Sherwin-Williams will fund grants for 80 first-generation or economically disadvantaged University of Akron students, the school announced Wednesday, as part of a program intended to help the paint manufacturing company expand its future workforce.
The $700,000 program will amount to about $6,000 a year for four years for students who study fields such as chemistry, computer engineering and polymer science. The first batch of scholarships will be available this fall; the program will fund a cohort of up to 40 students both this year and next year.
In addition to paying about half the cost of tuition at the university, the program will fund mentors to help students acclimate to college and a graduate assistant who will manage the mentors, said Wendy Lampner, the director of online, continuing and professional education at the university.
Lampner said Sherwin-Williams approached Akron about funding the scholarship two years ago and is planning others in the region, including at Cleveland State University. No one from Sherwin-Williams responded to requests for comment via phone and email.
“Sherwin’s goal is a talent acquisition goal,” Lampner said. “They had specific targeted professions in mind. Talent acquisition is a problem at this time.”
As part of the scholarship, participants will also receive career coaching and trips to Sherwin-Williams facilities, among other career development opportunities.
Lampner said first-generation and economically disadvantaged students are being targeted as a way to expand access to talent in challenging fields.
“They’re looking at populations of students that might need additional support,” she said. “It’s easy for a student to get bogged down in some test or paper they’re writing, and the goal is the career. When a student can really see what they can do with it, it makes a huge difference.”
In a statement, Akron Senior Vice Provost Gwyneth Price said the university believes the best way to help students find good employment opportunities is to collaborate with companies that are located in the region. Sherwin-Williams is headquartered in Cleveland.
Lampner said the university also has partnerships with Goodyear and Amazon, and she hopes more businesses will fund scholarships to help educate their future workforce.
“It’s something that’s happening more for sure,” she said. “It’s increasing in popularity.”
Diana Strongosky, senior vice president of global innovation for Sherwin-Williams, said in a statement that the company was excited to support a program that would “help us continue to attract, develop and retain the best and brightest talent for Sherwin-Williams and the broader region.”
While Sherwin-Williams has only committed to the scholarship program this year and next, Lampner said she’d like to see this and other programs continue to expand.
“I think there’s a chance if we can show success, if students are ending up at Sherwin,” she said. “We certainly do hope it’ll prove to be successful.”
