Scholarships and Professional Development
BEMA is committed to educating the baking industry’s workforce. Providing scholarships is nothing new to BEMA. In 1984, BEMA launched its first scholarship program. Using funds earned from the International Baking Industry Exposition, $50,000 was allocated for scholarships to BEMA. BEMA named its scholarship program after former president Tom Belshaw. Six years later, a second $50,000 was added from IBIE to the scholarship efforts for both associations.
This time, however, BEMA honored former president Robert Loeb by naming a second scholarship program after him.Today, these two programs have been combined into the Belshaw-Loeb Scholarship Fund. Interest earned from the investments in this fund is used for scholarships for a senior and junior in the Grain Science program at Kansas State University (K-State).