Investing in its community as well as its own present and future success, Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats of Cape Coral, Fla., celebrated a new five-year, $100,000 commitment to the Cape Coral Technical College Marine Academy program this morning with an on-campus ribbon-cutting ceremony. The group on hand included Nor-Tech chief operating officer Henrik Margård, Cape Coral Technical College director Charlie Pease, school administrators and instructors, special guests and reporters from multiple media outlets.
A longtime supporter of Cape Coral Technical College, Nor-Tech has made a substantial five-year commitment to the school.
“We just announced our commitment to Cape Coral Technical College as a founding industry partner,” Margård explained. “Being a good corporate citizen as always, not only making amazing boats but investing in our community and giving back and investing in education, is huge for us. The program is going to help develop the next generation of skilled workers we need. T.J., Terry Johnson our production manager, is very involved and we are going to be involved in the curriculum, which is huge for us.
“The professors are also going to teach these guys how to balance a checkbook, how to budget, how to show up in the morning ready for school or work and more,” he continued. “It’s so much more than technical skills. It’s about teaching them life-skills, how to be a good citizen and setting them up for their own financial success.”
According to Pease, Nor-Tech has been a long-time supporter of the college through awarding scholarships and providing technical expertise to instructors and students. Nor-Tech’s new commitment elevates the foundation that the company has helped establish.
(From left) Quality Marine’s Julius Wellenreiter and Nor-Tech’s Henrik Margård, Terry Johnson and Cindi Trombley had a second ribbon-cutting ceremony of their own.
“Having industry partners like Nor-Tech helping us make sure that students are learning on industry-standard equipment, contributing financially but also with their technical expertise, is huge,” Pease said. “We want to make our programs prepare students for the work force and provide the education they need to succeed at companies such as Nor-Tech and others in the marine industry. The financial contribution portion and the other sponsorships will allow students on everything from Mercury to Garmin equipment and so on. We are incredibly proud of our partnership with Nor-Tech and grateful for it.
“Nor-Tech has been a huge partner of ours in the past with scholarships and supporting our program with technical expertise such as electronic technology, and so that naturally evolved into this,” he continued. “They helped us along the way with developing our Marine Academy, including assisting us with guidance in hiring in our instructor who will work closely with them and other industry partners on our advisory committee.”
Margård emphasized that while Nor-Tech will continue supporting programs for children and more within its local community, the company’s investment in education with Cape Coral Technical College will have a different yet equally crucial local impact.
Nor-Tech is investing in not just its own future but in the future of its local community.
“I think that our charity and philanthropy work falls into a different bucket,” he said. “This is truly giving back to a technical college that we honestly we hope to be a little feeder-pool for our employment.
“We have been awarding scholarships to Cape Coral Technical College for many years, but this a really big commitment we were willing to make,” he concluded. “Our board of directors was very excited about it. And we are bringing our many industry partners into this such as Mercury, Garmin and others that want to be involved.”
Editor’s note: A weekly feature on speedonthewater.com, “36 In 35” will resume on Wednesday, August 5. The article series celebrates the 36 different models Nor-Tech has introduced during the past 35 years and their ongoing effects of shaping and enhancing the longevity of the brand.