Julio “Toots” Armellini founded Armellini Express Lines, the largest flower carrier service in the U.S. His experience in the Navy as a “Seabee” and a mechanic, taught him the skills he used to modernize refrigerated trucking. In the early 1950s, refrigeration was new and underdeveloped, so he established a more effective way of cooling his supplies using a system of constant airflow. ThermoKing eventually made his contributions to refrigeration systems standards. Today, Armellini Logistics encompasses many businesses: Armellini Express Lines, Inc., J.A. Flower Service, Armellini Freight Brokerage, Armellini Air Express, and Dash Mobile Storage. The Julio and Sarah Armellini Scholarship is intended for sophomore, junior or senior students with a career interest in the marketing or distribution of floral products.

Ed Markham was an international horticulturist. He began a career in horticulture sales after graduating from the Horticulture Department at Cornell University in 1942. Ed’s interest in providing scholarship funds to study marketing through international travel stemmed from his first trip abroad in the early 1960s. The Colegrave Seabrook Foundation International Scholarship operates in cooperation with the David Colegrave Foundation in London, England. Each year there will be an exchange of students between the U.S. and Europe, alternating between the two countries. Scholarship awards of $4,500 will be made. U.S. students should apply for this scholarship in even-numbered years (2022, 2024, etc.)

Ed Tuinier, owner of Post Gardens, loved the greenhouse business, building his firm to one of the top 50 U.S. companies and inspiring his children, all of whom work in one of the two Post Gardens locations. A graduate of Michigan State University, Ed was a major benefactor of the MSU horticulture program and demonstration gardens. The Tuinier Scholarship is awarded to sophomore, junior or senior undergraduate students enrolled in the floriculture program at Michigan State University.

The seed companies Ball, Pan-American, Goldsmith and Syngenta are leaders in the seed production and breeding industry, providing new, improved varieties. These seed companies cooperatively sponsor this scholarship. The Seed companies scholarship requires students to have a career goal within the seed industry and be junior or senior level undergraduates or graduate students.

Jim Rathmell was a horticulture extension specialist at Penn State University who promoted communication and cooperation with horticulturists in other countries. A widely published author, he worked with commercial growers to implement many outstanding educational programs. The Rathmell scholarship is awarded to junior or senior level undergraduates or graduate students who have a specific plan for horticulture work/study outside of the U.S.

Harold Bettinger was a partner in Bettinger Farms of Swanton, Ohio. In the mid-’50s, he was one of the first progressive growers to convert his bedding plant production from wooden to plastic flats. Bettinger Farms now grows greenhouse and field vegetables. The Bettinger Scholarship is intended for horticulture students, sophomore through graduate levels, who have a major or minor in business and/or marketing with the intent to apply their education to a horticulture-related career business.

The Vocational (Bettinger, Holden & Perry) scholarship requires students to be in a one or two-year program with the intent to become a grower or greenhouse manager. The vocational scholarship awards a scholarship in honor of: LEONARD BETTINGER, a successful greenhouse grower in the Bettinger Farms family business in Toledo, Ohio, and president of the BPI trade association (1974-76); JOHN HOLDEN, who had a long career at Ball Seed Co. and was active in the BPI trade association; JIM PERRY, a respected wholesale nurseryman, who grew Perry’s Plants of La Puente, Calif., into one of the largest bedding plant operations in the U.S and president of BPI (1972-1974).

The Jacob and Rita Van Namen Marketing Scholarship was established January 1997. Jacob Van Namen is a true entrepreneur who built a Research Report 217 - Banker Plantsmultimillion-dollar business in wholesale floriculture. This award is intended to develop knowledgeable, creative individuals who will improve the floriculture industry. The Van Namen Scholarship requires students to have a career interest in agribusiness marketing and distribution of floral products and be of sophomore, junior or senior standing.

John Tomasovic, past president of BPFI, has grown his family business, Tomasovic Greenhouses and Nursery, Inc., in St. Louis, which includes a greenhouse from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. They produce bedding plants, along with nursery stock, mums, poinsettias, and bulbs. The Tomasovic scholarship offers special consideration for sophomore, junior or senior undergraduate students with financial need and grade point average between 3.0 and 3.5.

Suntory Flowers Scholarship is intended for junior or senior undergraduates attending a 2 or 4-year institution, with a focus on a career in floriculture or ornamental horticulture breeding or production, with a passion for exploration in developing new and innovative floral products. Based in Japan, Suntory Flowers is a world-class breeding company dedicated to innovation and enriching lives by creating a world that’s alive with flowers. Suntory’s guiding philosophy and passion is “Yatte Minahare” – the spirit of bold ambition to dream big, take challenges and never give up. This means challenging conventional methods and striving to make the impossible possible. Let’s inspire the next generation to dream big and while contributing to the growth of our industry.