ARLINGTON, Va. — Paula Pogge of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Daniel Kent Parker of Snyder, Texas, have been awarded the first two scholarships from the Clifford H. “Ted” Rees Jr. Scholarship Foundation, which encourages students to seek careers in the HVACR industry.

Pogge, a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Council Bluffs, is a student at Vatterott College in Omaha, Neb. Parker graduated from Snyder High School and attends Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater, Texas.

According to the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), the HVACR industry needs more than 20,000 technicians and installers annually just to fill vacancies. There are an estimated 1,350 HVACR training programs nationwide, but demand for skilled HVACR workers exceeds supply, with many contractors saying that the scarcity of competent workers is their number one business challenge.

Applications for the scholarships of up to $2,000 each are available at www.reesscholarship.org or by writing Rees Scholarship Foundation, 4100 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22203. Applicants must complete a form providing prior education, work history/military service, two letters of recommendation, and a 150-word typed essay on why they should be awarded a scholarship. The deadline for the next round of two scholarships is Nov. 1, 2003.

Students are eligible if they attend, or plan to attend, an HVACR training program at an institutionally accredited school. Students are encouraged to attend training programs that have earned the Partnership for Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA) or an institution that requires the Industry Competency Exam (ICE).

Rees Scholarships are paid directly to the school or institution and can be used for tuition, books, and supplies. The scholarship is named for Clifford H. “Ted” Rees Jr., who served as president of ARI from 1994 through 2001.

For more information on the scholarship program, visit the Web site.

Publication date: 08/11/2003