Specialized Carriers & Rigging Foundation Announces Collegiate Scholarship Winners for 2021
(May 5, 2021) - CENTREVILLE, Va. — The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Foundation (SC&RF) has determined the winners of its 2021 scholarship programs.
Six college and university students preparing for or furthering careers related to the crane, rigging and specialized transportation industries were selected for awards this year. Together, they received a total of $10,000.
These scholarships represent an ongoing and overall workforce development initiative/strategic objective for the Foundation. The SC&RF funds industry-specific research projects and awards $20,000 to $60,000 in scholarships and grants annually. Additionally, the SC&RF supports Lift & Move USA events and other select initiatives designed to educate the next generation of workers.
Collegiate scholarship applications were accepted from October 2020 through January 21, 2021. Scholarships are reviewed once a year in February, and announced at the SC&RA Annual Conference in April. However, this year’s conference was rescheduled due to COVID-19, and is now set for October 25-29, in San Antonio, Texas. This announcement precedes the event.
In alphabetical order, the recipients are as follows:
- Grace Erlinger, from Peachtree City, Georgia, was awarded a $1,000 Jay Shiffler Memorial Scholarship. She currently attends the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biochemical engineering. As she contemplates her future, she recognizes engineering’s role in the crane and rigging industry and is keeping an open mind as to where she will land. With that in mind, Grace is currently a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and is also employed as a manufacturing intern at The Clorox Company in Forest Park, Georgia.
- Robert Fleming, of High River, Alberta, Canada, was awarded a $2,000 George Young Memorial Scholarship. A husband and father, Robert is currently employed as a project manager at Scott-Woods Transport, in Ontario, Canada, while also attending Athabasca University in Alberta, pursuing an Executive MBA, which he expects to complete in December 2021. In his professional life, Robert is passionate about the transportation industry – particularly the specialized sector – and participates on numerous committees within various industry associations, working to improve operating conditions and safety, reduce red tape and wasted time and project a better overall image of industry.
- Elise Frueh, of Nashport, Ohio, is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Mount Union University in Alliance, Ohio, where she is also the treasurer of the Society of Women Engineers. She received a $2,000 Terex Continuing Education Scholarship. She currently works at Shelly and Sands Inc., a construction company based in Zanesville, Ohio, and plans on becoming a civil engineer and working on roadway transportation, specifically bridge building. She also works at FruhQuip, an industrial engineering and rigging company based in Zanesville. Elise sees a career in civil engineering as representative of everything she likes to do, and looks forward to pursuing opportunities to work in construction, make plans on how to rig beams and other structures and, most importantly, problem solve.
- James McLean, from Merritt Island, Florida, received a $2,000 George Bragg Memorial Scholarship, and is applying it to his studies at Lawrence Technological University (LTU), in Southfield, Michigan, where he is majoring in construction engineering technology and management. James, who also plays football at LTU, interns at Beyel Brothers Inc., in Cocoa, Florida, as an oiler, rigger and spotter. As he has come to better understand construction and the degree his is pursuing, James indicates that he has come to realize how great a fit this career choice is for him. He looks forward to becoming a future leader and coming together with others to create and build things that benefit the community around him.
- Kenneth Meuler, of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, attends the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse, and interns with Doral Equipment Rental in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he works in marketing/sales, and was formerly a forklift technician and painter. He received a $1,000 Collegiate Scholarship, and will use it to pursue his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the university, where he is also a member of the American Marketing Association. Kenneth looks forward to a future where he sees a productive and long-term career in the crane and rigging industry. He is anxious to use what he will have learned in both college, life and work to enhance his role at Doral, and in the industry overall.
- Denise Wilson, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is currently a dispatcher at Thackray Crane Rental, located in Philadelphia. She received a $2,000 IUOE Continuing Education Scholarship and is using it to pursue an associate in business degree at Community College of Philadelphia – with a major in accounting. She is interested in the crane industry, and looks forward to continuing to work in the industry, and with operating engineers, within payroll, human resources and accounting. Denise’s passion is to become the CFO of a local crane company like Thackray Crane.
About SC&RF
The SC&RF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the crane, rigging and specialized transport industry. The SC&RF’s mission is to support workforce development, provide educational assistance and conduct research to advance growth and opportunities within the industry.
For further information, contact:
Jackie Roskos Director, Foundation
(703) 207-3587
jroskos@scranet.org