WEST CHESTER, PA — A. Duie Pyle will award $198,500 in scholarships to 43 students in 2026, expanding an employee-benefit program that has distributed more than $836,000 to the children of workers since its launch more than a decade ago.
The scholarship program, administered through the Eleanor and James Latta Jr. Scholarship Fund, provides financial assistance to children and stepchildren of eligible employees pursuing college degrees or trade school education.
The awards underscore how employers are increasingly using education assistance programs as part of broader workforce retention and recruitment strategies, particularly in industries facing competition for skilled labor.
Founded in 2013 with support from the Chester County Community Foundation, the scholarship fund honors Eleanor and James Latta Jr., members of the second generation of ownership at A. Duie Pyle, a family-owned transportation and logistics company headquartered in West Chester.
The program awarded its first three scholarships in 2014, totaling $15,000. This year’s awards bring cumulative scholarship funding to more than $836,000.
Recipients are selected through an independent review process that evaluates academic achievement and community involvement.
“My parents, Eleanor and Jim Latta, believed deeply in people and in the power of education to change lives,” said Peter Latta, chairman and chief executive officer of A. Duie Pyle. “The Pyle People have shaped our company for more than 100 years, and supporting their children’s educational goals is one meaningful way we can continue investing in our shared future.”
Among this year’s recipients is Jalissa Rayo, whose father, Holman Rayo Valle, works as a dockworker in Carteret, New Jersey.
“Thank you so much for investing in mine and others’ futures,” Rayo said. “Your support truly means a lot.”
Another recipient, Skyler Tavarez, whose father, Edwin Tavarez, works as a yard jockey at the company’s East Brunswick, New Jersey, service center, said the scholarship recognized years of academic effort and community involvement.
A. Duie Pyle, founded in 1924, provides transportation, warehousing and supply chain services throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
A complete list of scholarship recipients is available through the Chester County Community Foundation’s Latta Scholarship Fund webpage at https://chescocf.org/fund/latta-scholarship-fund/.
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