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Burdon, President/CEO of the American Boat and Yacht Council, addresses the
conference on Marine Industry Training and Education. The American Boat
and Yacht Council is an industry leader in the development of
consensus-based safety standards for small craft and for providing support
for standards-based education for the marine industry workforce.
Conference attendees networking.
(L) Kim
Hodne, Environmental, Health and Safety Manager, Northern Marine, Anacortes;
and (R) Dave Ellsworth, Health and Safety Trainer/Coordinator for the
WorkSafe Institute, Skagit Valley College
Northern
Marine, Anacortes, has pioneered the resin infusion process technology in
the marine construction industry. A display model for the process is
pictured.
Colonel
Betz, Workforce Development Council Board Member delivers welcoming remarks
while Don Wick, Executive Director of the Economic Development Association
of Skagit County listens.
Kim
Hodnes, Environmental, Health and Safety Manager at Northern Marine,
addresses the conference on the subject of worker safety.
Dolores
Blueford, TIP Project Manager, took the helm and navigated the project and
conference to resounding success.
Northwest Partnership for Workforce Development
Anacortes: On May 21, 2004, seventy-five people attended a professional conference for northwest marine construction firms convened by the Workforce Development Council. Attendees represented private industry, government, marine trades organizations, community colleges, and tribal nations. The conference was an outgrowth of the Targeted Industry Partnership project, a private-public partnership focused on developing marine skills training for incumbent workers at Northern Marine. The conference sought to provide attendees ideas on leveraging resources for employee training; industry relevant labor market information; to explore best practices in the development of workforce training in the marine trades; and connect with other industry firms to form strategic alliances.
Attendees reached agreement that training is key to sustaining rapid growth in the boat building industry, due in large part to increased government contracts, and the leisure purchasing power of baby boomers. Another conference outcome was the nascent development of a partnership among boat builders and economic development organizations to organize and present boat shows in the northwest. Boat shows have a huge training component, so the beginnings made are an important first step.
Boat builders, normally in competition with one another, recognized the value of entering into a partnership to provide/promote training of new and incumbent workers. Those attending found common ground toward making the Northwest a premier boat building region in the world. Thirteen manufacturers were represented at the conference, from as far away as Grays Harbor.
Don Wick, Executive Director, Economic Development Association of Skagit County, summarized his perspective of the conference by recommending that the Workforce Development Council continue its support of economic development in Skagit County by developing and expanding training in the manufacturing sector for new and incumbent workers, in college programs, high school programs and on-the-job training.
Significant points made in conference presentations:
• Wes Fridell, Human Resources Director at Northern Marine stressed the importance of community involvement and partnership commitment in the development of training programs for incumbent workers.
• Increase the size of our slice of the pie through partnerships. Bob Lawrence, Peninsula College, provided a vision that the Pacific Northwest will be the world leader in boat building – a ‘center of excellence’. He also recognizes the continuing education of the incumbent and the entry level workforce as key to achieving this vision.
Introduce the message within the K-12 system that boat building is an exciting career. The TechPrep structure could be a valuable partner in this effort. The Council is in good position to form a partnership with regional boat building industry to make this happen.
Related Links:
American Boat & Yacht Council
Northern Marine
Northwest Workforce Development Council
Tech Prep - Skagit, Island,
and San Juan Counties
Tech Prep - Whatcom County