Hall of Fame Scholarship Application Link Active August 1, 2024

      

Each year, the OCA Hall of Fame Scholarship taskforce members volunteer hours of their time and offer thoughtful evaluation of scholarship applications to arrive at our slate of scholarship recipients. OCA thanks these individuals for their generous time, leadership, and dedication to the future of the industry:

Rachel Bates (Eagle Bridge Co.)
Jackie Cooper (The Ruhlin Co.)
Nick DiGeronimo (Independence Excavating, Inc.)
Mike Dinneen (AGG Rok Materials)
Parr Peterson (Paul Peterson Company)
Chris Szabo (The Ruhlin Co.)

Additional thanks go out to the many member firm representatives who took time to send in letters of recommendation for applicants; those letters of recommendations do lend additional weight in the scoring process, and may strengthen the connection between your firm and the applicant.

When the taskforce met in May of this year to review applications, they also approved some significant changes to the award amounts and structure of the program:

• Beginning this year, awards are increased to $4,000 for those pursuing 4-year degrees, and to $1,500 for those pursuing 2-year degrees. These increases were implemented after an informal review of increased tuition costs. We hope you will share these new award amounts with any potential applicants you might have.

• For the first time, the Heffner Fund Award for Conspicuous Merit was awarded to the year’s top scoring recipient. That distinction comes with an additional $2,000, making the top award $6,000; this award will continue moving forward. Again, we hope you will share this significant financial boost with any potential applicants you may have.

• In order to capture the attention of co-ops/interns/summer workers who might be good candidates for the Hall of Fame Scholarships, the application will now go live August 1st, with awards announced before the holidays each year. Remember, a letter of recommendation for these candidates does increase their chances! The application link that will be available August 1st is: https://www.jotform.com/build/240424564444151

• Significant adjustments were made to the application.

OCA is grateful to the OCA Advancement Foundation(OCAAF) donors; this group has given generously to establish an endowment to fuel OCA programs designed to build awareness of careers in our industry, and to engage our workforce. It is their eye-to-the-future that makes OCA’s Hall of Fame Scholarship Awards possible.

If your firm has co-ops/interns/summer help, you will have time to share the application link with them – and complete a letter of recommendation for them – before they head back to school.