Focus Scholarships Available for Northwestern Alberta Students
July 19, 2005

GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALBERTA-Focus is pleased to announce the creation of two Geomatics Scholarships to be awarded annually to students graduating from high school in northwestern Alberta.

The Focus Geomatics Scholarships will be awarded to students who plan to enrol full time in a recognized geomatics degree or diploma program of at least two years duration. The scholarships are valued at $5000 for a student entering a geomatics degree program and $2500 for a student entering a diploma program.

The geomatics industry, like many others in Alberta, is experiencing shortages of qualified staff. There are not enough graduating students across our industry to fill demand, either for technical staff or university graduates. In addition, recruitment of those graduates to the Peace country is difficult because of employment opportunities in the big centres like Edmonton and Calgary. These scholarships have been created to generate interest with high school students in geomatics and to support those educational endeavours.

"We are very excited to offer young people in Northwestern Alberta an opportunity to complete their secondary education and pursue a career where they grew up," explains Steve Keddy, Branch Manager for the Grande Prairie office. "Focus is very active in northwestern Alberta and these scholarships are a way for us to give back to the community where we work," adds Keddy.

Students who receive scholarships can enter the Geomatics degree program at the University of Calgary, University of New Brunswick, Laval University or the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Students interested in the Geomatics diploma programs can attend NAIT, SAIT, BCIT, COGS, SIAST, Lethbridge Community College or the College of the North Atlantic. The successful recipients will be chosen by Focus based on completed application forms and academic achievement. Additional details and applications are available from high schools in the area or from the Focus office in Grande Prairie. The Grande Prairie office was opened in 1993 with a staff of three and has grown to its current size of seventy staff.

The Focus Corporation is a multi-disciplinary consulting firm providing a range of engineering, geomatics, planning and project management services to clients in the energy, environmental, infrastructure, land development and resource sectors. Clients rely on Focus to deliver world-class technical solutions that optimize their investments, improve their competitive position and increase their long-term success. Focus employs over 550 staff in offices throughout Canada and project offices in selected areas of the world. Focus is a year 2002 winner of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies Program and successfully requalified as a 2003 and 2004 winner.

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