RAPID CITY, SD – The Build Dakota Scholarship Program continues to bride the state’s workforce gap providing a path for students to complete training debt free.

On Thursday, Parker Bartling and Noah Cessna signed letters of agreement to participate in the Build Dakota Scholarship Program, paving their way for full-ride scholarships to Western Dakota Tech automotive program in Rapid City followed by three years in the state’s workforce.

The scholarship program was created by the state in 2015 to address the state’s workforce gap using the state’s technical college’s – Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls, Lake Area Technical College in Watertown, Mitchell Technical College, and Western Dakota Technical College in Rapid City.

“There’s a great need for students in these high demand programs,” said Deni Martin, Program Manager, Build Dakota Scholarship, from Rapid City’s Black Hills Tire. “So getting more people into these fields is primarily our goal but it’s also to work with great businesses like Black Hills Tire to help them build their workforce on a local level.”

Black Hills Tire in Rapid City has been a program sponsor for seven years, sponsoring eight students. Tenise Chapman, co-owner, Black Hills Tire, said they originally got involved with the program to build staff but, now fully staffed, continue their involvement.

“We don’t want the cost of education to be a barrier to anyone,” Chapman said. “We really believe strongly in growing the automotive industry and with the way the automotive industry is advancing individuals really need to go to school and learn that basic knowledge through that two-year automotive program.”

Black Hills Tire will provide a portion of the scholarship funding, provide part time employment for the students during their schooling, and consider them for employment after graduation.

“It just gives back to our community,” Chapman said. “They’re graduating debt free so they can buy a house in the community sooner, they can maybe start a family sooner… they can give back to our community in other ways.”

Last year, 630 students statewide were selected for the Build Dakota Scholarship Fund.

Funding for the program comes from multiple sources. The state of South Dakota provides $2 million annually in five-year increments, First Premiere Bank and T. Denny Sanford (who launched the program) provide $2 million annually, endowment interest, and about $5 million from industry partners.

In addition, program sponsors across the state agree to pay for a portion of a student’s scholarship and can use Build Dakota money to train their workforce.

“It is a collaboration of great magnitude across South Dakota,” Build Dakota’s Martin said.

Students who accept the full-ride scholarship agree to enroll in a high-need industry in one of the four South Dakota technical schools and work in the state for three years after graduation.