DANVERS — Brian Cranney has been named the 2020 Larkin Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
Cranney is the president of the Cranney Home Services, which provides plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical services for homes and businesses. His company is one of more than 80 working with Essex Tech students for their co-op program, and he employs many Essex Tech alumni.
In 2005, Cranney helped found the electrical program at the former North Shore Tech. He is a member of Essex Tech’s Electrical Program and General Advisory committees, as well as the Essex Tech Foundation. He was a building committee member when Essex Agricultural and North Shore Technical school merged, and he was instrumental in opening the school’s plumbing and HVAC-R programs.
Essex Tech Superintendent Heidi Riccio said the award is well-deserved.
“As a graduate of the Salem High School electrical program, his passion for the trades is infectious,” Riccio said of Cranney. “Brian has been a dedicated and supportive community partner for Essex Tech and other vocational programs on the North Shore, helping to train students working with his company in our co-op program to be skilled workers in these high-demand careers.”
The Larkin Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes members of the Essex Tech community and its past iterations, including Essex Agricultural and Technical High School, North Shore Technical High School and Peabody Vocational School, who have demonstrated a commitment to and achievement within the local vocational and/or agricultural industries.
The award is named for Lt. Catherine Larkin, an alumni of the Essex County Agricultural School homemaking program and World War II nurse who died in a plane crash in 1945. The Larkin Memorial Cottage at Essex Tech was originally built in 1950 and named after Larkin. The cottage is being rebuilt into a multi-use facility, including a historical museum, service kitchen, office space, exhibit hall, learning lab and function space.
Cranney was honored Friday at Essex Tech’s remote Homecoming Gala, which included a virtual auction to help raise money for the cottage’s restoration. At the event, state Sen. Joan Lovely gave opening remarks, and state Sen. Bruce Tarr gave a special tribute to retiring state Rep. Ted Speliotis.
The first Larkin Lifetime Achievement Awards were given at last year’s gala, which raised approximately $68,000 to support the Larkin Memorial Cottage building project. Last year’s recipients were Essex Aggie alumni Bob Woods, owner of Wood Trucking, and Ted Dunjnaski, owner of Dunjnaski Dairy.
So far, Essex Tech has raised roughly $158,000 for the building project, which is also partially funded by a 2019 Cummings Foundation grant. Students from various disciplines at the school are working on the project.
