The Wendt Scholarship Program was designed to provide financial support to NECA Chapters that offer NECA Education training programs to their chapter members. Established in 2001, the Wendt Scholarship is named in honor of Al and Margaret Wendt of Cannon & Wendt Electric Company in Phoenix, Arizona, who contributed $1 million to the ELECTRI International Education Center.

ELECTRI awards up to $5,000 in education vouchers (not more than one request per Chapter per year) for use in programming offered through NECA Education. For many years, ELECTRI offered a maximum of $1,000 to any Chapter requesting a voucher for programming costs.  Increasing the amount to $5,000 for each request is to encourage Chapters to offer programming for their members that may have been cost prohibitive in the past.

Selection Process and Evaluation Criteria

• Selection is made by a committee consisting of the Executive Director of ELECTRI International, the Director of Engagement of ELECTRI International, plus selected industry and academic leaders. The committee’s decisions are final and are not subject to review.
• Financial need – The NECA Chapter must declare that the primary cause inhibiting the chapter from sponsorship of a program is the lack of adequate training funds.
• Local chapter participation – The local chapter must agree to use the grant funds in combination with other funds that might be required to offer a NECA Education course.
• Diversity – The selection committee will work toward making the group of award recipients as diverse as possible, considering such factors as geography and industry sector.
• All applications must be completed in full to be considered for the award.

How to Apply for the Wendt Scholarship

NECA Chapters complete the 2025 Wendt Scholarship application below.  The deadline for the application is December 1, 2024 and awardees will be notified by December 11, 2024.  The educational award will be available for use throughout 2025 and must be used by December 31, 2025.

For questions, please contact Laura Holmes at Laura.Holmes@electri.org or at 202-991-6257.