About Us

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF MARINA INDUSTRIES

The Association of Marina Industries (AMI) is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated exclusively to the marina industry. Today, AMI is responsible for the AMI Training Institute , including the internationally acclaimed Certified Marina Manager (CMM) and Certified Marina Operator (CMO) programs and small topic-specific conferences, plus the annual Conference  and Expo. AMI’s 1,000+ members have access to discounted services, timely industry publications, and legislative support and updates.

AMI was formed when the Marina Operators Association of America (MOAA) and the International Marina Institute (IMI) merged in 2005.

In 1992, a small group of marina industry owners and managers formed MOAA to build and advocate a domestic legislative and regulatory agenda that met the marina industry’s specific needs. Its core membership consisted primarily of top-tier marina managers and owners in the United States as well as prominent marina-industry vendors and service providers.

Through a combination of direct sponsorship and support from the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and MOAA’s existing revenues and membership, the association was able to maintain a healthy U.S. domestic profile supported by strong executive leadership.  As of 2005, MOAA continued to persistently respond to state and federals issues that affected marinas in the United States while actively forging strategic relationships with national and state organizations in order to strengthen its network within the recreational boating arena.

Founded in the mid-1980s to promote professional education, training, and certification, IMI successfully created and delivered a number of management schools, including the globally recognized Certified Marina Manager (CMM) program, which is still in existence to this day. IMI’s founding fathers were deeply interested in the marina industry's professional development.  Through its timely educational seminars and classes, the training association relentlessly prepared the industry to meet the complex technical and topical challenges of the day.

Since its inception, IMI has been recognized worldwide for its research efforts, which led to a number of published white papers. IMI’s international membership of top-tier marina operators, industry consultants, academics, technical experts, and government officials worked together as an educational network to be better prepared to meet environmental, technical, and scientific issues confronting the industry.

In 2005, driven by an increasing competition for U.S. membership and the appeal of consolidating business services, IMI and MOAA merged into one association: the Association of Marina Industries.

Today, AMI represents a diverse membership of over 1000 marinas, boatyards, yacht clubs, and public/private moorage basins across the United States and around the world. These companies provide slip space for over 240,000 recreational watercraft and employ over 13,000 marine tradesmen and women.

AMI marina association member companies range from small family-owned and -operated companies to large corporations. In addition to facility operators and equipment manufacturers, membership represents academic and government agency interests, consultants, insurance and engineering firms, and many marine trade associations.

AMI continues to deliver its member-driven programs and services, such as training and certification, an improved legislative and regulatory agenda, and more finely tuned communications. The highly visible IMI brand, now a subsidiary of AMI, was maintained as part of AMI’s education and certification activities, both nationally and internationally.