NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release
05/08/2007

Iraq War Vet Wins ISA Buffington Memorial Scholarship

The Industrial Supply Association (ISA) announced today that University of Nebraska at Kearney student Lewis Hyatt was chosen as the recipient of the 2007-08 Gary L. Buffington Memorial Scholarship. A sergeant who has served in the Nebraska National Guard since 2000, Hyatt was deployed to Iraq in 2003-2004 as a military police officer.

“Lewis is a very impressive young man, having served our country in Iraq, working his way through school, paying for his own education and his wife's education,” said Tim Tevens, president and CEO of Columbus McKinnon Corp., and chair of ISA’s scholarship selection committee.

The Gary L. Buffington Memorial Scholarship was created in 2003 as a memorial to former I.D.A. Executive Vice President Gary Buffington. It is awarded each year to a rising senior in a qualified undergraduate industrial distribution program. The ISA Educational Foundation selection committee evaluates candidates from colleges with programs in industrial distribution.

Hyatt will graduate in the spring of 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Distribution and hopes to begin a career in sales or management training with an industrial distribution company. He completed an internship in early 2007 at Winair Denver, a member of the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) unit of WinWholesale.

“Lewis represents our program very well. He is very mature and has great leadership qualities. He is a very proficient speaker, trainer and presenter and has strong moral and ethical values,” said Dr. Don Envick, professor and coordinator of the Industrial Distribution program at UNK.

Hyatt is on the leadership team of UNK’s student-run Industrial Distribution Organization. As a varsity wrestler at UNK, he made the NCAA Division II All-Academic Team in 2005; received the Horatio Alger Military Scholarship in 2005; earned the Soldier of the Year award in 2006 from the 1195th Transportation Company, and the Papé Group Industrial Distribution Scholarship in 2006. He also plays the guitar and enjoys volunteering as a youth wrestling instructor.

Hyatt’s wife, Bethany, is a full-time graduate student studying school psychology at UNK.

“Being a new home owner, this energetic young man is completing his career and looking forward to joining the working ranks in distribution along with continuing to be a trainer for troops deploying to Iraq,” said Tevens. “He epitomizes what Gary Buffington was all about, passion for hard work and dedication for people and our industry.”

As a member of the 1195th Transportation Company of the National Guard unit based in Kearney, Neb., Hyatt says the time he spent in Iraq was a valuable learning experience that taught him to appreciate life more fully. “I matured a lot during my deployment. I made a lot of good friends. The experience taught me leadership skills. Since I’ve gotten back from Iraq, I’ve spent a lot of time training younger troops that are being deployed,” he said.