Service & Parts Pathway
Dealer Week | Dec 6 - 9, 2026 | Tampa Convention Center
Keep Your Service Department Running Like a Well-Oiled Machine
The Service & Parts Pathway at Dealer Week 2026 gives you the chance to build stronger systems, develop your team, and implement strategies that improve efficiency, increase revenue, and create a better experience for both staff and boat owners.
Built for Operators, Fixers, and the Leaders of the Shop
If you're a service manager, parts manager, advisor, service specialist or leader of fixed operations, this pathway is built for you. Whether you're solving problems in the shop or managing a full team, you'll leave with tools to run a tighter, more profitable operation.
Every session in the Service & Parts Pathway is rooted in the day-to-day realities of running a marine service department.
Valerie Ziebron & Thomas Whitehead
Speakers
Bring Mission Ready Talent to Your Service Department
Valerie Ziebron brings more than three decades of experience to the marine industry, helping service and parts teams shift from reactive to proactive habits that build customer loyalty and dealership profitability. She's a master trainer behind some of the industry's most widely used programs, including MRAA's Service Management and Service Advisor programs, and her workshops consistently rank among the highest rated in the industry.
Coralee Zueff
Speaker
Protect the Value of Service Diagnostics in the AI Era
Coralee grew up around boats and gas docks in a family deeply connected to the marine industry, and went on to run a successful service shop on Vancouver Island for more than a decade. She's passionate about helping customers and service teams understand systems, repairs and maintenance, and is known for her leadership, her clear explanations of technical detail, and her commitment to exceptional service.
Jordon Schoolmeester
Speaker
Future-Proof Your Technician Talent Pool
Jordon lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Mary and their two dogs, and spends his free time on motorcycles, a passion that started with dirt biking at age 12 and has since taken him on thousand-mile rides through Baja and into backcountry snowmobiling. His primary focus is dealership training, running Garage Composites' Managers Training Academies with an emphasis on process and leadership. He's been with Garage Composites since 2016, helping dealers get the most out of their people and processes so they can build customer relationships that last.
Erick Jauregui
Speaker
Run a Smarter Service Department: Improve Workflow, Communication, Productivity and Profit
Erick has spent more than 20 years in retail service operations, training people and building processes that turn service departments into profit centers. He's worked with hundreds of locations, coaching advisors, technicians and managers on delivering the kind of customer experience that builds loyalty and drives gross profit, and he leads 20-groups and online peer accountability teams along with a podcast for service professionals.
Max Materne
Speaker
How Service & Parts Can Keep More Customers Boating
Max is co-founder of Ownex, where he helps reimagine the dealership from the ownership experience forward. He works with OEMs and dealer groups to design operating frameworks built around his Enthusiast Lifecycle Value model, works as a turnaround consultant rebuilding dealership operations from the ground up, and is a Certified Master Tech, industry speaker, and host of The Dealer Lab Podcast.
Service & Parts Pathway Host
Valerie Ziebron
Valerie Ziebron has spent more than two decades helping businesses 'fire on all 8' through education and motivation.
Valerie Ziebron bought her first car at the age of 14. That 1967 Dodge Coronet 440 took her through high school and college shop classes and eventually helped to launch her career. Through studying and comparing hundreds of dealerships across North America, VRZ specializes on what stores can do to maximize their resources, specifically their people, processes, space and location.
Chances are, there are other businesses that are similar to yours. You work the same hours, offer the same product and services and have similar seasonality and customer bases. Yet, some stores are so much more profitable than others. We help your team figure out why - and what you can do about it.
She makes it a point to uncover best practice "golden nuggets" that help people flip the switch from reactive to proactive for greater profitability and customer loyalty. She has delivered over 5,000 presentations and has helped more than 1,000 small businesses. Her clients have included: Chrysler, General Motors, Yamaha Motor Company, Boating Industry Magazine, Shelby American Collection, Eastman Kodak, IPIX, and many others.