BUSINESSES INTERESTED IN HIRING THESE VETERANS SHOULD CONTACT
THE EDUCATION FOUNDATION
HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL – June 10, 2014 – The Collision Repair Education Foundation and 3M are
proud to announce the 55 winners for the first round of this year’s 3M Hire Our Heroes awards. The
winners include 50 students that are currently studying collision repair, and who have served or are
currently serving in the military. Each winning student had the opportunity to select $2,500 worth of
tools to help them in their education and for employment after graduation.
In addition, five collision students that have immediate family members that served or are serving in the military were selected as scholarship winners. Each student received a $2,500 scholarship to help with their education costs.
3M Hire Our Heroes Veteran Grant Recipients
- Bruce Brorsen (Cape Fear Community College, Wilmington, NC)
- Charles Riemer (Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Green Bay, WI)
- Charles Aldridge (Wiregrass Technical College, Valdosta, GA)
- Chris Mendoza (Hennepin Technical College, Brooklyn Park, MN)
- Christopher Hernandez (Universal Technical Institute, Houston, TX)
- Daniel Dwyer (Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL)
- David Marstall (Washburn Tech, Topeka, KS)
- David Elliott (Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, FL)
- David Sellers (Aims Community College, Windsor, CO)
- David King (Cypress College, Cypress, CA)
- Denny Dennis (Kaskaskia College, Centralia, IL)
- Donald Taylor (Wiregrass Technical College, Valdosta, GA)
- Eddie Shires (Forsyth Technical Community College, Winston-Salem, NC)
- Evan Utterback (Universal Technical Institute, Houston TX)
- Felton Donnell (Guilford Technical Community College, Jamestown, NC)
- Ian Zapata (College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL)
- James Herrington (Austin Community College, Austin, TX)
- James Starkey (Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL)
- Jamie Nichols (Crockett / ACC Automotive Center, Austin, TX)
- Jason Oertel (Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, WI)
- Jeffery Nicholas (Lincoln College of Technology, Nashville, TN)
- Jefrey Mejia (Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA)
- Jimmy Cody (Cape Fear Community College, Wilmington, NC)
- John Mudlock (Guilford Technical Community College, Jamestown, NC)
- Joseph Espaniola IV (Hawaii Community College, Hilo, HI)
- Joshua Noeth (Ranken Technical College, St. Louis, MO)
- Joshua Williamson (Ranken Technical College, St. Louis, MO)
- Juan Rodriguez Jr (Universal Technical Institute, Sacramento, CA)
- Justin Taddei (Universal Technical Institute, Sacramento, CA)
- Justin Brown (SWCC, Creston, IA)
- Kenny Grier (Lake Tech Center, Eustis, FL)
- Luke Besse (Lincoln College of Technology, Melrose Park, IL)
- Marcus Simmons (Danville Area Community College, Danville, IL)
- Matthew Cope (Cape Fear Community College, Wilmington, NC)
- Michael Stewart (Universal Technical Institute, Sacramento , CA)
- Michael Tarolli (Manhattan Area Technical College, Manhattan, KS)
- Randy Kisling (Kiamichi Technology Center, Hugo, OK)
- Robert Farris (Southeastern Community College, West Burlington, IA)
- Robert Brunke (Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, NC)
- Robert Cannon (Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, GA)
- Rogelio Valdez-Zarazua (Universal Technical Institute, Sacramento, CA)
- Roger Ruff (Itawamba Community College, Tupelo, MS)
- Roosevelt Howard (Lawson State Community College, Birmingham, AL)
- Stephen Cole (Lincoln College of Technology, Nashville, TN)
- Steven Richards (Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL)
- Taryll Moore (Hawaii Community College, Hilo, HI)
- Tyrone Watson (Kennedy King College, Chicago, IL)
- Wido Canales (Lincoln College of Technology, Melrose Park, IL)
- William Fisher (Lake Technical Center, Eustis, FL)
- Ying Lor (Saint Paul College, Saint Paul, MN)
3M Hire Our Heroes – Veteran Family Award Recipients
- Anthony Boyce (Norwalk High School, Norwalk, CA)
- Joshua Aviles (Orange Ulster BOCES, Goshen, NY)
- Nathan Stresing (Ohio Technical College, Cleveland, OH)
- Polly Waldrep (Texas State Technical College, Harlingen, TX)
- Wayne Absher (Wilkes Community College, Wilkesboro, NC)
“The 3M Hire our Heroes program is all about helping our nation’s military veterans get a good start in a
great industry, and last year’s veteran grant winners told us how important it was to them to get the
tools they needed to do so. We are happy that we can continue to give back to those who served our
country and defended the freedoms we all enjoy” said Dale Ross, US Marketing Operations Manager
for 3M. The Collision Repair Education Foundation and 3M are also offering a special scholarship for
9/11 military veterans who would like to return to school to study collision repair in the fall 2014 or have
started studying at a collision school after June 1, 2014. The application for this award is available on
the website www.
directed to Melissa Marscin, Director of Grant Programs at Melissa.Marscin@ed-
The Collision Repair Education Foundation is looking to help connect these students with industry
businesses who would be interested in meeting and potentially hiring them. If your business is
interested in hiring one of the winning students, please send your business information including
location to the Collision Repair Education Foundation at [email protected] and the organization will
help introduce both parties for potential employment opportunities.
Additional information on 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division can be found at www.3Mcollision.com
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