Shawnee high school grads looking to enter workforce have new scholarship opportunity

The Shawnee Chamber of Commerce is hoping to connect students with careers in skilled trades through a new scholarship program.

Students who are graduating from high school and interested in pursuing a career as a contractor, construction worker, electrician, carpenter or as another type of skilled tradesperson can apply for a $1,000 Shawnee Economic Development Council Career Ready Scholarship.

Three ‘career-ready’ scholarships are available

• Casey McBride, a Shawnee Chamber board member and a partner at the general contractor firm A.L. Huber, said the goal is to give out at least two scholarships, though there’s money for three.
• Any Shawnee resident graduating from high school — public or private — can apply.
• A committee will then select the recipients, and they’ll be handed out during the Chamber leadership luncheon in June.
• McBride said he hopes to see the program grow in the future.

Students can put $1,000 to variety of uses

• Students can use the scholarship money on classes, books or equipment if they plan to pursue a degree or certification.
• The money could also be used to help someone start out in a trade, which McBride said can come with a lot of “upfront costs,” like purchasing tools or materials.
• Recipients may also be paired up with a mentor at their company to help them figure out what they should purchase, ​​Shawnee Chamber president Ann Smith-Tate said.
• The recently reopened Shawnee Home Depot is also offering a 25% discount to scholarship recipients for purchases related to their trade, she said.

Scholarships aim to fill education need, workforce gap

• Smith-Tate said the scholarship emerged as part of an ongoing effort to “incentivize and attract a new workforce” for trade jobs in Shawnee and across Johnson County.
• “We want to celebrate that all of these jobs out here are good quality jobs, where people can make a great living doing a very important job, and this was our way of recognizing and encouraging people to pursue this pathway,” she said.
• McBride said there’s big local demand due to a shortage of skilled tradespersons.
• The Shawnee Chamber already offers an annual $1,500 scholarship for students pursuing more traditional educational pathways in two- and four-year colleges.

SEDC Career Ready Scholarship Application:

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