Salem Native Earns Essex North Shore Lifetime Achievement Award

DANVERS, MA — A Salem High alumnus and Danvers business owner who founded the electrical program at Essex North Shore Technical and Agricultural High School has been chosen as the school's 2020 Larkin Lifetime Achievement Award.

Essex North Shore Superintendent Heidi Riccio announced Brian Cranney will be honored at this year's virtual Homecoming Gala, which was originally scheduled for Dec. 4 and postponed to Friday.

Cranney is the president of Cranney Home Services, the Danvers-based company that provides services throughout the North Shore. Cranney's company is one of 80 working with Essex Tech students for their co-op program, and he employs many Essex Tech alumni.

Cranney helped found the electrical program at North Shore Tech and is part of the Electrical Program's General Advisory Committees and the Essex Tech Foundation. Cranney was a building committee member during the merger of Essex Agricultural of North Shore and North Shore Technical.

The school said he was also instrumental in the opening of the school's plumbing and HVAC-R programs.

"Congratulations to Brian on this well-deserved recognition," Riccio said. "As a graduate of the Salem High School electrical program, his passion for the trades is infectious. 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 is named after Lt. Catherine Larkin, an alumna of the Essex County Agricultural School homemaking program and World War II nurse who dies in a plane crash in 1945.

The Larking Memorial Cottage, currently being rebuilt into a multi-use facility, was built in 1950 and named in Larkin's memory. The gala acts as a fundraiser for the Larkin Memorial Cottage project.

To learn more about the Larkin Memorial Cottage project and/or to donate, click here.