WEST CHESTER, PA — A. Duie Pyle will award $198,500 in scholarships to 43 students in 2026 through an employee-family education program that has distributed more than $836,000 since its launch, underscoring a growing investment in workforce retention and employee benefits beyond compensation.
The transportation and logistics company said the awards will be distributed through the Eleanor and James Latta Jr. Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to children and stepchildren of eligible employees pursuing college degrees or trade school training.
The scholarship program was established in 2013 by former President Steve O’Kane and his wife, Cheryl, with support from the Chester County Community Foundation. The fund honors Eleanor and James Latta Jr., members of the second generation of family leadership at the company.
The first awards were issued in 2014, when three students received a combined $15,000. Since then, the program has expanded substantially, with total scholarship funding surpassing $836,000.
Recipients are selected annually by an independent review committee that evaluates academic achievement and community involvement.
Peter Latta, chairman and chief executive officer of A. Duie Pyle, said the scholarship program reflects the company’s long-term emphasis on employee and family support.
“My parents, Eleanor and Jim Latta, believed deeply in people and in the power of education to change lives,” Latta said. “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.”
Several scholarship recipients highlighted the financial and educational impact of the awards.
“To the Pyle team, thank you so much for investing in mine and others’ futures,” said Jalissa Rayo, a 2026 recipient whose father works as a dockworker for the company in New Jersey.
Skyler Tavarez, another recipient and the child of a Pyle employee at the company’s East Brunswick, New Jersey, service center, credited the award with supporting years of academic and community-focused work.
The scholarship initiative is administered through the Chester County Community Foundation. A complete list of 2026 recipients is available at https://chescocf.org/fund/latta-scholarship-fund/.
A. Duie Pyle, founded more than a century ago, provides asset-based and non-asset-based transportation, warehousing and supply-chain services throughout the eastern United States. Additional information is available at https://aduiepyle.com.
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