Mercury Marine celebrates graduation of first MMI certified techs

Mercury Marine announced the graduation of Jacob Parker of Wilson, Okla., the first certified technician to graduate from Universal Technical Institute’s Marine Mechanics Institute in Orlando. Mercury said its established global network with over 10,000 points of service will be enhanced with the continued collaboration with MMI as it reinforces the pipeline of trained people to help continue the company’s growth.

Parker completed MMI’s core marine technician program along with specific training in Mercury Marine technology and products, giving him the designation of a Mercury Certified Technician. He is the first graduate of Mercury’s manufacturer-specific program, which gives students the opportunity to achieve provisional certification as a factory-certified technician for Mercury Marine products.

“Investing in training qualified Mercury Marine technicians is an investment in our future,” said Rob Schrage, director of field service development and operations, Mercury Marine. “We are proud of Jacob Parker’s accomplishment and look forward to supporting him and other technicians receiving certification in the future.”

Parker was immediately hired by MarineMax, where he began the dealer’s six-month new technician training program.

“We are excited to have Jacob on our team” said Chris Butts, MarineMax technical training center instructor. “Having the Mercury Certification is a benefit to our company because this gives him the basic knowledge of the Mercury products and allows us to advance him further through our training program so he can begin his career as a marine technician.”

Mercury Marine and MMI continue their commitment of investing in the success of their dealer and OEM partners by providing the necessary resources to train future technicians in the marine industry. Currently, MMI is the only career technical education school in the country to offer a Mercury Marine certification program.

“MMI is proud of our manufacturer-specific training programs, which help students hit the ground running in jobs with industry leaders like Mercury Marine and employers like MarineMax, and we offer our heartfelt congratulations to Jacob,” said Steve McElfresh, MMI campus president.