MRAA seeking scholarship applications

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas is looking for applicants for two scholarships to encourage leadership in the marine industry.

Kevin Lodder Scholarship

The Kevin Lodder Scholarship Fund, which was founded in memory of Kevin Lodder of Lodder’s Marine in Fairfield, Ohio, provides a full scholarship to attend a week-long Spader Business Management Total Management 1 Workshop to an employee of an MRAA retail member.

The Total Management Workshop details skills that will increase profits, stability and growth for the dealership. Attendees will leave the workshop with a clear set of principles, processes and tools to take their company to new levels of performance and profitability.

“The workshop provides simple and straight forward concepts to help analyze the performance of your dealership,” said Travis Hayes of Hayes Marine, a past recipient of the Kevin Lodder Scholarship. “Coupled with Spader’s decades of data and metrics, we could break down our business to the smallest department and then allocate costs and labor to find our true profit centers in the business. It didn’t stop there: Spader provided examples of how to correct the problem areas, tools to complete our own analysis and to help our employees understand where Hayes Marine needed to focus, and strategies to help hold our employees accountable.”

Any employee of an MRAA dealership member is eligible to apply for the Kevin Lodder Scholarship, which is valued at nearly $3,800. The scholarship includes the registration fee for the workshop ($2,995) and a travel allowance of $800.

For more information and to apply, click here.

Duane Spader Leadership Development Scholarship

The scholarship was founded to honor the marine industry service of Spader Business Management founder Duane Spader, as well as his leadership philosophy of life-long learning. The recipient, who receives full tuition to attend the Spader Leadership Development Program, valued at $14,875, must be an employee of an MRAA retail member. The recipient will only be responsible for his or her travel expenses.

“The Spader Business Management team chose to base this scholarship on our Leadership Development Program because of the tremendous impact it has on the personal and professional lives of participants,” said David Spader, the program’s pricipal trainer. “It is the perfect way to highlight Duane’s service to the marine industry.”

The Spader Leadership Development Program is a 15- to 18-month program for current and future leaders that involves five, three-day sessions in Sioux Falls, S.D. In between sessions, participants are tasked with putting what they’ve learned to work in their dealership and tracking the results of those efforts.

“Through this scholarship, the MRAA Educational Foundation supports the professional development of our industry’s current and future leaders, while recognizing the contributions of one of MRAA’s most dedicated partners,” said Liz Walz, MRAA Educational Foundation executive director. “It represents an incredible opportunity for MRAA members to maximize their effectiveness as leaders in their dealerships and the industry at large.”

For more information and to apply, click here.

Recipients of both scholarships will be announced at the upcoming Marine Dealer Conference & Expo, taking place Nov. 16-19 in Orlando, Fla. The deadline for both scholarships is Oct. 10, 2014. For more information, contact Liz Walz at 315-692-4533 or liz@mraa.com.

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