By Terry L. Hapney, Jr.
The Ironton Tribune

Lawrence County residents who need help covering instructional and/or testing fees for licensure, certification or a certificate are encouraged to apply for a scholarship offered by the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.
Shirley Dyer, director of the Chamber, said the organization holds a golf scrimmage at the Chesapeake Golf Range miniature golf course to raise funding for the scholarship.
The $1,000 award is divided among recipients who are enrolled in college, trade school or are registered with a testing center or an issuing institution with the intent to attain licensure, certification or a certificate. Applicants must be nearing completion of the program and are prepared to test in calendar year 2024.
Last year, the scholarship’s first recipient was a woman who did not have the money to pay for her certification as a teacher.
“We paid for that,” Dyer said.
Dyer said many nursing students are heavily in debt after graduation.
“They have to pay for their certification/license and for continuing education units,” she said. “This scholarship can pay those.”
Applications are available on the Chamber’s website—lawrencecc.org—where interested applicants can review full requirements and steps needed to apply. To qualify, applicants must be a permanent Lawrence County, Ohio, resident.
Shane Finster, chair of the Education Committee and immediate past president of the Chamber board, said scholarship applications “are accepted on an ongoing basis.”
Finster said the Chamber will award one or more scholarships, not to exceed a cumulative awarded amount of $1,000 per calendar year.
“For example, it is conceivable that the first recipient is awarded $200 to cover the cost of their respective licensure exam, thus, leaving $800 in funds available for one or more additional scholarships,” he said. “Based on having eligible applicants, the monies will continue to be awarded until the annual scholarship fund is depleted.”
After completing and submitting the application, scholarship recipients are chosen by the Board of Directors of the Greater Lawrence County Area Chamber of Commerce from among eligible applicants.
For more information, call Dyer at 740-377-4550.