ABYC Hosts Meeting to Discuss Training Curriculum

On February 1, the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) hosted eight marine industry employers, two community college representatives and the workforce development team from the Marine Trades Association of Maryland (MTAM) to discuss the creation of a marine industry apprenticeship program in the state of Maryland. ABYC has developed an entry-level course aimed at individuals wanting to work in the recreational boating industry and hosted this meeting to get feedback on the curriculum.

ABYC works extensively with employers around the country when building their courses and wanted support from this group on its proposed curriculum to ensure it could be used to fulfill the classroom time required of a Maryland Marine apprenticeship program. The program could also be offered at local high schools and community colleges.

ABYC’s course would cover a broad range of marine industry disciplines, including technical elements and electrical content to give students broad knowledge of the recreational boating industry. The idea behind such training is that employers can train specific parts of a job but would benefit from employees who already had knowledge of the industry.

With the support of industry and education partners, MTAM will move forward with plans to work with the state of Maryland to develop an approved apprenticeship program with some of the employers in the Marine Trades Industry Partnership. The partnership is funded by the State of Maryland’s EARN Maryland Grant Program, administered by the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.