Chattanooga Greenlife Grocery’s cheese mongor, Joe Rudat, was honored by the American Cheese Association with the 2009 John Crompton Memorial Scholarship. As a selected recipient, Mr. Rudat was able to attend the 2009 American Cheese Society Conference that was held Aug. 5–8 in Austin, Tx. He also won a complimentary one-year membership to the American Cheese Association.
Eligible applicants were chosen from current members of the specialty food retail trade exhibiting enthusiasm and dedication to the cheese industry and a desire to further their education in the field. The purpose of these scholarships was to assist attendees who might otherwise not be able to travel to the American Cheese Society Annual Conference.
Mr. Rudat wrote a two-page essay about how he would benefit from the conference, what kind of experience he had in the cheese industry, what drew him to the cheese business, what he enjoyed most about his job and why his passionate relationship with cheese made him worthy of this scholarship.
His essay was chosen from a pool of 14 applicants this year on the following criteria: quality of application, seriousness of continuing with cheese as a profession, clearly stated goals to be achieved by attending the conference.
These scholarship opportunities were created in honor of John Crompton who passed away in August, 2006. All who knew John Crompton were aware of his passion, dedication and commitment to the cheese industry. Mr. Crompton was a 25-year employee of Seacrest Foods and a specialty food industry veteran. He loved the business, the people, and the products; he had made them his life. His boisterous personality and his instinct for the business left a deep impression on all those who knew him.