The Tennessee Council of Cooperatives recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Ashley Noel Barrow of Gordonsville. Ashley is a student at Tennessee Tech University. Ashley is a Junior working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture; Nursery and Landscape Management.
Ashley is employed part-time at Dynamic Excavation as a heavy equipment operator. After college, Ashley intends on starting a business in landscape design and running her own greenhouses growing and propagating landscape plants for wholesale and retail purposes.
The Tennessee Council of Cooperatives is a nonprofit organization established to promote the cooperative form of business through education and promotion of all types of cooperatives. TCC has two types of memberships including “parent cooperatives” and “individual cooperatives.”
The council is made up of member representatives from various cooperative organizations in Tennessee. The total TCC membership is approximately 81 members. Leadership for TCC is provided by eleven voting board members, ten ex-officio members and one Administrative Secretary/Treasurer.
The TCC sponsors six college scholarships for agricultural students from each of Tennessee’s four-year agriculture programs: Austin Peay State University; Middle Tennessee State University; Tennessee Technological University; the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the University of Tennessee, Martin; and Tennessee State University.
The scholarship program, started in 1984, is an effort to acknowledge and aid the young people most likely to return to communities served by rural cooperatives. TCC considers the scholarships an investment in the future of cooperatives and their leadership. Several scholarship recipients from the past currently serve in one of Tennessee’s cooperatives or in one of the state’s agriculture-related agencies which work with, support and help build cooperative businesses.
To be considered for the $1,000 scholarship, the student must be a citizen of Tennessee; enrolled in a college of agriculture; maintain an overall grade point average of 2.5 out of a possible 4 points; and, if possible, be in his or her junior year of study.
For more information about Tennessee cooperatives, the Tennessee Council of Cooperatives or the TCC scholarship, contact Barbara Davis, TCC Administrative Secretary, at 423-447-1222 or via e-mail to barbarabtc@bledsoe.net. For more information about Tennessee cooperatives, the Tennessee Council of Cooperatives or the TCC scholarship, please visit the TCC Web site at https://tennesseecouncilofcoops.com/
