PGT Innovations Offers Employees Tuition Reimbursement, Scholarship Program

PGT Innovations is hoping to help its team members and their dependents pursue their educational goals through its tuition reimbursement program and Inspire the Future scholarship program. Through these two programs, the manufacturing firm has contributed close to $1.2 million in funding over the past four years.

About tuition reimbursement

The tuition reimbursement program was launched in 2018 and is available to eligible PGT Innovations team members across the country. Dependent on grades achieved in the courses, the amount reimbursed to team members can be up to 100 percent of the cost of education.

Since its inception, 83 team members have utilized the program for degrees in business, accounting, engineering, computer science, human resources, business administration, and marketing. Individuals have also sought out certifications instead of degrees, including Supply Chain certification and Commercial Driver's License (CDL) certification. Roughly $800,000 has been contributed from PGTI to assist with these endeavors.

A success story

Kristopher P. Geyer-Roberts, Engineering Services Manager at PGT Innovations, started with the organization five years ago as a Manufacturing Engineer. After learning about the tuition reimbursement program through the human resources department, Geyer-Roberts made use of the offered benefit to earn his professional engineering license from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He is now currently pursuing his master's in business administration at Indiana University.

“There were always educational goals I wanted to achieve, and the tuition reimbursement program gave me the opportunity to make it happen,” says Geyer-Roberts. “PGTI has strong family values, and when I was going through my coursework, the team was there for me. I always want to continue to better myself to best serve the business. Having a company that supports me is what makes PGTI different.”

 About Inspire the Future scholarship program

Additionally, the manufacturing leader has their Inspire the Future scholarship program, which is offered solely to dependents of PGTI employees and offers $2,000 annually toward any secondary education pursuit, including technical school, certification program, university or community college until the education program is complete.

Since that program’s inception in 2018, a grand total of 205 scholarships have been awarded with a dollar amount of $382,500.

 Additional opportunity

PGTI offers various leadership and training courses to its team members, including topics from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and Dale Carnegie. Last year, the company also celebrated a class of graduates from the in-house CDL driver certification training program that they organized in response to the nationwide CDL driver shortage.

“Our folks are the reason behind why our organization is what it is today, and we’re proud to be able to support their educational advancement,” says President and CEO of PGT Innovations Jeff Jackson. “With students across the country heading back to school, we want this to serve as a reminder that it’s never too late for someone to further their education. We hope the financial assistance offered through our various programs encourages our team members who have been considering going back to school to take that next step and see what new opportunities open up for them with PGT Innovations.”