EAU CLAIRE — The first in a series of $25,000 gifts from the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company in Chippewa Falls and its parent company, Miller Brewing Company, will fund a new scholarship program in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire College of Business that eventually will provide six $1,000 scholarships annually.
          The companies’ first $25,000 gift to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation and the creation of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company College of Business Scholarship program were announced Dec. 1 at UW-Eau Claire’s College of Business Scholarship Recognition Luncheon.
          The Leinenkugel scholarship program, to be implemented over the next five years, will eventually award six $1,000 marketing and diversity scholarships annually to College of Business students. The program’s first scholarship will be awarded in fall 2001 to a sophomore prebusiness student who is economically disadvantaged as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and/or is a member of one or more of the following American ethnic minority groups: African-American, American Indian, Southeast Asian, or Hispanic American. The College of Business Scholarship Committee will announce the first recipient in May.
          By 2005, four $1,000 Leinenkugel diversity scholarships will be awarded each year—two at the sophomore level and two at the junior/senior level. Two additional $1,000 scholarships will be awarded annually to outstanding College of Business junior or senior marketing students.
          “The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company Scholarship program allows us to honor one of the oldest businesses in Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley,” said Gretchen Hutterli, UW-Eau Claire College of Business assistant dean for external affairs. “We look forward to working with the Miller Brewing Company and the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company on this very distinctive and exciting scholarship program.”
          Jake Leinenkugel, president of Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, cited his company’s desire to support the positive impact of the College of Business in the Chippewa Valley as the reason for establishing the scholarship program. “We recognized a need for good business acumen and a skill base in this area of Wisconsin where my great-great-grandfather started business so many years ago,” Leinenkugel said.
          Leinenkugel noted that several UW-Eau Claire graduates have worked for his company, as have “very high caliber” College of Business students as part of their undergraduate studies. He has come to recognize, through his contacts with representatives from the College of Business, what the university can provide area businesses in terms of both current services and skilled graduates prepared to contribute. “We have recognized an importance to being affiliated with UW-Eau Claire,” Leinenkugel said.
          The Leinenkugel scholarships will serve a dual purpose, Leinenkugel added. “First, they will fulfill employment needs in the Chippewa Valley. Second, they will give opportunities to students who otherwise might not have had them.”
          Jim Vance, director of UW-Eau Claire’s American Ethnic Coordinating Office, added that the funding for the diversity scholarships has broad implications both for College of Business students and for this region of Wisconsin. “By creating these scholarships, we pave the way for students of diverse backgrounds to pursue their education and position themselves to face the challenges that will exist in the workforce when they graduate,” he said.
          He also noted that the scholarships will encourage more College of Business graduates to remain in the Chippewa Valley to pursue their careers. “Given the location of UW-Eau Claire, the thought has been that many students from larger cities will leave the area after they graduate,” he explained. “These scholarships will allow them to choose to stay in an environment where they’ve become a part of the community.”
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Updated: Dec. 1, 2000