SHELBY, Ohio–Pioneer Career and Technology Center honored the Gorman Family Foundation and the Gorman-Rupp Company as recipients of the 2015 Ralph Phillips Business Partners of the Year.
For the first time in the 10-year history of the awards Pioneer honored dual recipients, though both recipients came from one family. Jim Gorman of the Gorman Family Foundation along with Jeff Gorman, Brandon Hall, Scott King, David Daniels and Mark Kreinbihl from Gorman-Rupp in Mansfield were on hand Wednesday evening to accept the recognition from Pioneer.
“Gorman-Rupp is more than just a pump company,” said nominator Chris Karl, Precision Machining Technologies instructor at Pioneer. “Family, giving back to the community, caring for employee growth, and education were just a few of the terms that kept coming up in talking with representatives of the company.”
Pioneer Superintendent Greg Nickoli explained the Business Partner of the Year award was first created to honor the late Ralph Phillips as a supporter for Pioneer and its programs, students and alumni. The award was renamed after Phillips in 2010.
“The criteria for this award are designed around the attributes we most admired in Ralph,” said Nickoli. “Commitment to education, support and participation in mentoring, job shadowing and career tech student organizations as well as providing field trip opportunities and community projects, serving on Pioneer committees, providing financial support for Pioneer, the advancement of Pioneer levies, hiring of Pioneer students, and utilizing Pioneer training facilities and training opportunities.”
Karl and Martin Dzugan, Manufacturing and Adult Education Supervisor at Pioneer, both nominated the Gorman Family Foundation as well as Gorman-Rupp. Dzugan explained in conversations surrounding the nominees it became clear that both organizations deserved recognition.
“Over the years the Gorman family has been wonderful supporters of Pioneer,” said Dzugan.
With the leadership of Jim Gorman, the Gorman Family Foundation funded 27 scholarships for Pioneer students. The foundation also established a revolving loan fund to help Pioneer’s disadvantaged students meet basic education needs.
“The Gorman Family Foundation is not only a partner with Pioneer but with our entire community,” said Dzugan. “We are grateful to the Gorman family for their support of career technical education, and for that support we would like to recognize you for everything you do for us.”
Since the founding of the company in 1933, Gorman-Rupp has grown to create a family of pump companies that offers a wide selection of pumps and pumping systems for many fluid-handling applications. Gorman-Rupp pumps are continuously used around the world.
“We appreciate the recognition and the honor for both the company and the family,” said Jeff Gorman, CEO of Gorman-Rupp. “It’s a great partnership with Pioneer and one that we’ll make sure continues for many years to come.”
“The community has been very, very good to our company,” added Jim Gorman. “We just wanted to give a little bit back.”
“The Gorman Family Foundation is not only a partner with Pioneer but with our entire community,” said Martin Dzugan. “We are grateful to the Gorman family for their support of career technical education, and for that support we would like to recognize you for everything you do for us.”
