A scholarship fund has been created at Rochester's alma mater, Southern Polytechnic State University. The purpose of the scholarship is to encourage and assist talented students pursuing a career in land surveying. Contributing to this fund will be a means of sustaining his memory for years to come.

The B. Keith Rochester Jr. Memorial Scholarship in Surveying is the first dedicated to surveyors at Southern Polytechnic.

Rochester started his company in 1966 with a $2,000 investment. Today, the company is run by his sons, Darrell and Brian Rochester, and has become Georgia's largest family-owned surveying and engineering firm.

In addition to Gainesville, the Rochester firm has offices in Atlanta, Blairsville and Fayetteville, and an international office in Adana, Turkey. The company currently employs over 160 surveyors, engineers, project managers, landscape architects and administrative staff.

Specializing in mixed-use, master-planned communities, the company has completed many high-profile projects including Road Atlanta, the Atlanta Falcons training complex and corporate headquarters, Lake Lanier Islands Resort, Tournament Players Club at Sugarloaf, Windward mixed-use community In 2002, the firm was awarded a $1.1 million contract by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to prepare a master plan and first phase designs for the new 750-acre Atlanta Area National Cemetery in Cherokee County.

Contributions to the B. Keith Rochester Jr. Memorial Scholarship in Surveying are fully tax-deductible for income tax purposes. Checks should be made payable to the SPSU Foundation and marked for the Rochester Scholarship.

Source: Rochester & Associates, June 28, 2004