Press Releases

June 15, 2005, Edgewater, MD: The American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) has promoted Assistant Technical Director Eric Johnson to Technical Standards Manager.

Johnson joined the ABYC team as Assistant Technical Director in 2003, following his employment with the Maryland Environmental Service. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1998 with a degree in Marine Science. Eric is a lifelong and avid sailor who frequently competes in Maryland boating races.

As the Technical Standards Manager, Johnson will be responsible for managing and administering the development and updating of the ABYC standards within the Technical Division, as well as acting as a liaison between ABYC, ABYC's project technical committees (PTCs) and the marine industry. Johnson's promotion follows a restructuring of the Technical Division. This reorganization also includes the addition of a Technical Executive Assistant to aid in handling day to day administrative duties for both the Technical Division and ABYC's Technical Board.

ABYC President Skip Burdon said, "Eric's well deserved promotion after more than two years with ABYC will no doubt strengthen the organization's technical program and structure as a whole." Burdon continued, "The reorganization of the program's structure will help us to operate more efficiently and expediently in administering and distributing standards."

ABYC has been developing, writing and updating the safety standards for boat building and repair in the United States for over 50 years. ABYC is actively involved with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as well as education and certification programs for marine technicians. These standards are available on CD-ROM, online (Web-STIR) and in printed form. Membership and general information can be requested by visiting the ABYC web site at www.abycinc.org.