Collision Repair Education Foundation and 3M announce first round of winners for the Hire Our Heroes Grant

The Collision Repair Education Foundation and 3M are proud to announce the 59 winners for the first round of Hire Our Heroes awards. The winners include 54 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: 

Adrian Hargett (Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, GA)

Amanda Johnson (Weber State University, Ogden, UT) 

Agustin Leon (Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, CO) 

Billy McPherson (Gateway Community College, Covington, KY) 

Brennan Forester (Salt Lake Community College, Sandy, UT) 

Chad Mcken (Bridgerland Applied Technology College, Logan, UT) 

Charles Andrews (Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, WI) 

Chris Baker (Lincoln College of Nashville, Nashville, TN) 

Daniel Mora (Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA) 

David Marstall (Washburn Tech, Topeka, KS) 

David Frye (Lincoln College of Technology, Nashville, TN) 

David Sellers (Aims Community College, Windsor, CO) 

David Clifford (Athens Technical College, Athens, GA) 

Derek Fortine (Butler Community College, El Dorado, KS) 

Edward Foster (Northern Maine Community College, Presque Isle, ME) 

Edwin Thomas (Gadsden State Community College - Ayers Campus, Anniston, AL) 

James Miller (Ranken Technical College, St Louis, MO) 

James Langie (Delgado Community College, New Orleans, LA) 

James Gill (Universal Technical Institute, Houston, TX) 

James Steele (Kennedy King College, Chicago, IL) 

Jarid Denning (Alfred State College, Alfred, NY) 

Jasen Klimek (Northland Community and Technical College, Thief River Falls, MN) 

Jefrey Mejia (Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA) 

Jeremiah Kuehl (Universal Technical Institute, Houston, TX) 

Jermain Richie (Moore-Norman Technology Center, Norman, OK) 

Johnny Guzman Lopez (Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, NE) 

Jonathan Gibson (South Seattle Community College, Seattle, WA) 

Joshua Williamson (Ranken Technical College, St. Louis, MO) 

Juan Hernandez (Texas State Technical College, Harlingen, TX) 

Keith Smith (Lincoln Tech of Nashville, Nashville, TN) 

Keith Totten (Lake Tech Center, Eustis, FL) 

Kevin Young (Cape Fear Community College, Wilmington, NC) 

Leesa Wilson (Lincoln College of Technology, Nashville, TN) 

Len Baker (Kennedy King College, Chicago, IL) 

Marco Torres (Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA) 

Marco Salinas (Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne, WY) 

Michael Byrd (Tennessee Technology Center, Huntsville, TN) 

Michael Herrera (College Of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, NV) 

Michael Griffith (Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, CO) 

Nathan LaLonde (Southeast Technical Institute, Sioux Falls, SD) 

Randy Anderson (Wisconsin Indianhead Technical Collage, Rice Lake, WI) 

Rodolfo Orozco (Lincoln College of Technology, Melrose Park, IL) 

Ron Marsh (Southeast Community College, Milford, NE) 

Ryan Courtney (Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, CO) 

Ryan Campbell (Erie Community College, Orchard Park, NY) 

Sean Brons (Northwest Iowa Community College, Sheldon, IA) 

Shawn Durante (Lake Tech, Eustis, FL) 

Shawn Kastner (Ridgewater College, Willmar, MN) 

Steve Casady (Kirksville Area Technical Center, Kirksville, MO) 

Steven Donaldson (George Stone Technical Center, Pensacola, FL) 

Thomas Bernhofer (Lake Washington Institute of Technology, Kirkland, WA) 

Thomas Yates (Gordon Cooper Technology Center, Shawnee, OK)  

Timothy Lloyd (Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Rice Lake, WI) 

Timothy Heiser (Automotive Training Center, Exton, PA) 

3M Hire Our Heroes – Veteran Family Award Recipients: 

Gabrielle Williams (Lawson State Community College, Birmingham, AL) 

Joshua Hausman (Lincoln College of Technology, Nashville, TN) 

Loretta Jacobs (WyoTech, Blairsville, PA)

Matthew Adams (Universal Technical Institute, Houston, TX) 

Tyler Mitchell (Granger High School, West Valley City, UT)

The second round of award winners will be announced in July. 

"We're proud to work with the Collision Repair Education Foundation to support training for these deserving veterans and their family members, and we are excited about these young men and women joining our industry," said Dale Ross, U.S. marketing operations manager for 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division. 

The Collision Repair Education Foundation and 3M are also offering a special scholarship for post 9/11 military veterans who would like to return to school to study collision repair in the fall 2013 or have started studying at a collision school after April 1, 2013. The application for this award is available on the website www.CollisionEducationFoundation.org and is due July 31, 2013. Questions can be directed to Melissa Marscin, Director of Grant Programs at [email protected].