The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas said SeaDek Marine Products will support the MRAA’s efforts to field and finalize a retail compensation and benefits study.
The MRAA said SeaDek, a maker of non-skid, closed-cell EVA traction products, has demonstrated a deep commitment to supporting the marine dealer body with its new membership in the MRAA and its participation in the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo.
SeaDek COO Serenity Gardner and vice president of marketing and advertising Jason Gardner have also voiced a desire to help the industry work to solve its workforce issues, the MRAA said.
“We talked with the SeaDek team about its sincere interest in supporting industry efforts on the workforce front as far back as the American Boating Congress event,” MRAA president Matt Gruhn said in a statement.
“We’re honored to work alongside them on this compensation and benefits study as one of our first steps in identifying and addressing the workforce issues our industry is faced with.”
The MRAA said hundreds of retail outlets in the United States and Canada have participated in the first-of-its-kind study. The deadline to submit compensation data, which will be collected in confidence, is Thursday of this week.
Retailers have received an invitation and two follow-up reminders to date. The MRAA said companies that have not received an invitation but would like to participate in the survey can contact Gruhn at [email protected] or 763-333-2421.
This compensation study follows an intensive workforce assessment project the MRAA conducted. It outlined that, among other factors, one of the largest issues the marine industry faces in hiring and retaining employees is its ability to compete with the compensation rates of other industries.
“As a fast-growing U.S. manufacturer, hiring and retaining employees is an important issue we face every day. The only way to properly address a complex challenge such as this is with a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying factors at work,” said Jason Gardner, vice president of marketing at SeaDek. “We feel that this study will help our industry better comprehend and contend with the issues surrounding this problem.”
The survey asks dealers to provide demographic information such as geographic location, total revenue category, type of retail operation, employee benefits offered and service rates in addition to specific compensation data for 34 common job titles.
The MRAA partnered with Readex Research, a third-party firm that specializes in self-administered research methods, association research projects and, specifically, salary and benefits surveys, to conduct the survey on the trade group’s behalf.
