University of Florida Chapter Receives Third Straight Award;
University of Illinois and Canada's University of Guelph Students Earn Individual Scholarships

Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., has named the recipients of its third annual Yamaha-ACT Scholarship Program. The University of Florida Chapter of the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) has received its third straight chapter award, while Janell Baum of University of Illinois and R. Bruce Sargent of University of Guelph both earned individual scholarships. As recipients of the individual scholarships, both Baum and Sargent will also have the opportunity to serve as interns for Yamaha during the 2011 Ag Media Summit (AMS) this month in New Orleans, La.

Yamaha's scholarship program was launched in 2009 to provide financial assistance to members of the ACT, a national college student association with 354 registered members located on 17 college and university campuses across the country. ACT's mission of fostering professional development is at the core of the new Yamaha-ACT Scholarship Program.

The Yamaha-ACT Scholarship Program is broken out into two individual student scholarships and one chapter scholarship. All three awards are aimed at helping students attend the annual AMS. As the largest gathering of crop and livestock media professionals in the country, the AMS is the primary career development networking opportunity for these ACT students each year. This industry event is hosted by the American Agricultural Editors' Association (AAEA), the Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and the American Business Media Agri-Council.

As part of the application process, students were asked to incorporate important ATV and Side-by-Side (SxS) vehicle safety messages within an appropriate real life farming/agricultural scenario into practical communications pieces such as a feature story, brochure or press release.

""The annual Yamaha-ACT Scholarship program has assisted some outstanding young men and women in ag programs at universities across the country," said Steve Nessl, Yamaha's ATV and SxS group marketing manager. "By encouraging lessons about safe, responsible use of farm machines in their education, we hope they will carry these messages throughout their careers as professional communicators."

Applicants were judged based on merit, need and quality of submission materials by a review committee consisting of Yamaha employees; Senior Director at The American Quarter Horse Journal, Jim Bret Campbell; Christy Couch Lee, owner of Cee Lee Communications; Justin Davey, Assistant Multimedia Producer for Successful Farming and Agriculture.com.

Previous Yamaha-ACT Scholarship winners come from Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, Texas Tech University and the University of Florida.

About Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A.
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., (YMUS), a leader in the motorsports market, makes the toughest, most capable and versatile ATV and Side-by-Side vehicles. The company's ever-expanding product offerings also include motorcycles, outboard motors, personal watercraft, snowmobiles, boats, outdoor power equipment, race kart engines, accessories, apparel and much more. YMUS products are sold through a nationwide network of dealers in the United States.

Headquartered in Cypress, Calif., since its incorporation in 1976, Yamaha also has facilities in Wisconsin and Georgia, as well as factory operations in Tennessee and Georgia. For more information on Yamaha, visit www.yamaha-motor.com.

07.12.2011