Speaker

A graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Jon has sailed in positions from deckhand to Master aboard ships and workboats all over the world. In 1989, after running a support vessel during the Exxon Valdez cleanup effort in Prince William Sound, Jon came ashore and founded Fremont Maritime Services in Seattle, Washington. Over the next 27 years, Jon established a reputation as a pioneer in the field of maritime safety, survival and firefighting training. His company was one of the very first organizations in the U.S. to obtain Coast Guard approval for STCW Basic Safety Courses, and from 2003 to 2015 Fremont Maritime was the only private company utilized by the U.S. Navy to provide marine firefighting training to its military sailors. Over the years Jon and his team worked with tens of thousands of inland and offshore mariners, providing training not only at Fremont’s school in Seattle, but at customer locations in Alaska, Oregon, California, Florida, Europe, Australia and the Caribbean. In 2017, Fremont Maritime merged with MITAGS, and Jon came aboard as a marine safety training and business development specialist. As a member of the senior management team at MITAGS, Jon’s mission is to identify customer needs and craft solutions in all the areas where MITAGS operates – not just training, but in customized simulation, research and apprenticeship programs. Jon is also helping MITAGS chart its course into new and exciting training and assessment methodologies, such as Digital Learning, Virtual and Augmented Reality. “This is a very exciting and challenging time to be in the training business,” says Jon. “So many basic concepts about how, where and to whom we provide instruction and assessment have changed in the last few months. Our customers are looking forward to quality programs that can be delivered more effectively and efficiently, which respect their employees’ time but enhance their knowledge and safety skills. I look forward to charting these new uncharted waters and helping to keep MITAGS the Leader in Maritime Training and Simulation.”