Dirty Jobs star Mike Rowe: South Dakota ‘crushing it’ with Build Dakota Scholarship
Jonathan Ellis
September 26, 2024
South Dakota’s push to emphasize the value of trade schools through public-private partnerships is unmatched in the rest of the country, TV personality Mike Rowe told an audience Thursday at Southeast Technical College.
Rowe, the host of “Dirty Jobs,” a show that highlights blue-collar work – including jobs that many people don’t want because they are labor-intensive – said he has toured the country advocating for more people to enter rewarding, and lucrative, careers in various skilled trades. Rowe was in the state to celebrate the 10th year of the Build Dakota Scholarship.
“I’m looking for a place that’s crushing it, and it’s here,” he said. “It’s this state.”
Southeast Technical College was his first stop on a statewide tour of four technical schools to celebrate the scholarship program’s success. Build Dakota started with a $25 million donation from philanthropist and banker T. Denny Sanford in 2014. Then-Gov. Dennis Daugaard convinced the Legislature to match that funding with another $25 million. Scholarship recipients commit to living in the state for three years and practicing the trade for which they were educated.
