“Golden at Last” PowerSport Institute Graduate Jeremy Buurma
Jeremy came to PSI in August of 2007 seeking a chance to expand his horizons, leave the family farm business and make a career of his own.
“From what I had heard, PSI sounded like the opportune school to attend in this area. It was close to my home and I could still work on the farm if I needed to but, I was obtaining a great career in a whole different field at the same time. My objective was to become a technician and I would not have been able to do that if I did not go to PSI to train.”
After graduating from PSI in August of 2008, Jeremy had to go back to the farm but also made a point to continue working on powersports products for friends, family or any referrals they gave to him for work. He did his best to continue using his technical skills and repairing or maintaining whatever vehicles came to his door.
“The biggest advantage of the program that I took at PSI was the variety of manufacturers and types of power sport vehicles I trained on and that really helped when I was working on power sports on my own. Everything from PWC’s, ATV’s, Motorcycles and Utility Vehicles came to my door and the customers were looking to me for answers.”
In July of 2012 Jeremy joined the technician team at American Powersports in Findlay, OH. Being one of the largest dealers in his area who carries Victory, GEM, Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki, Arctic Cat, Can-Am, Ski-Doo, and Sea-Doo, his vast technical knowledge allowed him to jump right in and get to work.
We asked Jeremy why after all that time working on his own he decided to go to a shop and his reply was “ I wanted to see what it was like working in a shop and getting a steady pay check was just a added bonus.”
Jeremy has been working on obtaining many of his manufacturer certifications through the shop and just completed his Polaris Gold ORV Dealer Class here at PSI. With officially being in a shop for two years now, we are proud of Jeremy and the quick strides he has made in obtaining his Gold Status through Polaris.
We asked Jeremy now that he is a graduate if he enjoyed the experience while attending PSI and is there any “words of wisdom” he may have for other students who are thinking about attending?
“PSI was a good experience and helped me to get into the industry. Being back and seeing the school and how much things have changed is amazing, it is a phenomenal facility. This dealer class was great, all the tools and vehicles were available and in really good shape, it was nice. The only advice that I can give to anyone thinking about entering the industry is to make sure that it is something that you want to do every day. This is a passion industry and if you don’t have the passion you will find out real quick that you are not cut out for it. You have to live it, breathe it and fix it to be successful.”
Congratulations Jeremy Buurma!