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The 2025 Marine Fabricators Association (MFA) regional workshops offered practical advice that fabricators could bring back to their businesses from an engaging lineup of speakers. The Southwest regional workshop was held Sept. 12–13, 2025, at Paul’s Custom Canvas in Denver, Colo., and the Great Lakes / Northeast Regional Workshop was held Oct. 3–4, 2025, at Precision Custom Canvas in St. Catharines, Ont., Canada.
Live demonstrations
At Paul’s Custom Canvas, educational sessions were led by Julie Tinsman from Strataglass LLC, Steven Wayne from Southern Stitch Upholstery and Canvas LLC and Mike Charpentier and Scott Charpentier from Paul’s Custom Canvas. Attendees found the workshop inspiring and benefitted from the speakers’ demonstrations.
“The collaboration between everyone teaching and learning was amazing,” says Mike Charpentier, vice president of Paul’s Custom Canvas. “It was neat to see how two or three different techniques can lead to the same results.”
A great learning experience
Speakers for the educational sessions at Precision Custom Canvas included Adam Penner from AP Consulting, Kyle Van Damme from Marine Tops Unlimited, and Jeff Newkirk, Olivia Dobbie and Sue Keller from Precision Custom Canvas.
The attendees at the Great Lakes / Northeast Regional Workshop enjoyed a great experience with lots of useful information to bring home.
Looking ahead
The MFA’s next educational event is the Marine Fabricators Conference, which will run Jan. 8–10, 2026, in Savannah, Ga. The annual conference offers lively education and friendly competition opportunities like the Fabricator Olympics and the Tools, Tips and Tricks contest.