Amanda Levandowski, Owner Principal of Charlotte Ski Boats in Mooresville, North Carolina, has been selected as the recipient of the seventh annual Duane Spader Leadership Development Scholarship, announced the MRAA Educational Foundation yesterday. This year’s scholarship recipient was unveiled on Tuesday morning, Dec. 10, as part of the Dealer Week Awards Luncheon in Tampa, Fla.
Amanda, with her business partner and husband, Lee, have owned Charlotte Ski Boats since 2010. Levandowski wrote in her application that, in 2010, she immediately set out to “seek solutions” and “to build a network, attend educational classes, and learn best practices,” which led to developing a “Top 10 List for each department to implement before year-end.”
Levandowski was recognized by a nominee for “her leadership, investment, and commitment to Charlotte Ski Boats,” along with, “her focus to ensure the financial sustainability by investing time, money, and talent.”
The Duane Spader Leadership Development Scholarship was founded by Spader Business Management and the MRAA Educational Foundation in 2013 to honor the marine industry service of Spader founder Duane Spader, as well as his leadership philosophy of lifelong learning. The recipient receives full tuition to attend the Spader Leadership Development Program, valued at $14,875. Applicants must be employees of a Marine Retailers Association of the Americas retail member.
“It would be an honor to be selected as recipient of the 2019 Duane Spader Leadership Development Program,” wrote Levandowski in her application, “The program will afford me the opportunity to seek more knowledge, insight, and awareness growing our dealership and boating industry. And if selected, I would commit myself to further developing the marine industry, as I was afforded.”
The Spader Leadership Development Program is a 15- to 18-month program for current and future leaders that involves five, three-day sessions in Sioux Falls, S.D. Between sessions, participants are tasked with putting what they’ve learned to work in their dealership and tracking the results of those efforts.
“We are thrilled to award this scholarship to someone who has already contributed so much to the marine dealer community,” states Jeff Siems, president of the MRAA Educational Foundation Board of Directors. “Given her dedication to her dealership and the industry, we are confident that Amanda will be able to leverage the scholarship to achieve great things.”
About MRAA Educational Foundation
As part of its mission to create a strong and healthy boating industry, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas is committed to offering training, education and professional development opportunities to its members and the entire marine dealer community. In 2004, the association launched the MRAA Educational Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 corporation, to provide financial support for education, training and professional development in the recreational marine trades.For more information or to donate to support the foundation’s mission, visit MRAA.com/foundation.
