Olympia Moving & Storage, proudly announced the Olympia Scholars Program this week, offering scholarships to student movers.
The scholarship program, which is available to all current and prospective Olympia Moving & Storage employees, allows motivated student movers to earn thousands of dollars in scholarships in addition to a top hourly wage.
For many Boston-area college students, working between classes is essential to paying for tuition, books, and living expenses. Most students get jobs swiping IDs at the gym, pouring coffee, or scanning groceries. But for some Boston students, they earn money by carrying armoires up fourth-floor walkups in the Back Bay between classes. Michael Gilmartin, President and Founder of Olympia Moving & Storage, used to be one of these students.
“While I studied at Northeastern University, I earned money by working at a local moving company,” says Gilmartin, who founded Olympia Moving & Storage in 1993. “At the time, I liked working as a mover because it was a great opportunity to earn higher wages than the average student while staying in shape. Little did I know it would become a career.”
Michael Gilmartin’s company, Olympia Moving & Storage has been employing Boston-area college students for over 20 years.
“Students who work with Olympia Moving & Storage quickly learn that working here is a
bout more than just a paycheck and lifting furniture,” says Gilmartin.
“Movers learn valuable lessons in problem solving, team work, and client management that they will use for the rest of their careers.”
After he graduated from Northeastern University, Michael Gilmartin put the skills he learned as a student mover to use and founded his own company. Since then, he has brought hired many of his student movers as operations managers, sales managers, and more.
“It’s always been fulfilling to see our student movers succeed after graduation, either with Olympia Moving or in engineering, sales, entrepreneurship, and many other careers with other companies,” says Gilmartin. “We wanted to expand that Olympia Moving & Storage tradition by directly investing in our student movers’ education. Student movers are extremely motivated and hardworking, you have to be to move furniture for eight hours straight. These are the kind of students we want to invest in, as they have the skills to succeed.”
Up to 15 Olympia Moving employees per year are eligible to participate in the Olympia Scholars program. The scholarship recipients will earn a $1,000 scholarship per every 1,000 hours worked and can earn a maximum of four scholarships during their education. The scholarship is available to employees actively pursuing degrees at universities, community colleges, and trade schools.