Round table discussion will look at future of marine industry
10:55 AM Tue, Jan 20, 2009 | Permalink
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With layoffs and bankruptcies at some of the biggest names in the state's marine sector, industry leaders and state officials are planning a round table discussion about the marine trades. Organized by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association, the discussion will take place on Jan. 29, the first day of the Providence Boat Show, the first major sales event of the season. Participants at the event, at the Rhode Island Convention Center, will include Paul Harden, an expert on the marine trades at the state Economic Development Corporation; Steven Kitchin, a vice president at the New England Institute of Technology; John Torgan, Narragansett Baykeeper for Save The Bay; Andy Tyska, president of Bristol Marine; and Peter Van Lancker, president of Hunt Yachts. The Marine Trades Association is also unveiling a new training program to "increase the skilled workforce needed by boat builders, service yards, marinas, dealers and hundreds of other marine businesses in Rhode Island." For now, however, job seekers outnumber job offers. "Boat builders across the country have been suffering since the economy soured more than a year ago, drying up consumer spending. In all, sales of new power boats in the United States dropped 30 percent last year, according to projections by the National Marine Manufacturers Association," The Providence Journal reported today. "Boat builders face a panoply of financial pressures brought about by the economic slowdown, including demands for immediate payment from suppliers of fiberglass, engines and other parts. Among the most daunting challenges are jittery buyers and a frozen credit market starving dealers of the loans needed for new inventory." 
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Nowadays, layoffs & bankruptcies at some of the biggest names in the state's marine sector, industry leaders and state officials are planning a round table discussion about the marine trades.
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