“The Chamber’s motivation for organizing the program is related to Workforce Development,” Madison told fortscott.biz. “Our goal is to help the students be on a path to success, but also develop a funnel of employees for our manufacturers and other businesses by exposing students to local career opportunities available.”

“Students may be ready to start working directly after high school or college, or may move away for several years and return to Bourbon County in the future,” she said. “By being part of the mentor program they will be more aware that Fort Scott truly is a great place to live, work and raise a family.”

“Working at a local manufacturer does not exclusively involve assembly line work as students may perceive, there are many great positions to be held in accounting, sales, engineering, welding and other areas that we try to expose them to,” she said.

“Some students are more interested in health care, law enforcement or other fields and mentors will work to set up job shadows or question/answer sessions with people in those careers” Madison said. “Each student’s needs are differently related to their educational goals or career exploration and while we bring the mentors and students together monthly as a group, the mentors work individually with the students they are paired with to build connections and make a positive impact towards their success.”