Barron Heating & Air Conditioning, a full-service HVAC, electrical and plumbing contractor based in Ferndale, Washington, recently awarded two $5,000 scholarships: one to a current Barron employee, and one to a community member. The grants will help these students obtain family-wage jobs in the building trades without incurring significant education debt.

The 2020 recipients are Brian Egge of Bellingham, Washington, and Isidro Perez Jr. of Lynden, Washington.

The Dan L. Barron Trades Scholarship aims to provide opportunities to individuals looking to enter the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, electrical or plumbing trades and begin a successful career journey for themselves and their families. Barron Heating is providing both Egge and Perez $5,000 scholarships to attend Bellingham Technical College.

“There’s no obligation to future employment with Barron Heating to receive these scholarships — it’s simply our way of encouraging people to enter the rewarding trades field,” said John Barron, owner of Barron Heating. His father, the late Dan Barron, founded Barron Heating nearly 50 years ago.

Egge was born and raised in Olympia, Washington. After 17 years in the restaurant industry, he moved to Bellingham and began attending classes in BTC’s HVAC program. Egge became a part-time service technician at Barron Heating last fall and will complete the program in September. He is married with two children.

Perez is a Lynden High School graduate who lives in the community with his wife and two children. He will begin attending BTC classes this fall with a goal of earning an Associate of Applied Sciences degree and becoming an electrician.

Committed to improving lives through its Air Solutions team and Certified Home Performance Experts, Barron Heating provides a wide range of heating, cooling, solar, electrical, plumbing and indoor air quality products and services, as well as a large selection of stoves, fireplaces and hot tubs in its Firelight by Barron showrooms. Barron Heating has become one of northwest Washington’s largest and most respected home performance experts with locations in Ferndale, Burlington and Marysville. Approximately 150 employees serve customers in Whatcom, Skagit, Island, San Juan and Snohomish counties.