The Don Wood Foundation was established by entrepreneur Don Wood, the founder of 80/20 Inc. which is one of Whitley County’s most prominent companies. Starting with a drawing on a napkin, Don and his sons grew the company to a world-wide corporation with over 500 staff and a 135,000-square-foot plant in Columbia City, Indiana. Don wanted to continue his legacy of supporting entrepreneurship, innovation and technology and thus created the Don Wood Foundation to provide support in the areas of machine tool technology, industrial technology, engineering technology, sales, entrepreneurship and leadership.
To continue Don’s vision of seeing local talent hired and retained, the The Don Wood Foundation created the Manufacturing Your Future: The Don Wood Foundation Scholarships in partnership with the Community Foundation of Whitley County. Funding will assist with training for local individuals to enhance their ability to secure gainful employment by pursuing additional education.
Scholarships will benefit non-traditional adults wishing to attain employment skills as well as graduating students from Whitley County that are interested in pursuing a 2-year degree/certification in skilled trades or manufacturing or 4-year degree pathway in sales/entrepreneurship, engineering or a Masters in leadership. The scholarships will be renewable for the 2-year and 4-year degrees.
To apply for the Manufacturing Your Future: The Don Wood Scholarship, you will need to answer the questions below. Before you begin, we suggest you type your responses so you can copy and paste into the online form:
Get ready to MANUFACTURE your FUTURE!
- What prompted you to pursue this course of study?
- Do you intend to stay and work in Whitley County once you have completed the certificate, 2-year degree or 4-year degree?
- How do you plan to finance the balance of tuition not covered by this scholarship?
- Any special considerations you would like to include.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- A copy of your high school transcript.
- If you are applying as a non-traditional student, you will need at least one letter of recommendation from your current employer, past teacher, clergy or other business-related contact.
READY to get the COGS TURNING?
Apply online at: www.cfwhitley.org and click on the ‘Scholarship’ tab.
DEADLINE!
April 15th of the current year
AWARDS
A total of four 2-year scholarships will be available annually to the following:
- A graduating senior from Columbia City High School
- A graduating senior from Churubusco High School
- A graduating senior from Whitko High School
- A non-tradition student (any Whitley County Resident looking to advance educational attainment in pursuit of a career change or enhancement of skills.)
One scholarship each will be awarded for sales/entrepreneurship, engineering and Masters of Leadership.
In the event an application is not submitted from one of the aforementioned, the available award may be transferred to a graduate from another school or another non-traditional student.
