Riverland Community College’s carpentry program recently received scholarship funding to help encourage students on the path of making carpentry their career.

Knutson Construction gave a $500 scholarship to Riverland’s carpentry students. This $500 gift was donated during the “March Millions” special fundraising campaign and was matched with an additional $500 from Bremer Bank. The matched funds qualified toward the MnSCU Leveraged Equipment project funded by the state legislature. This match created an additional $500 to purchase equipment to support the carpentry program and help teaching and learning.

Steve Bowron, Riverland’s dean for institutional advancement, appreciated Knutson Construction’s scholarship support and timing their donation to leverage additional funds for the program.

“This $500 scholarship gift turned into $1,500 to advance career and technical education,” Bowron said in the release. “The current need for skilled labor makes it even more important to have partners like Knutson Construction step up and help bring attention and support to this growing demand for a technically skilled workforce.”

Knutson’s donation is intended to address the growing shortage for skilled carpenters across Minnesota.

“With the high demand for skilled labor, it was important for Knutson Construction to create a scholarship to support the students in the carpentry program and decrease the financial barriers of attending college and help prepare them for the local workforce,” Tom Leimer, general manager of Knutson Construction’s Rochester office, said in a press release.