Paula Pogge of Council Bluffs, IA and Daniel Kent Parker of Snyder, TX have been awarded the first two scholarships from theClifford H. “Ted” Rees, Jr. Scholarship Foundationwhich encourages students to seek careers in the HVACR industry.

Pogge, a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Council Bluffs, is a student at Vatterott College in Omaha, NB. Parker graduated from Snyder High School in Snyder, TX and attends Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater, TX.

The HVACR industry needs more than 20,000 technicians and installers annually just to fill vacancies. There are an estimated 1,350 HVACR training programs nationwide, but demand for skilled HVACR workers exceeds supply with many contractors saying that the scarcity of competent workers is their number one business challenge.

Applications for scholarships up to $2,000 each are available at www.reesscholarship.org, or by writing Rees Scholarship Foundation, 4100 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22203.