MINNEAPOLIS, April 4 — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, as part of its ongoing monthly dealership development Spotlight initiative, has unveiled its latest package of information and tools dedicated to helping marine retailers improve their business. For April, the Association has included workforce resources and education to help marine retailers with recruiting and hiring.

“We know that recruiting and hiring new employees has been a constant challenge for most marine businesses, especially with the ongoing technician shortage, and it’s only become a more difficult hill to climb during what some are describing as ‘The Great Resignation,’” explains Liz Walz, MRAA Vice President of Education. “To help marine retailers overcome many of the hiring hurdles they are facing, we added to our existing online library with new tactics and best practices to guide dealers to more workforce success.”

MRAA has added an entire page, complete with brand-new tools and custom content, devoted to helping dealers overcome their biggest roadblocks and find more success in building their dream team. The page — MRAA.com/HireBetter — offers both non-member and member visitors a plethora of education in the form of timely articles and blogs, interviews with leading industry experts, informational videos and other resources. Like all the MRAA Spotlight pages, the content is meant to be evergreen, so dealers can bookmark the page and revisit the topics to address both current and future pain points.

One additional step the MRAA recently took in addressing workforce issues was to hire Wendy Mackie, Director of Workforce & Foundation Development. Recognized by the marine industry as a forerunner and expert in workforce development, Mackie — who authored the trailblazing guide “The Marine Industry Guide to Growing the Workforce” — submitted a grant proposal to the Economic Development Administration Good Jobs Challenge, that would be used to create the Building Out American Trade (BOAT) Jobs program and bolster other workforce development initiatives.

“The labor market has changed dramatically over the past few years,” says Mackie. “We need to change with it to ensure we have a workforce that can support our industry’s growth. My goal is to support our members and the industry at large to grow, attract and retain talent for the labor markets of today and tomorrow.”

Mackie will be the featured expert in the Thursday, April 7 MRAA Ask the Expert Webinar entitled “Hiring Season — Control What You Can Control.” In addition, she, along with co-author Chad Tokowicz, MRAA Government Relations Manager, released a blog for marine retailers sharing 5 ways to advocate for an improved labor market.

Finally, the MRAA has conducted a new Compensation Study, to help dealers to understand whether their compensation rates for a given position are competitive in their area. With all the significant job market changes since the original 2017 Compensation Study was released, the new study will share the timeliest insights to aid marine retailers in advancing their employee compensation and comparative pay rates. Results should be available next month.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.