6/26/2020 – For a fifth year, KBE Building Corporation has awarded scholarships to 13 graduating students from the Connecticut Technical High School system, with the hopes of encouraging the State’s youth to pursue careers in the construction industry. To date, KBE has awarded $84,000 to graduating Technical High School seniors.
This year’s awards totaled $13,000. The funds will help the students pay for the costs of post-high school education programs in the pursuit of a construction career. These programs can range from include training programs in carpentry, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing trades, certification classes for state licensure as well as 2- and 4-year degree programs in construction management.
“The construction company in Connecticut and across the nation is facing a dire shortage of qualified workers, from trade craftworkers to construction project managers and superintendents,” explains Robert Dunn, Esq., senior vice president of KBE Building Corporation. “At KBE, we believe we have a responsibility to encourage young women and men to pursue construction careers and help ensure a solid workforce for the future. One challenge is convincing students and their families that a construction career can be highly rewarding, both financially and personally.”
This year’s recipients include:
- Alexander Valencia, J.M. Wright Technical High School
- Chloe LaBissoniere, H.C. Wilcox Technical High School
- Corinthian Foulks, J.M. Wright Technical High School
- Felix Leb, J.M. Wright Technical High School
- Jarred Gionfriddo, Emmett O’Brien Technical High School
- Joshua Giron, J.M. Wright Technical High School
- Kyla Atwood, Harvard Ellis Technical High School
- Marisa Shiland, Henry Abbott Technical High School
- Matthew Lundeen, Emmett O’Brien Technical High School
- Michael Rigo, J.M. Wright Technical High School
- Isaaih Rodriguez, A.I. Prince Technical High School
- Jordan Furey, Ella T. Grasso Southeastern Technical High School
- Jason Folcik, E.C. Goodwin Technical High School
Some of this year’s scholarship recipients sent ‘thank you’ notes to KBE:
“I would like to say thank you as I am very honored to have been able to be granted this scholarship to further my education in the trade. I will definitely put this scholarship to good use to start my career to become an electrician.” – Corinthian Foulks
“This money will be a huge help to me for buying tools for the trade. Thank you so much.” – Matthew Lundeen
“Thank you so much! This will really help me as I pursue my degree.” – Marisa Shiland
KBE also received warm ‘thank you’ notes from technical high school principals, including Dr. Phyllis Bartoli, PhD, from J.M. Wright Technical High School. “I’m blown away with joy! Thank you for awarding $5,000 to my five electrical seniors. I am so happy for them and proud of their award,” exclaimed Dr. Bartoli.
This is the fifth year that KBE has awarded scholarships to the state’s technical high school students, and to date, has provided $84,000 in awards to 112 students. This year’s awardees represented 11 towns and cities throughout Connecticut.
KBE Building Corporation first awarded scholarships to students from Connecticut Technical High School System in 2014 as part of the firm’s 50 Ways to Make a Difference philanthropic initiative.
About KBE Building Corporation
Located in Farmington, CT; Norwalk, CT; and Columbia, MD, KBE Building Corporation is a full-service, single-source commercial construction company strategically positioned to serve the Eastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S. Founded in 1959 and incorporated in 1966, the firm provides preconstruction, construction management, design-build, and general contracting services to clients in the retail, educational, senior living, federal, corporate, hospitality, health care, and institutional markets. KBE has managed more than $2.5 billion in construction volume over the last decade and is ranked among Engineering News-Record magazine’s top 400 construction companies nationally. Learn more at www.kbebuilding.com.
KBE is one of the KBE Companies, which includes KBE-NY, serving metropolitan New York, and New Valley Construction, serving the Western US. Through this affiliation of full-service construction management firms, the KBE Companies serve clients throughout the US in the senior living, higher education, retail, corporate, government, hospitality/entertainment, and health care markets.
Media Contact: Jonelle Lawhorn | KBE Director of Marketing
t: 860.284.7431| c: 860.836.7517 | e: jlawhorn@kbebuilding.com
KBE’s team of 120+ construction professionals and support staff is deeply committed to the firm’s corporate philanthropy program, 50 Ways to Make a Difference. Established in 2009 to celebrate the firm’s 50 years in business, 50 Ways has helped KBE associates donate more than $3.4 million and 16,000 volunteer hours to charitable causes benefiting children, seniors, and military veterans in Connecticut and Maryland.