Student’s looking into trades have another option in Marine Trades

CHARLEVOIX - The Irish Boat Shop in Charlevoix and the Great Lakes School Of Boat Building are working together for a second year, to give students an opportunity to build an interest in the marine trades.

"Coming here really showed me that I want to I want to do this. And it's a great opportunity for people to learn about this. What really goes on here. There's not that many people really know about it.

With much of Northern Michigan's economy and lifestyle located on the water, the need for marine trades is high.

"A lot of our crew has been around a while and we've got people that are retiring every day. So it's important we get young folks in and that they get involved early so that they can learn from the people that are here and have few years of experience," says Rick Fleming, Irish Boat Shop V.P. of Operations.

The purpose of the showcase was to show the students different opportunities in the marine trades including rigging, working on motors, compressions, and testing.

"It's pretty cool to want to work in the marines and actually work on boats that we use on a daily basis because we fish, we dock, so we use the boats for everything and with our life. So it'd be pretty cool to actually get into it," explains Tanner Howard, Student.

The Great Lakes School of Boat Building partners with Irish Boat Shop through the marine dealers education network. They award students $15,000 towards scholarship for tuition in exchange for a year of work.

"It's just a matter of how much ambition they have because we have the ability to send them to all of our manufacturer training Wisconsin, Florida boat manufacturers, engine manufacturers," says Fleming.

A typical program involves a two year apprenticeship letting students see all the specialties the first year and then focusing on what they love the second year, Irish Boat Shop is looking to carry on the trade.

"One of our recent graduates of the apprenticeship program was doing some of the training for the students today, so it was really a nice experience for him to be able to share his opportunity and what he learned from the program," shares Fleming.

For some students this opportunity could help them do what they love.

"I'd rather, you know, have something I like doing than, oh, I got to go to work today instead of oh, I got to go to work today," Warner says.