Rhea & Kaiser, a marketing communications agency based in Chicago, has created two one-time scholarships to be offered by The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Illinois State University. The scholarships honor long-time clients of Rhea & Kaiser who have recently retired.
The $750 scholarships were established in the Department of Agriculture in honor of Illinois State graduate Dave Striegel and in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) in honor of U of I graduate Vern McGinnis. Both Striegel and McGinnis were long-time employees of GROWMARK, Inc., a regional farm supply and grain marketing cooperative based in Bloomington, Ill.
“Rhea & Kaiser has enjoyed a 25-year relationship with GROWMARK, and we are proud of the friendships we’ve enjoyed with Dave and Vern during those years,” said Steve Rhea, president and CEO of Rhea & Kaiser. “This is an opportunity to recognize these relationships while helping support tomorrow’s agricultural leaders.”
The scholarships are open to any student of agriculture who achieved at least an equivalent, cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The money is intended for educational expenses, such as tuition, fees and textbooks.
Striegel is former Director of Corporate Communications and Marketing Services with GROWMARK. McGinnis recently retired after many years with GROWMARK, most recently in the capacity as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Corporate Services.
About Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications
Headquartered in Naperville, Ill., with a service office in downtown Chicago, Rhea & Kaiser is a full-service, integrated marketing communications agency with annual capitalized billings of $118 million. The agency’s portfolio includes leading business-to-business, agricultural and consumer clients. In April 2007, Rhea & Kaiser was once again named to Adweek’s Top 100 Agencies ranking.