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This week, NMMA signed President Trump’s ‘Pledge to America’s Workers’ – an initiative aimed at challenging industries and companies of all sizes to commit to providing new education and training opportunities over the coming five years. Addressing the marine industry’s workforce shortage is a top NMMA priority and the association is urging all stakeholders to join them in this effort. Click here to learn more about signing the pledge.

“On behalf of the recreational boating industry, we are honored to sign President Trump’s ‘Pledge to America’s Workers’ and look forward to working with his administration on this important initiative,” said Nicole Vasilaros, senior vice president of government and legal affairs. “There are more than 30,000 open jobs in the U.S. marine industry alone, and we stand ready to help expand our national workforce by creating stable, good paying jobs.”

To help solve this issue and ensure that Americans are coming off the sidelines to participate in the growing workforce, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Workforce Development on July 19, 2018, in order to provide a coordinated process for developing a national strategy to ensure that U.S. students and workers have access to affordable, relevant and innovative education and job training. Recognizing the critical — yet often unrecognized — role that companies play in training America’s workers, President Trump also created the Pledge to America’s Workers.

Since the Workforce Executive Order announcement, more than 250 companies and organizations have signed the pledge, contributing to nearly 10 million new education and training opportunities for American students and workers over the next five years. A full list of associations and companies that have signed are listed on the initiative’s website.

After committing to the pledge, signers’ names and the number of pledged new opportunities will be displayed on the initiative’s website. Additionally, White House officials will work with companies on highlighting their good work through potential press releases and/or official signing events. In the past White House officials have held signing ceremonies within the White House complex, on company grounds, and at education institutions. Companies can indicate their interest in engagement when filling out the pledge.

To sign the pledge, send an email to [email protected]. All pledges must be signed by Wednesday, July 24, 2019.

To learn more about this pledge and other industry workforce initiatives, join NMMA for the Challenges & Solutions for Workforce Development Super Session on Monday, September 30 at IBEX.

For more information, please contact NMMA senior vice president of government and legal affairs, Nicole Vasilaros at [email protected] or NMMA senior director of export and workforce development, Julie Balzano at [email protected].