FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Wednesday, December 17, 2014
CONTACT:  Tony Venhuizen or Kelsey Pritchard at 605-773-3212

State Partners With Denny Sanford To Establish “Build Dakota” Workforce Scholarship Program At Technical Institutes

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard today announced that the state of South Dakota will partner with South Dakota businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford to establish a the Build Dakota scholarship program, which will offer full scholarships for students entering high-need workforce programs at in-state technical institutes.

“The establishment of this scholarship will mean that each year hundreds of our young people will have the opportunity to enter high-demand fields without incurring debt. The impact of this will be huge, not only for the students who receive the scholarship but for our entire state which has been faced with workforce challenges,” Gov. Daugaard said. “The scholarship program also provides an opportunity for communities, economic development organizations, businesses and individuals from across the state to come together to provide meaningful solutions.”

T. Denny Sanford, owner of First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard, is a well-known philanthropist and South Dakota business owner. Denny purchased United National Corporation, the parent company for the PREMIER organizations, in 1986. Since that time, he has created more than 2,300 jobs within the state of South Dakota. To date, Sanford has donated over $1 billion dollars to organizations across the nation.

“I am extremely grateful for Denny’s generous contribution and can’t thank him enough for the investment he’s willing to make in our young people,” said Gov. Daugaard. “Denny, who has already contributed so much to South Dakota by creating thousands of jobs and giving so much of his own money to a number of organizations, is once again stepping up to making our state a better place.”

The Governor has committed to match Sanford’s $25 million donation with $25 million in Future Funds to create the Build Dakota Scholarship Program. The $50 million is expected to provide 300 full scholarships annually in each of the first five years, beginning in the Fall of 2015. From 2020 on, an endowment will continue to award approximately 50 scholarships per year.

The Build Dakota scholarship will be available to in-state and out-of-state students. Those who are awarded with the scholarship will commit to stay in South Dakota to work in their field of study for three years. A board appointed by the Governor will determine high-need workforce areas and will administer the scholarship.

“Business leaders across South Dakota have told me that workforce is the single largest obstacle to our continued economic growth,” said state Economic Development Commissioner Pat Costello. “Some businesses have been unable to expand because of the lack of workers. Others have turned down business. This new scholarship will go a long way in addressing that problem.”

Information on the Build Dakota Scholarship program can be found at doe.sd.gov/builddakota.

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