American Infrastructure Establishes Scholarship at Penn College

American Infrastructure Inc., a Worcester-based heavy-construction firm that employs 40 graduates of Pennsylvania College of Technology, will provide at least three scholarship awards annually to students at the College.

Preference for the scholarships will be given to full-time students who are family members and/or employees of American Infrastructure and its member companies. American Infrastructure employs more than 1,800 people in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia and is recognized by "Engineering News Record" as the 128th-largest construction firm in the United States.

Preference also will be given to second-year students enrolled in the College's Diesel Technology certificate major; students in the associate-degree majors in Heavy Construction Equipment Technology (Operator or Technician Emphasis), Surveying Technology, and Civil Engineering Technology; and students in at least the third year of the Construction Management or Civil Engineering Technology bachelor-degree majors.

The American Infrastructure Endowed Scholarship will provide scholarship awards split between the fall and spring semesters beginning in the fall of 2004.

American Infrastructure and Penn College first established a strategic partnership in 1985, when the company sponsored a scholarship/loan program for students. The new endowed scholarship is intended to foster educational quality, recognize leadership skills and encourage further collaboration between American Infrastructure and Penn College.

"I have personally enjoyed a relationship with Ben Eldred (assistant professor of diesel equipment technology in the School of Natural Resources Management) and the team at Penn College," said A. Ross Myers, president and chief executive officer of American Infrastructure. "The students they recruit and graduate are first-class, with a great work ethic and a can-do attitude. AI has benefited from the training and enthusiasm they bring to their job every day."

"We are pleased to have a long-standing partnership with American Infrastructure," said Wayne R. Longbrake, dean of the School of Natural Resources Management at Penn College. "In addition to this scholarship, American Infrastructure has supported the College through the donation of cutting-edge technology and by providing guest speakers. Our partnership with American Infrastructure is very important to the College and to our students."

"Our long relationship with American Infrastructure is a win-win situation," added Barry R. Stiger, the College's vice president for institutional advancement. "Penn College benefits from exposure to an industry leader and the most current construction-related technology, and our students gain valuable internship experiences and exciting employment opportunities with AI. American Infrastructure benefits by hiring highly skilled and well-trained Penn College graduates."

For more information about the academic programs offered at the School of Natural Resources Management at Penn College, call (570) 320-8038, send e-mail o r visit on the Web.