By Tanya Gross, PSU Foundation

Pizzicato Pizza, a local company celebrating 25 years next month, is supporting its employees in a new way — through scholarships at Portland State University. It is the first company to create a scholarship at PSU for current employees.

Tracy Frankel, company owner and president, and Felix Rippel, chief executive officer, announced the gift to 400 scholarship donors and student recipients at Portland State's scholarship reception Nov. 18. The annual event celebrates the impact of scholarships at PSU.

"We wanted to mark our 25th anniversary with a show of gratitude to our employees," Frankel said. "As the backbone of the company, they deserve every chance we can provide to help them succeed at work, and to realize their personal goals. Providing a scholarship at Portland State is a natural addition to our benefits package."

Two years ago, the University embarked on its Creating Futures scholarship campaign to raise private gifts for scholarships. Since then, the outpouring of support from the community has been tremendous with 5,500 donors giving over $44 million.

"The response to our fundraising efforts has been overwhelming — and inspiring," said PSU Foundation President/CEO Françoise Aylmer. "Donors have given in numbers never before seen at PSU and their support is already making a significant difference in the lives of students. When we started the campaign in 2012, we were able to award 700 scholarships totaling $1.5 million. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we awarded over 1,000 scholarships totaling $2.5 million last academic year."

Pizzicato Pizza's scholarship will assist up to 10 employees per academic year with tuition, fees and/or living expenses. Application criteria include being employed at Pizzicato for at least one year and being enrolled at PSU with a minimum 3.0 GPA. The company's commitment to education is long-standing. Its Dough for Dollars program contributed $78,000 to local schools last year and is aiming for $100,000 this year.

The company began operations in 1989 in a small shop in southwest Portland and expanded to 17 locations — including one on the PSU campus as well as elsewhere in Portland, Hood River and California.

To apply for scholarships at Portland State, please use our online form at http://www.pdx.edu/scholarships/.

To give to scholarships at Portland State, please contact Kathleen Hampton at 503-725-2649 or khampton@pdx.edu.