Maritime Academy Foundation Receives Grant
The Maritime Academy of Toledo Foundation Receives $25,000 First Energy Job Training Grant from City of Toledo.
Ms. Renee A. Marazon, CEO, The Maritime Academy of Toledo Foundation today announced that The Foundation’s Cruise Ship Professional Development and required U.S. Coast Guard STCW Basic Safety Training Programs received much-needed financial support from the City of Toledo with a $25,000 First Energy Job Training Grant. Ms. Marazon accepted the ceremonial oversized check at a press conference in the lobby of One Government Center, with City of Toledo Mayor Michael P. Bell, Mr. Randall Frame, Regional President of Toledo Edison for First Energy, and D. Michael Collins, Member, Toledo City Council – District Two.
“I want to thank Mayor Mike Bell, his administration, Toledo City Council, and First Energy for their support in our job creation / job retraining efforts. In March when The Maritime Academy Foundation came up with the idea for training people for professional jobs aboard cruise ships and the required U.S. Coast Guard STCW Basic Safety Training, we knew that we would have to have some initial financial support to get the programs properly developed,” said Ms. Marazon. “Today the City of Toledo with the help of First Energy came through in a big way.”
Toledo City Council approved the grant at last Tuesday’s meeting. The ordinance calls for the money to be used to expand The Maritime Academy Foundation training program for qualified applicants for Cruise Ship Administration, Accounting, and Crew Purser Training. The Cruise Ship Professional Development Program is a one-week course that will acquaint qualified applicants with life aboard a cruise ship. During the second week of the program, qualified applicants will go through the required U.S. Coast Guard approved STCW Basic Safety Training.
“The STCW Basic Safety Training is required for all mariners. It covers Basic First Aid/CPR/AED; Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities; Basic Fire Fighting; and Personal Survival Techniques.” In addition, qualified applicants will receive one day training each for passenger and crowd control,” Ms. Marazon said. The goal of the programs is to make each qualified applicant more attractive to the cruise line for employment.
“By the time a qualified applicant completes our program they will have a portfolio to present to any cruise line documenting their background check, as well as drug, medical and physical testing, They will have a passport, plus required certifications that may include a Merchant Mariners Credential; Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC); and medical tests for a Galley Card should they desire to work around food aboard a cruise ship,” she said.
As for how the $25,000 will be spent, Ms. Marazon says part of the money will be used to support applicants to take the two programs. “It is our goal to fund as many qualified applicants as possible with this money and to help them build a successful professional career aboard a cruise ship. The money will be used for instruction, training materials, funding tuition, as well as an applicant’s cost for background checks, medical testing, and various maritime certifications,” she said. Ms. Marazon says The Maritime Academy Foundation expects to start classes in January 2012.
“Each class will be limited to 20 applicants. We hope to have at least seven classes in 2012 which would allow us to train 140 people for cruise ship employment,” said Ms. Marazon. One of the benefits for the City of Toledo will come through taxable wages generated by a successful applicant’s employment aboard a cruise ship. “Cruise lines consider an employee’s home town their home port. That means that taxable wages generated are returned to that city. So the more people from our area that we can train and get employed on a cruise ship, the more tax revenue will be generated for the City of Toledo,” she explained.
For more information on the Cruise Ship Professional Development Program or the U.S. Coast Guard approved STCW Basic Safety Training, call The Maritime Academy of Toledo at 419-244-9999. You may also visit www.themaritimefoundation.us
