The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance has named the recipients of its Greg Garrett Scholarships and Dr. R. Neil Lowry Grant.
Chad Bland, owner of Pool Certs, and McKenna Paschell, aquatic facilities designer at Absolute Pool Care, received the $5,000 Garrett Scholarships. The funds may be used towards PHTA educational or certification fees.
Bland, a Certified Pool & Spa Operator Instructor, plans to put his scholarship toward earning his Certified Pool & Spa Service Technician (CST) and Certified Builder Professional (CBP) designations through PHTA.
Paschell, who has been involved in aquatics since she became a lifeguard at 15, and was managing more than 40 aquatic facilities by age 22, plans to earn her CBP to further develop her construction and design skills.
Southern Nevada Health District earned the $5,000 Lowry Grant, honoring public health officials and departments for their work advancing the public’s health and safe use of recreational water in pools, spas, and waterparks through educational, safety, operational, and technical programs.
SNHD serves the Las Vegas metropolitan area and all outlying municipalities in Clark County, covering more than 5,000 aquatic venues. Since 2024, the agency has conducted risk factor surveys to help inspectors assess facilities for factors such as lifeguard staffing, bather load, equipment, and water treatment systems.
“Conducting these surveys allows for improved working relationships between inspectors and aquatic facility operators, creating a more supportive environment,” PHTA said. “The results from the surveys lead to better protecting public health by reducing the number of violations and closures related to imminent health hazards and encouraging innovation in risk mitigation strategies throughout the community.”
With the $5,000 grant, SNHD will expand the survey program to support a more detailed analysis of the data, so that it can then be used to develop training materials.
