The first session of the three-part Marine Fabricators Association (MFA) Virtual Series took place Jan. 28 with more than 70 attendees from around the U.S. as well as international visitors from Australia, England and other countries.

Discussion topics included an Emergency Preparedness Panel Discussion with Rob Kotwoski, Lake Shore Boat Top Co., Ron Paratore, Trivantage LLC, and Chandler Clark, Signature CanvasMakers. Clark discussed his experience with a variety of weather-related emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina, and the importance of having a plan in place before an emergency hits to save time and reduce stress during the event.

Kotwoski detailed his experiences of going into “survival mode” during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 emergency to find a way to pivot from custom marine fabrication to mass production of personal protective equipment (PPE). Paratore discussed the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 disaster on the supply chain, which did not happen just regionally, as is often the case with weather catastrophes.

The session included the MFA Annual Meeting, an exhibitor spotlight with Miami Corporation’s John Tavano, product giveaways, networking, and attendees had an opportunity to view the submissions and congratulate the winners in five of the MFA Fabrication Excellence Awards categories.

The next session will take place Feb. 18 and will include a presentation by Charlene Clark, Signature CanvasMakers, about how to move from growing a business to scaling one. It will include more giveaways, exhibitor spotlights, networking, and the presentation of the remaining MFA Fabrication Excellence Awards. All sessions take place from 3–5 pm EST. MFA members pay nothing to attend. For more information, and to register for the remaining sessions, visit https://marine.ifai.com/virtualseries/.