The scholarship committee of the ARA Foundation, Moline, Ill., selected 18 recipients for scholarships, as well as 16 recipients for scholarships awarded by affiliate programs. The committee reviewed 72 applications received for 2010/2011. Scholarships, ranging from $750 to $3,000 each, are being awarded to students pursuing rental-related educations at technical/vocational schools, community colleges, undergraduate colleges, and graduate schools.
The scholarships—selected during an anonymous screening of applications—are awarded based on academic success, leadership, rental industry involvement, written essays on rental-related questions, and references. Applicants must be associated with the equipment rental industry as an owner, manager, or employee of a rental operation, or manufacturer/supplier of rental equipment, or the family member of an owner, manager, or employee.
Matthew D. Jones of Rent All Center, Alexandria, Va., received the first Leonard Hawk Founders Scholarship, the top scholarship award worth $3,000. He also received the $2,500 ARA Insurance Services Scholarship, and the $500 Ron Marshall Scholarship presented by ARA Region Two, giving him a total of $6,000 in scholarship funds. Jones will be a senior at Virginia Tech and is pursuing a degree in finance.
Recipients of the ARA Foundation undergraduate scholarships of $2,000 each are:
•Tyler Arlinghaus of Art’s Rental Equipment, Newport, Ky.
•Shawn Blaisdell of Bunce Rental, Tacoma, Wash.
•Taylor Brown of Action Rental and Sales, Harrisonville, Mo.
•Jeremy Emig of Cincy Tool Rental, Cincinnati
•Mark Lello of Midwest Construction Rentals, Bloomington, Ill.
•Bryan Licata of Four Seasons Power Equipment, East Meadow, N.Y.
•Ryan McPeak of Mahaffey Tent Rentals, Memphis, Tenn.
•Ryan Ponikvar of Sun Rental Center, Mentor, Ohio
•John Ritter of A Tool Shed, Campbell, Calif.
•Christopher Stuckey of AP Equipment and Rentals, Longview, Texas
Recipients of Foundation technical/vocational scholarships of $1,000 each are:
•Matthew M. Jones of Jones Equipment Rental, Fort Gratiot, Mich.
•Timothy Lockhart of B & M Equipment Rental and Sales, Belleview, Fla.
•Paxton McReynolds of Mikerentals, Sikeston, Mo.
•Matthew Wedding of All Rental, Gardner, Kan.
•Kelsey Williams of A-1 Rentals/Party Plus in Helena, Mont.
Recipients of the Foundation graduate scholarships of $2,000 each are:
•Christopher Burson of Rental World of St. Cloud, St. Cloud, Fla.
•Matthew Witherwax of RSC Equipment Rental, Houston
The ARA Foundation also administers scholarships for affiliated rental organizations. As previously mentioned, Matthew D. Jones was the recipient of the ARA Insurance Services Scholarship and the Ron Marshall Scholarship for ARA Region Two. Additional affiliate scholarships are:
Dorothy Wellnitz Scholarship for ARA Region 10/Canada – $1,000:
•Nicholas Barry of Rental Network Ltd., Squamish, British Columbia, Canada
ARA of Michigan – $500 each:
•Erick Helfmann of A-1 Lansing Rent-All, Lansing, Mich.
•Matthew M. Jones
•Trevor Matthew of Taylor Rental Center, Petoskey, Mich.
•Shane Valliere of Taylor Rental Center, Petoskey, Mich.
ARA of Ohio – $750 each:
•Jessica Ahrns of Celina Tent, Celina, Ohio
•Jeremy Emig
•Brittany Fike of Let’s Entertain, Warrensville Heights, Ohio
•Jennifer Fitzgerald of JRB, C&P, CustomWorks (Paladin Heavy Construction), Akron, Ohio
•Ryan Ponikvar
•Kevin Saunders of Sully’s Rent-All, Akron, Ohio
ARA of Texas – $1,000 each:
•Walter Burke of Taylor Rental, Garland, Texas
•Collin Dannemiller of Taylor Rental Center, Plano, Texas
•Kyle Landua of U-Rent-It Sales and Service, Terrell, Texas
•Christopher Stuckey
Funds for all of these scholarships will be disbursed by the ARA Foundation to students’ schools by early August. Applications for the 2011/2012 ARA Foundation scholarships will be available in the fall.
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