Yamaha Donates Outboards

Bennington Marine this month donated a T50 outboard and a F200 outboard to Impact Institute, a Yamaha Marine Technical School Partner (TSP) in Kendallville, Indiana. Yamaha matched the donation with a 4.2-liter F300 V6 outboard. Students will use the motors and a certified Yamaha curriculum to gain a comprehensive understanding of the brand’s outboard power systems and add value to Yamaha marine dealers around the country.

“Yamaha’s Technical School Partnership program equips my students with the essential skills and knowledge they need to get ahead in the workforce,” said Ryan Ramsay, Marine Service Technology Instructor, Impact Institute. “We seek to impact lives to create career and college ready students. The TSP program aids in that pursuit by allowing us to stay up to date on the latest outboard products. We have a one-hundred percent graduation rate, with many students pursuing higher degrees and certifications. They are eager to work and ready to begin assisting customers on day one.”

Bennington and Yamaha Marine have previously donated pre-owned and repurposed product to Impact Institute for students to use to train. The school and other Yamaha TSP program members also have access to Yamaha Marine’s industry-leading Service and Training dealer resources.

“Impact Institute has earned its reputation as an industry leading training facility,” said Gregg Snyder, Marine Training Department Manager, Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit. “As a member of the TSP program, they’ve created a student-to-technician pipeline that prepares the next generation for fulfilling careers in the marine industry. These new outboards will give students the opportunity for hands-on training with the most popular Yamaha products they will work with in the field.”

Impact Institute joined Yamaha Marine’s TSP program in 2017 after connecting with Yamaha’s Service team during the SkillsUSA^® National Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. Launched in 2015, the TSP program seeks to develop a stronger marine technician workforce through a certified curriculum, Yamaha systems access, and product donations used in the classroom for hands-on training. The program reached 100 school members in October of 2020.

Yamaha Marine offers a wide variety of sponsored curricula for technical school partners to use in the classroom. “Introduction to Outboard Systems,” (ITOS), the first course in the program, includes textbook materials and hands-on labs for students interested in technician careers. Students must complete ITOS before starting Yamaha’s new Maintenance Certification Program, which teaches the 20-, 100-, 300-, 500-, and 1,000-hour maintenance procedures for Yamaha outboards. Once a student finishes course work with a Yamaha TSP, he or she will have the training needed to join the workforce ready to add value to a Yamaha dealership service department.