Clean Marina Program Adds Marinas
National Fishing and Boating Week-June 1-10, 2001
Of Government Relations, Information and Education
Marketplace 2001- Selling to the Government
April 2001 - NC Marine TradeWinds Newsletter
Deaton’s
Yacht Yard in Oriental was the first Clean Marina in the state. Now add Wilmington
Marine Center, Town Creek Marina, Coral Bay Marina, Matthews Point Marina,
Casper’s Marine Service and Sheraton Marina-New Bern to the list of
facilities successfully completing the Clean Marina program. Several others are
in the process of completing their applications.
Marina owners gave two Division of Coastal Management representatives permission to observe a Clean Marina site visit. Both were impressed by the condition of the facilities and by the owners’ willingness to go above and beyond the Clean Marina requirements. It is important to show regulators that attention to the environment is not a rare occurrence at NC marinas. More marinas need to participate. This is not an overly time consuming program, there are no repercussions for your involvement, and the program is run through our office. If you have questions call Wendy Larimer 910/962-3351 or visit www.NCMTA.com for an application.
Changing
regulations and economies are forcing marine businesses to recognize the
advantages of various types of training. At
the request of several businesses in the state, we are putting together a series
of seminars. Planned for October is a forklift training seminar, in
conjunction with IMI, that will provide a full day of classroom and
demonstration training, and a certificate upon completion. The forklift training
will be in Morehead City, conveniently located for many coastal facilities. If
lake marinas are interested in this training please let us know. We are also
assessing a travel lift training program with ABBRA.
In
November, there are two sales training seminars planned to satisfy Marine
Industry Certification (MIC) standards (see paragraph below). Details will
appear in upcoming issues of TradeWinds, as well as in direct mail to
marine businesses. If your business has a specific training requirement
(including management retreats and in-house training) or certification needs,
let us know.
The Certified Sales Training Seminar, held in Raleigh last month was well received by a dozen attendees and the quality of the training has set the stage for more MIC seminars and workshops in the future. We expect to offer this same sales training, provided by Stellar Sales Training (www.stellarsales.com/) in the fall of this year with tentative dates of November 27/28 in Charlotte and November 29/30 in New Bern. Learn more about the MIC programs and certification at www.marinecertified.org/.
If
you’re looking for ways to publicize your business, attract new customers, and
show a commitment to boating and the environment, consider involvement in the
National Safe Boating Week. The national Recreational Boating and Fishing
Foundation and the NMMA endorse this program as part of their Water Works
Wonders campaign. The idea is for businesses to hold events, such as fishing
tournaments or on-the-water boating education and safety lessons, in order to
attract more people to boating and fishing. You can bring a greater awareness of
your business and the NC boating industry overall by holding an event and
listing it in the following website, www.nationalfishingandboatingweek.org/attend/index.cfm.
Next month, about a dozen NC boat builders and other NC marine industry representatives will attend the annual NMMA Legislative Conference in D.C. (http://legcon.nmma.org/). These businessmen and women will provide information on the NC marine industry to several North Carolina legislators. At this same meeting, the participants will hear legislators’ take on our industry and the changes that are likely in regulatory and legislative direction.
Different
sessions will provide updates on environmental issues such as the MACT
standards, ergonomics, Process Safety Management (PSM) standards, diesel SD/I
rulemaking, EPA’s plan to require catalyst technology on gasoline stern drive
inboard recreational marine engines, an update on the styrene risk assessment by
the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, the latest on possible EPA skin coat
regulations, the status of EPA’s new ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for
ozone and fine particulate matter, boat noise issues and a bunch more.
There
are also important sessions on government relations including information on the
Skilled Workforce Enhancement Act (HR 1824), the R&D Tax Credit bill (HR
41), Estate Tax Repeal, the Corps RAMP (Recreational Area Modernization
Program), the proposed ADA standards for marinas and boating access points and a
bunch more.
Most
importantly, this conference provides attendees facts and “how to” training
on communicating with and to regulators, legislators, and other elective
officials. This may sound like a lobby camp, but it is not. It is for all
business owners who understand that they have information elected officials need
to hear, and also appreciate that they need to learn the process of successful
political communication.
This
year, this LegCon is co-hosted by our NCMTA. Mike Bradley attends and
provides NC industry background and overview information as requested. He also
uses the information gained at these sessions to help inform and assist NC
businesses through this newsletter and through the consulting services provided
by the UNC-System/SBTDC’s NC Marine Trades Services.
Which
brings this long article to the point. The
North Carolina marine trades industry needs legislative interaction, regulatory
two-way communications, and industry networking to meet and deal with the issues
and constraints unique to or impacting our state. Your
ideas and advice on how to best accomplish this are needed, wanted, and
critical. Write,
call, or email your thoughts on this and we will share our ideas and plans with
you.
On
Wednesday May 30, SBTDC is holding a statewide contracting conference designed
to bring small business sellers together with buyers from federal and state
government, and large prime contractors. More than 50 representatives from these
groups will be in attendance to meet one-on-one with prospective suppliers. In
addition, a series of seminars will be held to teach businesses how to sell
their products to the government. The topics include: selling to the government,
electronic commerce, subcontracting opportunities, and HUBZone empowerment
contracting program. This event will be held at the Sheraton Imperial in
Research Triangle Park. The cost to attend this event is $50 and the cost to
exhibit your product in a booth is $250. Call 919/715-7272 for more information.
(See http://www.sbtdc.org/ - then Events
for Marketplace) In addition to learning how to sell, companies will be given a
chance to submit quotes to many of the agencies and contractors right at the
show, meaning businesses can walk away with a contract.