Vector Security Announces 2011 LPF Scholarship Program Winners

Vector matches increased scholarship program awareness and participation with an increased number of scholarships


In 2009 there were only 10; in 2010 there were 20; and now in in 2011 there were 30 scholarships which Vector Security provided to support those who want to increase their retail loss prevention centric educational and career opportunities. "This year, we received over 105 applications from those wanting to apply for these scholarships," cites Michael Grady, Vector Security's Executive Vice President. "That's almost ten times greater than the numbers we received during the first year of the program, and nearly three times the amount we received last year."

Grady credits this increasing interest and participation with three specific factors. "First and foremost, the growing desirability of the LPF educational programs speaks for itself. They offer a level of loss prevention education which is virtually unavailable outside the LPF. Second, loss prevention professionals are realizing that continuing education is important in a field where their roles are expanding quickly. LP professionals are expected to be sharp, technically savvy business managers, leaders, educators, social scientists, accountants, statisticians, high level executives, and of course -- investigators. Third, the loss prevention industry has received increasing levels of
awareness due to the LPF's great job at expanding the coursework to colleges and universities. That's attracting a more diverse level of people to their programs and the retail LP industry in general."

While the results of this year were outstanding, Grady states that Vector really didn't know what the first year would bring. "When we began this program in 2009, we were uncertain whether people would have an interest to respond. The LPF, itself, was in the process of improving and expanding its programs and we didn't know if the program would be widely accepted." That year, Vector got fewer than 20 applicants for the ten LPQ (Loss Prevention Qualified) scholarships the company donated.

"We sort of sat back and said this thing is going to take off, we just need to maintain our dedication to it." Then, 2010 was a pivotal year for Vector. The applicants tripled, Vector doubled the number of scholarships, and the program included the recently released LPC (Loss Prevention Certified) program.

That set the stage for 2011! Vector tripled the number of scholarships from their 2009 level and the LPF coursework, itself, progressed and became even more valuable to retail LP professionals. The result -- Vector's scholarship program received its largest level of interest and participation ever! We are pleased to announce this year's winners:
 

But according to Grady, not only the number of applicants has changed, "The level of interest from candidates located outside the direct retail loss prevention community has grown significantly. We had ex-military and ex-police candidates, college students and people who are between jobs seeking scholarships this year. That's a great testimony to the attractiveness of the retail LP industry as of late, and we made sure to include those types of individuals in this year's selection." He closes by saying that those who maintain a continued interest in the scholarship program and demonstrate a real work ethic in the way they pursue opportunities are receiving additional attention. "The fact that we are experiencing an increasing level of interest from the public, and are expanding our contributions accordingly is great; but we are dismayed by the fact that we are disappointing people, most of whom are good scholarship candidates. When we see people continually applying for scholarships, that means they're engaged in the process, and that helps them rise to the top."