Kristin Potter, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Julio and Sarah Armellini ScholarshipEighteen students have been awarded competitive 2014 scholarships from AFE totaling almost $40,000.
“AFE scholarships provide financial assistance to students as they equip themselves with the education and experience that will help them become industry leaders” AFE Education Committee Chairman Dwight Larimer of DESIGN MASTER color tool Inc. said. “Thanks to the generosity of donors, AFE is able to distribute more than 20 scholarships a year to competitive and deserving students.”
AFE awards scholarships annually, and applications are due by May 1 of each year. The online application was recently redesigned to streamline the process beginning in 2015.
American Florists’ Exchange Scholarship – $2,400
Recipient: Miwa Ishisaka, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
Ishisaka, a sophomore studying plant science, aspires to become a plant breeder who creates new varieties of roses with tolerance to black spot. “My goal is to become a plant breeder to breed flowers that would help improve the tolerance of common flower diseases, as well as to create new varieties of flowers,” Ishisaka said.
The Original Los Angeles Flower Market was established in 1921 and is now part of the largest wholesale flower district in the U.S. Eligible recipients are juniors or seniors with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, majoring in agriculture with an emphasis on a future in floriculture. This scholarship is to provide tuition assistance to students attending a college/university in California or student residents of California attending a college/university in other areas of the U.S.
Julio and Sarah Armellini Scholarship – $2,200
Recipient: Kristin Potter, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Recipient: Kristin Potter, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Potter is a senior horticulture student with an emphasis on entrepreneurship who is interested in the floral industry, landscaping and greenhouse production. “My grandpa started our farming operation, and my father and uncle took it over,” she said. “Like them, I hope to one day own by own business.”
Julio “Toots” Armellini is founder of Armellini Express Lines, the largest flower carrier service in the U.S. Armellini enlisted in the Navy as a “Seabee” and was stationed all around the globe as a mechanic, where he learned the skills he used to modernize refrigerated trucking. When he began expanding his lines in the early 1950s, refrigeration was new and underdeveloped, so he established a more effective way of cooling his supplies using a system of constant airflow. ThermoKing eventually made his contributions to refrigeration systems standard. Today, Armellini has almost 70 years of experience in the industry, and Armellini Industries, Inc. encompasses many businesses: Armellini Express Lines, Inc., J.A. Flower Service, Inc., Fresco Service, Inc. and NorthStar Transportation, Inc. The Julio and Sarah Armellini Scholarship is intended for sophomore, junior, or senior students with a career interest in the marketing or distribution of floral products.
Ball Horticultural Company Scholarship – $900
Recipient: William English, University of Georgia
Recipient: William English, University of Georgia
English is a junior studying horticulture with a focus on floriculture and would like to eventually become a horticulture professor at a major institution. “There are few joys that I have more than waking up early and walking through the greenhouse and seeing the potential in each plug,” English said.
Ball Horticultural Company is a leading international breeder, producer and wholesale distributor of floriculture products. Ball brings the beginnings of color, foliage, fruit, and form to professional growers around the world for the retail and landscape markets. The Ball Horticultural Company Scholarship is intended for junior or senior students pursuing a career in commercial floriculture.
Harold Bettinger Scholarship ($2,000) and the Jacob and Rita Van Namen Marketing Scholarship – $1,100
Recipient: Amy Miller, The Ohio State University
Recipient: Amy Miller, The Ohio State University
Miller is a senior studying sustainable plant systems and agribusiness with a goal of becoming a plant researcher in horticulture. “I am passionate about working with greenhouse crops and am excited about being able to assist growers,” she said.
Harold Bettinger was a partner in Bettinger Farms of Swanton, Ohio. In the mid-‘50s, he was one of the first progressive growers to convert his bedding plant production from wooden to plastic flats. Bettinger Farms now grows greenhouse and field vegetables. The Bettinger Scholarship is intended for horticulture students, sophomore through graduate levels, who have a major or minor in business and/or marketing with the intent to apply their education to a horticulture-related career business.
The Jacob and Rita Van Namen Marketing Scholarship was established January 1997. Jacob Van Namen is a true entrepreneur who built a multimillion-dollar business in wholesale floriculture. This award is intended to develop knowledgeable, creative individuals to improve the floriculture industry. The Van Namen Scholarship requires students have a career interest in agribusiness marketing and distribution of floral products and be of sophomore, junior or senior standing.
Click here to read about the rest of the winners.
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