The Yamaha Marine Technical School Partnership program reached its 100th member milestone after adding the Prince William Sound College in Valdez, Alaska.
Developed in 2015, Yamaha’s TSP program aims to develop a stronger marine technician workforce through a certified curriculum, Yamaha systems access and product donations used in the classroom for hands-on training.
“We know dealers need to recruit and retain qualified technicians. We also know there’s still a shortage of qualified marine technicians in the marketplace,” said Yamaha U.S. service division manager Joe Maniscalco in a statement.
Yamaha’s program creates a student-to-technician pipeline for Yamaha dealers and provides technical schools with state-of-the-art, instructor-led courses and tools, said Maniscalco.
“Students graduate and start successful careers as marine technicians, and Yamaha dealers get exclusive access to recruit the best new talent in the industry. It’s a win-win program we will continue to expand and enhance,” he said.
The growth of Yamaha Marine’s technical school relationships led to the development of Yamaha-sponsored curricula available to technical schools for use in the classroom.
“As a representative of the first Yamaha Technical School Partner, I can say with certainty our students and the dealerships in our area have benefited greatly from the ITOS curriculum and hands-on training opportunities,” said Glen Bucholz, a marine and powersports instructor at Minnesota State Community and Technical College. “Yamaha’s efforts through the Technical School Partnership program are certainly outstanding in the industry. I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of the Introduction to Outboard Systems book. The company’s commitment to continued training and marine technician workforce development is strong, and the effort to bring qualified technicians to dealerships through this program works.”
