STEP to help with ‘last dollar’ scholarships

Oct. 21– Representatives from local government and area business leaders announced Tuesday the formation of a college access initiative designed to boost workforce development in a 10-county area that includes Hardin and McNairy.

“The regional cooperation in this effort is unprecedented. We came together to explore ways to capitalize on the (Haywood County) megasite and it became clear that improving the area’s workforce was crucial to enticing further economic development,” said Joe Barker, executive director of the Southwest Tennessee Development District.

The Southwest Tennessee Educational Pathways program, or STEP, is modeled after the Ayers Foundation Scholarship program and is to be implemented in two phases. First, an infrastructure of mentors will be recruited and trained to assist students in navigating the college admissions and financial aid processes.

Second, participating counties will work to provide “last dollar” scholarships to fill in the tuition gaps for students after all other sources of financial aid have been accessed. The announcement came as part of the annual West Tennessee Economic Development Summit held at Jackson State Community College.