B.C. automotive students get boost from Coates foundation

Marlyn Coates, Sarah Durant, Ian Coates and Candace Gottschalk of the Ed Coates Memorial Foundation (ECMF) presented a donation of $37,500 to the University of the Fraser Valley, which was received by Rolf Arnold, Sherri Magson, and Sheila Reimer.

The Ed Coates Memorial Foundation has created and will fund two new leadership awards for automotive students at the University of Fraser Valley, in Abbotsford, B.C.

The award will provide $1,500 a year to one student in the Automotive Service Technician program and another in the Automotive Collision Repair program. The foundation – started by the Lordco co-founder’s family following his sudden death in 2014 – has donated $37,500 to fund the awards, the largest number it has given to date. The amount will be matched by the university.

“In funding these awards, we hope that Ed’s entrepreneurial legacy will live on in the businesses that are founded by individuals who have benefitted from the foundation’s support,” said Candace Gottschalk, Coates’ daughter and vice president of human resources at Lordco. “Ed was an innovative business leader and born entrepreneur who guided his company through difficult economic times and firmly established Lordco as a leader in the automotive industry.”

“We very much appreciate this investment in the future of our automotive students by a foundation that honours Ed Coates, an admired leader in the industry in B.C.,” said Rolf Arnold, associate dean of applied and technical studies at the university.