About Jaws Marine

Management Team John R. Smith, III - Service Manager My name is John Russell Smith III. My career starts in the summer of 1988 when I graduated from Andover Senior High School in Linthicum, Maryland. Just after graduating I went to work for an auto parts store, "The PepBoys". In 1989 I left "The PepBoys" to advance my career and went to work for "Admiral Pontiac", a General Motors car dealer in Glen Burnie, Maryland. There I was one of four Technicians on a team that trouble shot then serviced customers cars for anything from a simple dash light replacement to an engine or transmission overhaul. 1991 I ventured into the Marine Industry and worked for a gentleman named Jim Benney, President of "JB Automotive and Marine" in Glen Burnie, Maryland. In February of 1992 I received my "Major" credentials from Mercury Marine in Stern Drives and Inboards, this was the first step in my new career. After studying and working on boats, engines and sterndrives I then went back to Mercury Marine Training Schools and received my "Certified Technician" credentials. After eleven years with the same company I left "JB Automotive and Marine" to continue my career with "Offshore Performance" in Grasonville, Maryland in April of 2001. Shortly after beginning there I was in Mercury Marine Training Classes to keep up to date on all new products and to be the best in this field of work. After meeting all requirements to keep my Certified Technician status over the past five years, I then became a "Master Technician", the highest honor that can be earned by a Mercury Marine Technician. I was now one of only fifteen Technicians in the State of Maryland to have reached this status and was one of a very elite group. In July of 2005, I was one of a dozen to complete and pass the Mercury Racings "Dry Sump Six Drive" class on the East Coast. Over the next two years I would be part of a company that grew and became one of the best repair facilities in the northern East Coast.