Number of scholarships doubled due to increased demand
Vector Security has released the names of the winners of its 2010 LPF Scholarship Program. This is the second year in succession that Vector Security has hosted this continuing education program, which provides free LPQualified and LPCertified scholarships to worthy individuals.
According to Michael T. Grady, Vector Security’s executive vice president, this year’s program was changed to meet the expanding value of the LPF programs. “We expanded the program in several LP professionals who are looking for higher degrees of learning. Second, we also opened the program to people from outside the industry who are seeking LPQualified scholarships – such as college students, police officers and military personnel – who are seeking to develop careers in retail LP.”
For the 2010 program, Vector Security doubled the number of LPQualified and LPCertified scholarships made available through the company, in accordance with the increasing demand for the program. Vector Security, which is a founding board member of the Loss Prevention Foundation, has believed in the viability of the program since its inception and feels that education is the key to professionalizing the loss prevention industry. Everyone whose career is tied into retail loss prevention has a stake in increasing the level of professionalism within the industry. Better educated people can bring about greater results, create better LP programs and even better deploy new LP technologies within their organizations.
Gene Smith, president of the Loss Prevention Foundation, says that “Vector gets it! They realize that today’s LP professionals are expected to be sharp, technically savvy business managers, leaders, educators, social scientists, accountants, statisticians, high level executives, and of course, investigators. Certification is a means to enhance career performance. It expands a person’s knowledge and expertise, confirms understandings, challenges perspectives and reinforces loss prevention industry goals and objectives.” Grady adds, “Curbing losses due to shrinkage is the only free money left on retailers’ tables. They don’t need to discount it, promote it, advertise it, or stay open late to create it. And, LP departments are the reason why that money can fall right to the bottom line.”
However, the growing popularity of both Vector’s scholarship program and the LPF courses in general created a sort of yin-yang problem for the 2010 competition. “We were flooded with applications. This year’s program generated four times the amount of interest that last year’s did, and the problem was that most of these applicants were good candidates,” cite Grady. “We only had ten scholarship in each category to give away, but had identified other applicants as runners up who we fest deserved additional consideration.” Vector’s response was to ask the Loss Prevention Foundation to try to accommodate these additional well-deserving candidates through its existing internal scholarship pool.
The following is the list of winners and runners-up for the 2010 Vector Security LPF scholarship program:
LPCertified Winners
Terry Vannarsdale, Coca-Cola Enterprises
Adam Parker, Lamps Plus, Inc.
Elie Chemaly, Staples, Inc.
Johnny R. Custer LPQ – CFI, Merchant Analytic Solutions, LLC
Shawn Abernathy, Target Corporation
Melissa Truini, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc.
Dana Rossey, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc.
Tyler Davis, Gordmans
Donald E. Tarney, Staples, Inc.
Jeffrey S. Levitt, Panera Bread/Paradise Bakery & Café
LPCertified Runners Up
James P. Hiscock, Trans World Entertainment
Jeremy Yeomans, CFI, Big Lots Stores, Inc.
Michael A. O’Donnell, ALCO Duckwall Stores, Inc.
Daniel Taylor, Panera Bread
Douglas P. Pettigrew, Allsup’s Convenience Stores, Inc.
Adrian Nowalk, Duty Free Americas
LPQualified Winners
Derrick Welsh, Hastings Entertainment, Inc.
William Andrew Hollaway, AJ Wright
Matthew N. McHugh, Macy’s, Inc.
Arcelis N. Severino, Jr., Toys “R” Us, Inc.
James p. White, Sears Holding Corp.
Frank Moreno, Duane Reade, Inc.
Laura Guerry, Wal-Mart, Inc.
John W. Reid, Michaels Stores, Inc.
Thaddeus C. Hugues, Fred Meyer Stores
Stephen Walls, Hastings Entertainment
LPQualified Runners Up
John F. Watson, Lowe’s Home Improvement
Sonja Ann Chatman, Student
Andrew Diamond, Publix Super Markets, Inc.
Marcus Collins, Lowe’s Home Improvement
Erin Castro, Staples, Inc.
Lt. Col. William E. Carvajal-Ramirez, Independent Security Consultant
