Five students each recently received a $500 scholarship in honor of one of Minnesota’s electric cooperative leaders.
The Jay A. York Scholarship was established in 1994 in recognition of the first Minnesotan to head the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. York was a prominent figure in the rural electric cooperative industry for nearly 30 years.
He was elected in 1964 for the Nobles Cooperative Electric Board of Directors and was said to be known for his leadership ability, dedication to his fellow rural Americans and a deep understanding of the issues that affected them.
Seven distribution cooperatives participated in the Jay A. York Scholarship program this year: Federated Rural Electric Association, McLeod Cooperative Power, Nobles Cooperative Electric, Redwood Electric Cooperative, Renville-Sibley Cooperative Power Association, Sioux Valley Energy and South Central Electric Association.
From those, five winners were randomly selected: Parker Burdoff (McLeod), Griffin Kubesh (Renville-Sibley), Ryan Pierson (South Central), Keera Pottratz (Sioux Valley), and Quintyn Vold (Redwood).