Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit announced today, Kerry Schroder, Senior District Service Manager and Ron Lubic, District Service Manager will serve as the Florida Technical and Co-Technical contest chairs for the SkillsUSA^® Marine Service Technology competition. Schroder and Lubic each have over 25 years of experience in the marine industry and work with technical schools throughout the state of Florida by connecting students interested in marine service careers with Yamaha dealers, organizing job shadow days for students at Yamaha dealers, mentoring students in the classroom, supporting instructors by presenting them with the latest content and organizing local SkillsUSA^® competitions.

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“Kerry Schroder and Ron Lubic accomplished incredible things with the tech schools in Florida by garnering school involvement with the competitions,” said Gregg Snyder, Yamaha Marine Training Department Manager, National Technical Chairperson. “We are eager for them to lead the design of the Marine Service Technology competition while recruiting industry experts to support SkillsUSA^®, ensuring the competition is conducted professionally and the student competitors have a quality experience.”

SkillsUSA^® is a national membership association serving college/postsecondary, high school and middle school students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skill service occupations. The organization gives students opportunities to test their skills against others for a chance to compete on a national level to earn scholarships and other prizes.

SkillsUSA^® competitions serve as excellent opportunities for marine dealers to recruit qualified technicians at the state level. Yamaha Marine Service team members attend roughly 10 state SkillsUSA^® competitions during the year to support Yamaha students. Yamaha Marine dealers also attend these competitions to observe the students in action and network for future opportunities within their dealerships.

“Yamaha has a robust network of dealers throughout the state of Florida,” said Snyder. “SkillsUSA^® competitions are great opportunities for these dealers to recruit trained professionals.”

State and regional SkillsUSA^® competitions give Yamaha the chance to work directly with Technical School Partners (TSPs) to place talented, skilled professionals with certified Yamaha dealers. Yamaha Marine currently has more than 100 TSPs that offer Yamaha-certified marine technical training curriculum to students. Yamaha works with technical schools to improve their curriculum and classroom training aids. During the 2022 National competition, Yamaha sponsored 16 labs, which included individual skill stations and a written or online test.

SkillsUSA^® has served about 14 million members since it was founded in 1965. This membership includes more than 394,000 students, instructors, alumni and advisors annually. SkillsUSA^® has more than 19,000 local chapters and represents 130 occupational titles, or one-quarter of the jobs offered in the U.S.

Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit, based in Kennesaw, Ga., markets and sells marine outboard motors ranging in size from 2.5 to 425 horsepower. It also markets and sells fiberglass, jet-drive sport boats ranging from 19 to 27 feet, and personal watercraft. The unit includes manufacturing divisions of Yamaha Marine Systems Co., Inc., including Kracor of Milwaukee (rotational molding), Bennett Marine of Deerfield Beach, Fla. (trim tabs), and Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers of Indianapolis (stainless steel propellers). Yamaha Marine Group is a division of Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., based in Cypress, Calif.

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REMEMBER to always observe all applicable boating laws. Never drink and drive. Dress properly with a USCG-approved personal floatation device and protective gear.

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