Recruiting talent was a hot topic in Tampa, Fla., at the International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference in October. To address it, the American Boat & Yacht Council hosted a roundtable titled “Creating a Marine Technician Pipeline.” Panelists shared hard-won tips for how to recruit, engage and retain employees with apprenticeships, internships and housing in expensive waterfront markets.
Michael Esposito led the discussion with a gut punch. “There isn’t a top tactic or silver bullet,” he said. As president of Irish Boat Shop, a family-run business with three locations in Michigan, Esposito urged attendees to think differently. “If you are still trying to find employees passively, change your mindset to being proactive. This is a long game. As an industry, we have to do better at attracting and growing our future employees.”
His shop has invested in internships, apprenticeship programs and a partnership with Great Lakes Boat Building School. “We are getting between five and 20 calls from employers every week asking to hire our students,” said Nikki Storey, president of GLBBS. “We can post jobs to our students, but until an employer becomes more engaged with our students, they are not really in front of our students.”
Michigan has received media attention the past few years because of the level of engagement among its marine industry, trade association and schools. “We have a very philanthropic community who believes in what we provide: high-demand, skilled trade careers,” Storey said. “We are very active on social media. We do a very good job celebrating our successes, and our students and the community celebrate with us. We have also been very successful in seeking industry support, federal and state government support, and private foundation support.”
One area of support is the recently developed Marine Dealer Education Network to help employers become involved with the school. With MDEN, Storey’s goal is to create awareness among students while showcasing top employers, and to make the program national. “All of these employers offer sponsorships to prospective students to ensure they have an employee on the back end,” she said.
Irish Boat Shop is one of those employers. “This year we created the David Irish Student Sponsorship, which will provide $15,000 toward a selected student’s tuition at the school,” Esposito said. “In exchange, after graduation, the student commits to a minimum of one-year employment with Irish.”
Randall Lyons, as executive director of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association, was emphatic about bringing schools and potential employers together. “We work with about 15 schools in and around Massachusetts to collaborate, support and promote their efforts,” Lyons said. “Additionally, we offer our members funding for training expenses, tools of the trade and other initiatives. We also offer a job/career site that provides our members a free job posting, information on the schools we work with, scholarship opportunities and additional recreational boating industry opportunities.”
The association supports marine training programs within schools throughout the area. “We participate within advisory boards, connect our members to the schools, connect manufacturers to the schools and job seekers where possible. We help market their programs as well,” Lyons said.
“School advisory boards provide an excellent opportunity for schools and businesses to work together with a common goal,” Lyons added. “Whether this means attending meetings, visiting the students and program, inviting the students to your business, donating tools, equipment, building space, the more involvement and participation within an advisory board or school, the better off for everyone.”
Lyons said fishing and boating remain a top contributor to outdoor recreation, and introduced an organization new to many people in the room, including some members of the panel: the State Offices of Outdoor Recreation. The group, dedicated to growing the outdoor recreation economy, is in 16 states, including Massachusetts.
For its part, the ABYC Foundation is working closely with schools to ensure that their marine service technician programs pass the muster by means of a Marine Trades Accreditation Program — one prong of a multifaceted approach to creating a technician pipeline.
“You cannot do this by yourself,” Esposito said. “It requires buy-in at all levels. Although I’m sitting up here, the majority of this work is done by Laura Kohler, our HR manager.” Kohler participates on school advisory boards, assists with mock interviews with students, visits local high schools with career and technical education to present in the classrooms, invites students to visit the shop at Irish, and attends school job fairs where she hires on the spot. She also works with the Irish marketing team to create videos and printed brochures, and to generate social media posts. The goal is “creating different ways to communicate and connect with the age group,” Esposito said.
How can businesses afford the time and money to actively recruit, engage and retain employees? “How can they afford not to?” Storey said. “You can’t run a marina without trained technicians. The industry can’t afford not to invest in creating awareness of great jobs, nationally. We are competing heavily with industries that already have strong awareness.”
Added Lyons: “Get out and about, and stay involved. Tell a friend and encourage them to tell a friend that training and careers within the recreational boating industry are out there, and they rock.”
This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue.
