Three area schools each receive $9,000 donations

Over the last several weeks the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce has celebrated the impact that it could make for area students.

In November 2022, the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation Inc. received a very generous donation from Martin Stone Quarries Inc. The Martin donation of $25,000 was earmarked for support in the three vocational schools that are members of the TriCounty chamber.

Eileen Dautrich, president of the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce and the chamber’s foundation, visited the area career and technical schools along with Rod Martin, president of Martin Stone Quarries Inc. to meet the students that would be benefitting from the Martin family’s generosity. Each of the three schools visited received a check for $9,000 to be put toward the program of their choice.

On March 17, Dautrich and Martin met with the students and the teacher in the welding department at Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center. The $9,000 donation will be used to purchase new tools and equipment for the program. In addition, the students had the opportunity to speak with Martin about the opportunities with his company for students in the program and with their skills.

On March 8, the $9000 check was presented to the engineering technology department in the Pottstown High School’s Career and Technical Education program. The engineering technology department will be using this donation to purchase a robotic arm for its program.

The final $9,000 check was presented to the heavy equipment operations program at the Berks Career and Technology Center on March 20. In addition to Martin, his cousin Travis Martin — who serves on an advisory board for the school — participated in this check presentation. Rod Martin shared that “the program can be an amazing place for Martin Stone Quarries Inc. and other businesses in our industry to find our future workforce.”

After the check presentation, Rod and Travis Martin travelled a few miles to a quarry where the students in the program get firsthand experience operating heavy equipment.

The TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation Inc. was created in 2002 and maintains a Pennsylvania designation as an Educational Improvement Organization (EIO). As an EIO, a business that donates to a non-profit organization with the EIO designation can receive state corporate tax credits. Since its inception, the funding donated to the foundation has been distributed to public schools and technical schools that are members of the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce for funding of vocational, career-development programming.