Great Lakes Boat Building School Receives “Truckload of Support” from Ilmor Engineering

PRESS RELEASE – March 2023

Great Lakes Boat Building School Receives “Truckload of Support” from Ilmor Engineering

Cedarville, MI – Ilmor, headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, recently donated and delivered a truckload of educational and technical supplies along with Ilmor marine engines. The equipment will expand the hands-on learning horizons of the Marine Service Technology students at Great Lakes Boat Building School (GLBBS).  Currently, GLBBS faculty are becoming certified by Ilmor training professionals to facilitate the delivery of the “Ilmor University” curriculum at the school in Cedarville.  

Mario Illien and Paul Morgan sent a letter to Roger Penske proposing a new company to build turbocharged engines for the IndyCar series. Within three months, they gained Mr. Penske’s support and Ilmor Engineering was born. After decades of success in different racing series, such as IndyCar, NASCAR, and ARCA, in 2002 Ilmor began making waves by entering the high-performance marine world.  

The company began building race engines for the “SuperCat” Offshore Racing Series of the American Power Boat Association.  Since then, Ilmor’s marine division has become a well-established supplier to the global marine market, providing engines for brands like Aviara, Formula, Stancraft, and exclusively for MasterCraft since 2011. The engines are built in their 50,000 ft^2 facility in Mooresville, NC and Ilmor will be surpassing 40,000 engines sold in the year 2023.

“Our graduates are encountering Ilmor’s outstanding offering of marine engines in their work at marine dealers around the country. So much so, that several are being sent by employers for Ilmor training at the Mooresville facility to enhance their professional development,” said Nikki Storey, President, Great Lakes Boat Building School. “An educational partnership with Ilmor Engineering has been on our wish list for quite some time because our students need to know how to work on their equipment as they encounter it on the job. The Ilmor team has been absolutely phenomenal to work with and we are blown away by their generosity and support. They are just great people to grow our training alongside.”

Not only has Ilmor donated the equipment and engines, they hosted the entire GLBBS student body along with instructors and staff members at their Plymouth headquarters last month. The feedback from the students was resoundingly positive.

“We have enjoyed the opportunity to interact with Nikki and the members of her leadership team and are impressed with their industry-leading curriculum in preparing students with real-world technical expertise,” said Mike Lindberg, Vice President – Marine at Ilmor Engineering.  “Donating the supplies was the least we could do to showcase our belief in not only the school, but its students and what they’ve already been able to produce. We’ve worked diligently on an Ilmor program of study to coincide with the donated materials that we’re certain will make the students, even more, sought after upon their graduation.”

It is evident that this “truckload” of generosity will generate a “boatload” of learning experiences for years to come at Great Lakes Boat Building School, having a far-reaching and positive rippling wave throughout the marine industry.

GLBBS produces qualified students from their Comprehensive Career Boat Building Program (CCBB) and the Marine Service Technology Program (MST), in partnership with Mercury Marine University, with a consistent 100% placement rate.  The School addresses the shortage of skilled trades and craftspeople in the marine industry following graduation. For prospective student enrollment information go to www.admissions@glbbs.org or call 906.484.1081. 

Information about supporting GLBBS is available by contacting Tom Coates, Director of Development at thomas.coates@glbbs.edu or https://glbbs.edu/support/ also by calling 906.484.1081.  

Great Lakes Boat Building School is a non-profit organization recognized as a charitable organization and is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges.