 | MMTA ENews Brief: July 26, 2005
|
| MMTA ENews Brief: July 26, 2005
|
|
THURSDAY-SEPTEMBER 8 - MA Marine Trades General Membership Meeting Ballot of Candidates for 2005 Election of MMTA Officers & Directors will be delivered immediately (and briefly) prior to this evening reception. MMTA Members and guests are welcome. Location, times and ticket price will be announced soon. Please save the date, plan to join us and keep an eye out for more event details. THURSDAY-SEPTEMBER 29 - MA Marine Trades Annual Membership Meeting During the Boston International In Water Boat Show Exhibitor Reception at Anthony's Pier Four, the 2005 election results will be announced. Be sure to join us for the Annual Meeting reception at Anthony's. If you have not already done so, reception tickets are available through www.bostoninwaterboatshow.com TUESDAY NOVEMBER 15 - MA Marine Trades Conference This day long event will feature educational seminars, guest speakers, social and networking opportunities as the MA Marine Trades membership comes together. Location and agenda will be announced soon. Interested in recommending a conference topic, a speaker or becoming a sponsor of this event? Would you like to participate in the planning of this conference? We welcome your expertise and help. If you would like to get involved, drop an email to Leona.Roach@boatMA.com During July and early August, MMTA staffers have various overlapping holidays scheduled. We may--for a brief period-- be personally unavailable to respond to your inquiries. Please do not hesitate to call on any staff member or officer if you are in need of information in a timely manner. On behalf of MMTA staff, thank you for your patience: we will be back soon with our batteries fully charged! For a list of MMTA Officers and Directors, visit: http://www.boatma.com/mmtaabout.html 
Contact MMTA Public Affairs Director, Nathalie Grady for more information on hosting a National Marina Day event at your location.It is not too late! Want to find out more about hosting an event at your location on National Marina Day? Please contact MMTA Public Affairs Director, Nathalie Grady at nkgrady@boatMA.com. It has been a busy few weeks at the Massachusetts State House. A large number of House and Senate Bills have come up for hearing. In many cases, MMTA offered verbal and/or written testimony on subjects ranging from Abandoned Vessels to Dredging Projects to Ocean Zoning. See MMTA Members Only section to read the comments the association has made on various pieces of legislation. At the July 18 hearing regarding North American Expositions Bill effort to relocate the New England Boat Show in 2007 to the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (H4153), special thanks are due to the following MMTA members who testified and/or attended the State House hearing: Garth Scott of Garth Scott Associates, Winn Willard, President of Hunt Yachts/ VP Boston's Hunt Associates and MMTA Director and President of Boat Shows, Inc. Larry Russo of Russo Marine. Thank you for generously volunteering your time to offer testimony before the committee. Through it all MMTA member support, individuals and firms, have made an important difference. While you can be sure that MMTA staff and the Legislative Action Team are watching various legislative and regulatory matters on your behalf, we still need your help in two ways: Intelligence & Mobilization. Intelligence: 1. If you come across a legislative or regulatory matter that you believe will be of interest to MMTA members statewide, PLEASE contact MMTA to let us know about it. The MMTA staff is small in number, (we are not a cadre of professional lobbyists). We welcome your "boots, eyes and ears on the ground" to keep us informed. Mobilization 2. When a matter is moving quickly, we often need to mobilize quickly for a state house hearing or to contact local legislators. If you are willing to be called upon to contact legislators, write a letter or make a call, please let us know. We will include your name on the short list of active members to whom we can reach out when necessary. Having in place a dedicated core of members that can be quickly mobilized and who can raise the volume on certain issues remains a lynchpin of our effectiveness. Signing up for this does NOT obligate you to advocate on any particular issue: simply that you agree to be contacted about legislation or regulatory matters at which time you can decide to get involved or not. MMTA could really use your help: if you are interested, please call or send an e-mail and contact information to Public Affairs Director Nathalie Grady: nkgrady@boatMA.com. As you have read about in the national press, the NMMA's Grow Boating Campaign is a comprehensive, national effort designed to do three major things:
The Marine Industry has done a commendable job raising over $2 Million to launch the campaign through voluntary donations of companies, individuals and (your own) Massachusetts Marine Trade Association. To provide ongoing funding for the Grow Boating Initiative, on July 1, 2005 engine manufacturers began assessing a modest fee based on engine HP sold. This assessment is remitted 100% directly to the Grow Boating Campaign. By now, you may have seen this assessment on your invoices.
This mandatory assessment is applied by all leading engine manufacturers. If you have any questions about the Grow Boating funding model, be sure to visit, www.growboating.org or contact your Boat OEM directly. Thanks to the Grow Boating Campaign, the North American Marine industry is poised to roll out a marketing, education and service campaign the likes of which we have never seen. Coming together to smoothly implement the program is the first step towards our mutual success. 
