September 18, 2007, Annapolis, MD: In recognition of marine dealerships earning the Marine Industry Dealership Certification (MIDC) designation the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) has launched a special membership package exclusively for Marine Industry Certified Dealerships. According to ABYC officials, the standards writing organization was prompted to offer this added benefit to certified dealerships to recognize their commitment to creating an atmosphere of continuous improvement across all departments, service excellence, and customer satisfaction.

Effective immediately, any MIDC Dealership can join ABYC for one year for $225 per business location. This special offer includes access to the ABYC standards in any one of three formats (manual, CD-ROM or Web-STIR - our basic online access), as well as discounts on technical education, training and certification programs and marine industry publications. This represents a 40% discount to a standard Business level membership plus the cost of the standards. For each year thereafter, for at least five years, dealerships will continue to receive 40% off their membership fee per location, provided that the dealership remains certified through the MIDC program.

ABYC standards are Coast Guard recognized, form the backbone of the NMMA Boat and Yacht Certification program and are universally regarded as the industry's accepted standards in North America. They are also used in many other countries and by other standards organizations around the globe.

"The process of becoming a certified dealership is both challenging and an expression of one's commitment to the industry, to boating safety and ultimately, to the customer," said Skip Burdon, ABYC's President. "We want to reward dealers for that commitment by making it easier and more affordable to use and to train to ABYC standards."

An integral part of the MIDC program is the requirement for dealerships to provide employees with regular training and professional development opportunities. To assist dealerships in making technical training more available and affordable, ABYC is also providing all certified dealerships with a 20% discount off regularly scheduled basic and technical workforce certification courses as part of this membership offer. Additional ABYC member benefits include: free standards-based technical consulting; access to archived standards; 10% discount on Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology's distance learning courses; discounted prices in the ABYC Ship's Store; listing on ABYC's online Member Directory; a subscription to ABYC's quarterly standards-based professional journal the Reference Point; Westlawn's quarterly e-newsletter the Masthead; access to ABYC member marketing materials; the opportunity to participate in the standards development process; the opportunity to network with marine industry professionals world-wide; and much more.

Phil Keeter, President of the MRAA knows first hand that, "today's customers are well informed and know what they want bundled into a boating purchase. As boats become increasingly more sophisticated and complex, potential buyers have specific demands they have researched off the internet, from other boaters and even from competing dealers. That is why dealership staff must be well prepared to discuss the technical aspects of any boat on the showroom floor." He continued, "service experts must be trained and confident in discussing current safety standards and practices when performing regularly scheduled maintenance or when conducting a needed repair. ABYC now provides certified dealerships with an opportunity to add value across all departments, and in turn, meet or exceed customer satisfaction."

Thom Dammrich, President of NMMA said, "NMMA encourages certified dealerships who are not currently members of ABYC to take advantage of this added benefit. We and our member manufacturers have trust and confidence in ABYC's safety-based standards. And, certified dealerships can also put that trust to work for them as well. Nothing turns a prospective buyer into a purchaser like value, trust, honesty, and solid information. Dealerships can arm their sales and service staff with that information and reinforce these values by joining ABYC, using the standards and training their technical staff to those standards."

The Marine Industry Dealership Certification program was first developed in 2005 by dealers, for dealers and focuses on the areas affecting consumer satisfaction and dealership excellence - operations, facilities, professional sales/service processes, customer satisfaction and employee training/satisfaction. Dealership Certification provides both consumer and dealer benefits fundamental to the industry's Grow Boating Initiative. For more information about the Marine Industry Dealership Certification program, visit www.DealerCertification.org.

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 the ABYC Standards Powered by Rulefinder.net) and in printed form. Membership and general information can be requested by visiting the ABYC Web site at www.abycinc.org.