Pierre Build Dakota Scholarship Industry Partner Match Grant

Beginning with Fall 2020 enrollments, PEDCO and the City of Pierre are offering grants to local business members to reduce the cost of sponsoring a student at a state technical institute through the Build Dakota Scholarship Industry Partner program.

When a student qualifies for a Build Dakota scholarship AND has an industry sponsor, all of the student’s program-related expenses are covered, and the business gets a commitment from the student to work for them for at least three years after graduation. Students complete a contract with the business separate from the Build Dakota contract. Businesses work directly with the technical institutes regarding the terms of these agreements. The approximate breakdown of funding a student’s scholarship is: Build Dakota (50%); Industry Sponsor (25%); PEDCO/Pierre (25%).

How To Apply:

Step 1: Determine if your business qualifies for the match grant.

• Businesses must be PEDCO members for the duration of the scholarship and located in Pierre, Fort Pierre or Hughes County.
• Businesses that are not locally owned may only receive grant funding for one student per enrollment cycle (Spring/Fall).
• Businesses must be willing to openly discuss all aspects of the program as it relates to the new employee and agree to allow PEDCO to generate various media for use in promoting it to other businesses.

Step 2: Visit www.BuildDakotaScholarships.com and determine which eligible programs would provide the training your new employee will need. Then contact the appropriate technical school to become an industry partner.

Eligible programs:

https://www.builddakotascholarships.com/programs/

More information regarding the Build Dakota industry partner programs:

https://www.builddakotascholarships.com/about/industry-partners

Step 3: Once your student has been accepted for a Build Dakota Scholarship and you have signed the Industry Partner agreement to sponsor that student, scan the agreement and email it to PEDCO at jim@pedco.biz. PEDCO will follow up with you to complete the grant funding agreement. PEDCO/City grant funds will be disbursed directly to the technical institution.