MMTA has been tracking the matter of OSHA and their actions in the matter of forklifts used to move boats on trailers. MMTA received a letter from OSHA on July 7 in response to our letter to them dated February 10, 2005. A copy of OSHA's letter to MMTA detailing their concern about this practice, how approval for such modification may be obtained and similar correspondence to others on this topic is now available for viewing at the MMTA Members Only section of www.BoatMA.com We discovered through outreach that moving boats (or RVs) on trailers using a forklift is a widespread and common practice in our industry. HOWEVER, unless expressly authorized by the forklift truck manufacturer or specifically approved by a registered Professional Engineer, this practice is an unauthorized modification of OEM equipment and is subject to citation by OSHA. The good news is that through the diligent efforts of two MA boatyards and MMTA, CCMTA and AMI, we now have some clarity on what is required to gain approval for such a common modification. Remember, in the absence of an approval, operators are subject to OSHA citation. Please feel free to share this information with interested or affected marina/boatyard operators and their staff. Thank you to everyone who wrote letters and provided background information that led to greater clarity and understanding on this topic. 
Two MMTA Members have been chosen to be a part of the newly formed Marine Industry Technical Education Council (MITEC), the idea for which was conceived at the Conference on Marine Industry Technical Training (COMITT) held last winter.
Congratulations to MMTA members Ed Lofgren of 3A Marine Service and Curt Ainsworth of Cape Cod Regional Technical High School for having been selected from a numerous and distinguished field of candidates for this new representative Council.
We are proud of and grateful for Ed and Curt's advocacy on behalf of marine trades' educational needs and for being such fine ambassadors of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association.
Below are excerpts from the announcement in Trade Only Today: The purpose of MITEC is to: catalog all marine industry technical education and training being offered in North America; provide a coordinating entity for organizations wishing to participate in the program; set guidelines for marine technical workforce training and certification, which could later develop into industry accepted standards; develop criteria for and assign continuing marine educational credits to technical courses offered by participating organizations; develop criteria for and assign continuing marine educational units for approved events; and coordinate and maintain an automated, electronic database management system to provide educational record keeping, certificate production and transcripts for workforce personnel who participate in the program.
MMTA has been tracking the matter of OSHA and their actions in the matter of forklifts used to move boats on trailers. MMTA received a letter from OSHA on July 7 in response to our letter to them dated February 10, 2005. A copy of OSHA's letter to MMTA detailing their concern about this practice, how approval for such modification may be obtained and similar correspondence to others on this topic is now available for viewing at the MMTA Members Only section of www.BoatMA.com We discovered through outreach that moving boats (or RVs) on trailers using a forklift is a widespread and common practice in our industry. HOWEVER, unless expressly authorized by the forklift truck manufacturer or specifically approved by a registered Professional Engineer, this practice is an unauthorized modification of OEM equipment and is subject to citation by OSHA. The good news is that through the diligent efforts of two MA boatyards and MMTA, CCMTA and AMI, we now have some clarity on what is required to gain approval for such a common modification. Remember, in the absence of an approval, operators are subject to OSHA citation. Please feel free to share this information with interested or affected marina/boatyard operators and their staff. Thank you to everyone who wrote letters and provided background information that led to greater clarity and understanding on this topic. Deep discounts and dedicated customer service typically reserved for much larger corporations are now available to MMTA members. 
How Do I Enroll? It's easy. Visit the MMTA Members Only Section at www.BoatMA.com and click on the STAPLES LOGO. Forgot YOUR MMTA Members Only Password? Remember they are case sensitive: Username: MMTAAfter you complete the online enrollment, an MMTA-Staples Account Manager will contact you to complete the registration process and assist with any questions you have about getting started. It's That Easy!  The Boston International In Water Boat Show is Boston's only Boat Show with over 200 In-Water Boat Displays and 300 Indoor Boat Displays. This show attract boaters from all over New England, and one of New England's largest, most attractive boat shows. Children under 12 are admitted free with an adult companion and complimentary youth life jackets are available dockside.
Unlike the US Post Office, the cyberspace postmaster does not forward your e-mail. Has your e-mail address changed? If so, be sure to let us know so you won't miss an issue of MMTA ENews: Send a notice of any email address changes or requests to opt out of future mailings to: webmaster@boatMA.com THE BEST PROMOTIONAL VALUE FOR YOUR MARINE BUSINESS! If you do ANY advertising, this is THE place to be! Only for MMTA members, the BOATMA.com web site draws thousands of boaters every single day. There is no better place to get exposure for your marine trades business!
Email webmaster@boatma.com or call David, the BoatMA.com webmaster, at 508-240-2533 to sign up today! Like what you have read? PLEASE share these ENews briefs with colleagues and staff of MMTA member firms. While emails are sent to one contact at a Member Firm, all employees of member firms can benefit from this information. Do you know a firm that should be a Full or Associate member of MMTA? We want your referrals for membership: just drop a note to Membership Committee Chairman Niven Damon at Niven@nivendamon.com or complete a Membership Application On-line. Late summer is the BEST time to join MMTA: new member applications approved in the Fall of 2005 will be approved for a 15 month membership for the price of 12 months!
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||