A major construction and construction materials firm has established a scholarship fund at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
The Haines and Kibblehouse Family of Companies, also known as The H&K Group, will provide an annual award of $1,000 beginning in the current academic year. The company plans to endow the scholarship, making it a permanent source of awards for students.
Company officials delivered their first contribution via helicopter, landing near the Student and Administrative Services Center before going inside to formally present the check to President Davie Jane Gilmour and other Penn College representatives. The Sept. 27 landing attracted the attention of curious campus onlookers, including a group of youngsters from the Children's Learning Center at Penn College, who met the pilot and viewed the aircraft.
The H&K Group, Haines and Kibblehouse Family of Companies Scholarship targets students in Penn College's diesel technology or heavy equipment technology associate-degree majors and the construction management bachelor-degree major. The scholarship presentation coincided with on-campus job interviews conducted by H&K for students in those fields.
Preference will be given to applicants who are full-time students with a grade-point average of at least 2.5 and who are residents of Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Montgomery, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Schuylkill, Wayne, Wyoming or York counties.
The Skippack-based H&K Group is a family of companies with more than 70 locations throughout central and eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The firm provides construction aggregates and materials, asphalt materials, asphalt paving, ready-mix concrete, manufactured block and pavers, segmental retaining wall design and installation, site construction, demolition services and more.
The H&K Group employs approximately 2,000 employees, including many Penn College alumni. Tony Jeremias, director of external affairs, said The H&K Group has been extremely pleased with the talent it has drawn from Penn College.
"In an effort to ensure that Penn College students receive the financial support they need to obtain the highest quality education available, we are committed to this endowment, and remain supportive of the college's efforts to educate our youth," Jeremias said.
"Penn College is very fortunate to partner with The H&K Group," said Debra M. Miller, director of corporate relations at the college. "This new scholarship is indicative of their commitment to Penn College and our students, and we are extremely grateful for their support."
For information about establishing scholarships or other ways of supporting Penn College students, call (570) 320-8020, or toll-free (866) GIVE-2-PC; send e-mail or visit online .