Massachusetts Governor Baker signed the 2023 state budget, which included $150,000 in funding for workforce development and career technical education initiatives within the recreational boating industry. This funding will continue the initiatives and progress that the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association (MMTA) has made over the last five-plus years to meet the workforce challenges within the industry.

The Massachusetts Marine Trades Association (MMTA) released two new videos highlighting the boating industry, with a focus on industry jobs within Massachusetts. Recognizing the importance of workforce development within the boating industry in Massachusetts, the MMTA & MMTET have made this issue a top priority. The videos lead the viewer to the Massachusetts Marine Trades Educational Trust (MMTET) website.

There are approximately 20,000 recreational boating industry jobs in the state. Typical positions include: outboard, Inboard/outboard, diesel, and system technicians; yard worker generalists; and administrative, sales, finance, and marina staff. The jobs are usually performed near the water and offer competitive salaries and hourly wages, typically year around. Check out the video and overview document to learn more.

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) in partnership with the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association (MMTA) hosted the 3rd annual Career Day & Job Fair on February 14 at the 65th annual Progressive New England Boat Show.

The Massachusetts Marine Trades Association was named the recipient of the 2019 Marine Trade Association Technical Scholarship, announced by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas Foundation. The scholarship was presented to MMTA president Randall Lyons Dec. 10 as part of the Dealer Week awards luncheon in Tampa, Fla.

NMMA launched a workforce branding effort last weekend in Boston by exhibiting at an annual conference targeting school guidance counselors. With an audience of more than 3,600 attendees, the ‘Explore Careers in the Boating Industry’ booth touched more than 1,500 visitors over three days -- touting our industry as a career to be considered by middle and high school students.

The Massachusetts Marine Trades Association (MMTA) announced that three technical high schools - Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School and Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School - are bringing the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) curriculum to their schools starting this fall. The MMTA provided the schools with financial assistance to help pay for the curriculum and some of the textbooks needed to start the programs. This funding was available through the workforce budget amendment the MMTA received last year from the Massachusetts state budget.

Alyssa Linkamper had spent four years in the U.S. Air Force as a jet-engine mechanic when, in 2004, she found herself facing the reality of an escalating war in Iraq. She thrived in military culture and loved working with her hands, but as a single mother living in England with a 1-year-old and no family nearby, she worried.

The first engine Abram Kelly-Cruz disassembled was a John Deere lawnmower engine.

"I had no organizational skills; oil was everywhere," Kelly-Cruz said. "I put it back together and noticed four pieces underneath. So I stayed after school and kept putting it back together and actually got it working. It didn't work when I took it apart."

Kelly-Cruz was one of 130 students attending the New England Boat Show's Career Day to learn about the various jobs and hear from industry members, many of whom took an unorthodox path to the positions they hold today.

The most important thing to employees is not what supervisors think, and that is part of the reason managers have a hard time attracting and training talent. That's according to Jim Million, one of many speakers at the Massachusetts Marine Trade Association conference on Thursday, who said that employees want to be appreciated for a job well done.