Anest Iwata Joins Support of Scholarship Fund

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes partnered with Larsen Motorsports (LMS) in 2019 and established the Blazing Trails Scholarship Fund, which aims to address the talent shortage facing the collision repair industry by providing financial aid to prospective automotive technicians. Anest Iwata now joins the partnership to support the scholarship fund and build on its outreach effort to post-secondary education institutions with automotive service and collision repair and refinish programs.

Anest Iwata, a manufacturer of engineered solutions for air compressors, vacuum pumps, spray and finishing equipment headquartered in Cincinnati, will provide scholarship recipients with spray guns to use while in school and after graduation when employed in the shop.

“We’re thrilled to be a part of the Blazing Trails Scholarship Fund and not only support the industry’s effort to recruit talent, but be able to work directly with the schools and the educators, and help train future techs and painters on how to properly use our equipment and perfect their craft,” says Nicolle LouAllen, director of marketing, Anest Iwata.

Anest Iwata’s partnership began just in time to award the first Blazing Trails Scholarship Fund winner this year – Nicole Turner. Turner, 28 years old, is attending Florida Tech in Eustis, Florida for auto body finishes. A Blazing Trails Scholarship Fund winner, she not only received a scholarship including a full year of tuition, but also four Anest Iwata spray guns.

“Ensuring students have the proper equipment and tools required to start their career is imperative to their success,” says LouAllen. “Nowadays students need access to state-of-the-art tools and professional instruction found in a college or vocational school, as well as the additional support and assistance from the industry in companies like us, and Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes and Larsen Motorsports.”

The Blazing Trails Scholarship Fund is currently reviewing applications from students around the country. Click here for more information.