The 1772 Foundation has awarded a $40,000 grant to the IYRS School of Technology & Trades to support the expansion of its Newport campus. IYRS is fund raising for a new, 20,000 square foot building and associated program development needs, such as equipment, tools, and curricula. The building will allow IYRS to consolidate its two campuses, expand course offerings and increase student enrollment.

According to Terry Nathan, the school president, IYRS will continue to focus on its “core competency of training makers, builders and restorers for careers in a broad range of fields from boats and building, including both new and old, to fields that require either fine hand work or making through the use of modern technology.”

IYRS has received several grants from The 1772 Foundation, the first in 2005. B. Danforth Ely, president of The 1772 Foundation, commented, “While IYRS came to the Foundation’s attention ten years ago for its courses in the craft of wooden boat building and restoration, we appreciate all of its programs of study and the career success of its graduates, in not only historic preservation-related fields but also present-day industry.”

The 1772 Foundation’s mission is to provide safe passage of historic buildings and farmland to future generations. The Foundation was named in honor of its first restoration project, Liberty Hall in Union, NJ, which was built in 1772 and is the ancestral home of the Livingston and Kean families. The late Stewart B. Kean was the original benefactor of The 1772 Foundation. More information about The 1772 Foundation may be found atwww.1772foundation.org.

Ryan Belmore is the Owner and Publisher of What'sUpNewp. Although not the founder or original owner, Belmore has been with What'sUpNewp since its early beginnings in 2012.

Belmore was born in Providence, Rhode Island; grew up and graduated high school in Coventry, Rhode Island; and lived in Newport, Rhode Island for more than ten years. He currently serves as Vice President of the Board Of Directors for Fort Adams Trust and on the Board of Directors for Potter League For Animals.

He and his wife, Jen, as well as their two dogs (Aero and June), recently moved to Alexandria, Virginia. Belmore travels back and forth to Newport every couple of weeks to cover events, work on story ideas, to meet with What'sUpNewp's on-the-ground contributors, to visit friends, and to eat as much seafood as possible.

Belmore is a member of Local Independent Online News Publishers, Society of Professional Journalists, and the North American Snowsports Journalists Association.