical Education Council members chosen

EDGEWATER, Md. – In the culmination of one of the action items to come out of the 2005 Conference on Marine Industry Technical Training, 22 representatives were selected to form the Marine Industry Technical Education Council, according to a statement yesterday from the American Boat and Yacht Council, which is supporting MITEC.

Over the past several months, the MITEC selection committee developed criteria for the selection of MITEC members, solicited candidates to serve on MITEC, reviewed nearly 50 volunteer candidate resumes and selected 22 members to serve on the MITEC. The following candidates are from across North America 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, Maine
  • Curt Ainsworth, senior instructor, Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, Bourne, Mass.
  • Dolores Blueford, project coordinator, Northwest Center for Excellence for Marine Manufacturing & Technology, Mt. Vernon, Wash.
  • Ed Boncek, director of dealer channel management systems, Sea Ray Boats, Knoxville, Tenn.
  • Peter Dahl, program director and CEO, Quadrant Marine Institute, Inc., Victoria, British Columbia
  • Joe DeMarco, president, Association of Marine Technicians, Roswell, Ga.
  • Sarah Devlin, manager, EMarineTraining.com, Brooklin, Maine
  • Greg Eck, manager for special projects, Yanmar Marine USA, Adairsville, Ga.
  • Larry Goudy, owner and operator, G&G Marina, Roach, Mo.
  • Roger Hellyar-Brook, systems program manager, The Landing School, Kennebunkport, Maine
  • Jack Horner, principal surveyor and senior designer, Marine Survey & Design, Co., Davidsonville, Md.
  • Steven H. Kitchin, vice president of corporate education and training, New England Institute of Technology, Warwick, R.I.
  • Conrad Kreuter, owner and operator, Moriches Boat & Motor, East Moriches, N.Y.
  • Ed Lofgren, owner and operator, 3A Marine Services, Inc., Hingham, Mass.
  • Tom Marhevko, vice president of engineering standards, National Marine Manufacturers Association, Chicago
  • Thomas Miller, service training manager, Mercury Marine, Fond du Lac, Wis.
  • James Mills, national service manager, Yamaha Marine Group, Kennesaw, Ga.
  • Scott Miser, COO, Rybovich Spencer, West Palm Beach, Fla.
  • Ed Sherman, curriculum development administrator and senior instructor, American Boat & Yacht Council, Edgewater, Md.
  • Charles Teran, president and CEO, Fiberglass Specialties, Lake Tahoe, Nev.
  • Joe Thompson, executive director, Yacht Brokers Association of America, Annapolis, Md.
  • Kenneth Weinbrech, principal, Ocean Bay Marine Services, Yaphank, N.Y.
  • “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. 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.”

    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.

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

    “It is an honor to serve our industry on MITEC,” Lofgren said. “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.”

    MITEC will hold a series of teleconferences in the near future to select a chair, develop and approve a mission statement, set operating policies and procedures, and create a number of working committees. MITEC will hold its first formal face-to-face at the International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition & Conference in October. A specific date and time will be agreed upon shortly.

    Eck 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.”

    Setting industry-wide guidelines should be one of MITEC’s first priorities, Goudy said.

    “MITEC should focus marine industry resources on developing industry recognized technical training guidelines,” Goudy said. “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.”

    Some of the goals ahead of MITEC include:

  • cataloging all marine industry technical education and training being offered in North America
  • acting as a coordinating entity for those industry and educational organizations desiring to participate in this voluntary, consensus-based program
  • setting recommended and voluntary guidelines for marine technical workforce training and certification, which could later develop into industry accepted standards
  • developing criteria for and assigning continuing marine educational credits to technical courses offered by participating organizations
  • developing criteria for and assigning continuing marine educational units for approved events; and

  • coordinating and maintaining 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.
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