PHOTO COURTESY MRAA

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and the American Sportfishing Association have partnered to create an education hub for ASA member organizations. The hub was introduced at the recent International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show and will be housed within MRAA’s learning management system, MRAATraining.com.

“Like recreational boat dealers, these peers in our industry need to showcase the angling lifestyle every single day with every consumer touchpoint,” Liz Keener, MRAA director of dealer development, said in a statement. “Partnering with the ASA to produce an educational library will help fishing and outdoor retailers enhance their skills to improve sales and ownership experiences with their customers, elevating both the recreational boating and fishing industries.”

MRAA and ASA will curate courses, resources and programs focused on topics of interest for fishing retailers. ASA members will gain access to the ASA Education Hub, which will include 60-plus sales, marketing and leadership courses, content from ICAST 2023 and 2024, and advocacy information.

Additional resources include blogs, webinars, and two MRAA staff members to support educational programming at ICAST and at the Sportfishing Summit.

“One of the core pillars of ASA’s mission is education,” said vice president of communications Mary Beth Long. “We make it a priority to keep our members abreast of the latest business, government affairs and economic trends, as well as access to sportfishing industry experts. Our new partnership with MRAA helps us to provide more robust offerings, such as a larger library of sales, marketing and leadership content and on-demand educational opportunities.”