PORTLAND, Maine, June 18, 2012—At its Annual Meeting of the Policyholders last Monday, MEMIC awarded $10,000 in scholarships to two students. Brett Wilson of Mapleton, Maine, and Ryan Vaillancourt of Rutland, Vermont, each received $5,000.

The MEMIC Harvey Picker Horizon Scholarship is awarded annually to the spouse or child of a worker who has suffered a serious injury or death at work. They are selected from dozens of applicants each year.

“This scholarship is our way of acknowledging the difficulty that a workplace injury can place upon the hopes and dreams of families of injured workers,” said MEMIC Senior Vice President of External Affairs Michael Bourque. “We hope to help these two families who were confronted with tragedy see a brighter future on the horizon. We’re proud to support Brett’s and Ryan’s education.”

Brett’s father suffered a serious injury in 2008. He was working as a door and window installer when a garage door fell onto his head causing a neck injury that remains disabling despite several surgeries.

Brett is a recent graduate of Presque Isle High School and will attend the University of Maine at Fort Kent for their forestry program. He graduated in the top half of his class and is described by teachers and guidance counselors as a “talented and focused student” with a “quiet resolve and a sincere commitment to succeed.”

The mother of the second scholarship recipient, Ryan, worked as a resident aide and was seriously hurt while helping a patient who collapsed on her, injuring her neck, shoulder and back. She has had three significant surgeries and continues to recover.

Ryan recently graduated from Rutland High School with a 93 average. He plans to pursue his education at the University of Vermont studying biology and anatomy/physiology—influenced in part by his mother’s injury. In school, he was a class officer and member of the Student Senate. He is described by teachers as “reliable, hardworking and motivated.”

The MEMIC Harvey Picker Horizon Scholarship has been presented annually every year since 2001. With the 2012 award, MEMIC has granted scholarships totaling $90,000.

MEMIC's scholarship program is named after Harvey Picker, who died in March of 2008. Picker was a renowned physicist, educator and philanthropist who valued education. In 1992, Picker was appointed by then Gov. John R. McKernan as a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Workers’ Compensation which led to the formation of MEMIC. Picker later served as a member of the Board of Directors of MEMIC.

 

###About MEMIC

Specializing in workers' compensation insurance, The MEMIC Group includes of Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC), MEMIC Indemnity Company and MEMIC Casualty Company. MEMIC is rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best and insures nearly 20,000 employers across the northeast. The Group has offices in New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York and now Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The company maintains a dominant market share in Maine and has executed a careful growth strategy across the Northeast in recent years. Today, The MEMIC Group is the fifth largest underwriter of workers’ compensation business in New England and is among the fastest growing workers' comp insurers in New York. In 2012, the company expanded in the mid-Atlantic with operations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.