AGC of California 2011 President Gerry DiIoli commended two students for being named 2011 President‘s Scholarship recipients. Josh Payne and Sy Harrell, both slated to graduate Chico State in 2013 with degrees in construction management, were honored at AGC’s state board of directors meeting on Jan. 27 in Sacramento.
Each year the AGC Associates Council works with many of the individual districts as well as the Construction Education Foundation to raise $5,000 for the AGC President’s Scholarship. The immediate past president is then asked to select a recipient.
“In selecting the President’s Scholarship recipient this year I came to the conclusion that I wanted to give the scholarship to a student or students who were already active in the AGC family,” said Past President DiIoli, “Someone who understands the pride in being an AGC member and are giving back to the association even before they are out of school.”
Both Payne and Harrell are active in the AGC Student Chapter at CSU Chico, serving on its board. They are also co-project managers for the Joplin Blitz Build Project, which consists of 80 students building five homes for families displaced by the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Mo. They also volunteer their time with the foundation’s construction career awareness days.
Prior to coming to Chico State, Payne worked for several years in the industry from managing a warehouse at a tile and stone supplier to working as a plumbers apprentice and a laborer. He was also the foreman for last year’s Blitz Build project where the student chapter built houses for domestic violence victims in Chico.
Harrell served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 10 years supervising construction and excavation projects in Iraq and SE Asia and was personally selected for high profile and difficult missions.
“They are both incredibly hard-working and have really bright futures in our industry ahead of them. I am very happy to play a small part in helping them get there,” DiIoli said.
