Zak Greer is the latest child of a Kosciusko County employee to receive the Nationwide Retirement Solutions Scholarship.
At the Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting Tuesday, Councilwoman Sue Ann Mitchell, current first vice president of the Association of Indiana Counties (AIC), along with Kevin Mitchell, state program director with Nationwide Retirement Solutions, recognized Zak as the scholarship winner. The scholarship is awarded to a county employee’s child and the employee must be participating in Nationwide’s retirement accounts.
Sue Ann said in her recollection, County Surveyor Mike Kissinger had a son, GIS Director Bill Holder had a son and former Area Plan employee Amy Irwin had a son and a daughter who all received the scholarship.
“So this will make $5,000 Nationwide has contributed to our children here in Kosciusko County with scholarships,” she said.
Kevin - no relation to Sue Ann - introduced Patrick Burkhart, the retirement specialist from Nationwide who works directly with the county’s employees for the 457 Deferred Compensation Plan. Kevin said Nationwide has had a long partnership with the county.
The scholarship is a partnership between Nationwide and AIC.
“And as Sue was saying, there’s quite a bit of dollars that have gone back to Kosciusko County. In fact, I believe it’s three years in a row that a student from Kosciusko County has won this award,” he stated, announcing that Zak won the scholarship.
Zak is a freshman attending IU South Bend, so accepting on his behalf was his mother, Brooke Greer, an employee of the Kosciusko County Probation Department. Zak is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, with his ultimate goal to be a state trooper.
Since Zak could not attend the commissioners meeting, Brooke read a letter from him. In the letter, he apologized for not being able to be there.
“I just want to thank Nationwide for selecting me to be one of the recipients of this scholarship. It will help alleviate some of the financial burden of going to college,” the letter stated.