Entrepreneurial Scholarships

NWILED John D. Cooke, III Memorial Entrepreneurial Scholarship

Beginning in 2018, NWILED began offering an entrepreneurial scholarship. In 2021, the scholarship was renamed in honor and remembrance of the late John Cooke III who was a founding member of the organization. Through the Cooke scholarship, NWILED hopes to enrich the lives of deserving students in our service area that are entrepreneurial and want to start a business or pursue a career in business.

NWILED typically offers three scholarships to graduating high school seniors from Carroll or Jo Daviess Counties who are entrepreneurial and want to start a business or pursue a career in business. There is one $2,000 first place award and two $1,500 runners up awards. Recipients shall be full-time students in good academic standing in the qualifying school year. Scholarships can be used for start-up costs related to launching a business and or advancing a career in business through education and or training.

The 2023 winners of the NWILED John D. Cooke, III Memorial Entrepreneurial Scholarship are:

Winner: Chase Dittmar – Galena High School, $2,000
Runner Up: Jacob Furlong – Galena High School, $1,500
Runner Up: Katie Bartch – Stockton High School, $1,500
Honorable Mention: Zachary Pauley – Chadwick-Milledgeville High School, $1,000.

We received 10 applications in 2023. Our winner, Chase Dittmar, plans to attend Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to pursue a degree in biology and environmental science. While working on his degree, Mr. Dittmar intends to advance his agritourism beekeeping business by purchasing additional beehives, filing for his LLC application, creating a label for his honey products, and growing his market presence.
 
Past scholarship winners have included a student connected to Hoof It Goat Treks in Galena, Three Sisters Sweet Shoppe in Elizabeth, and Davis Lumber Company in Scales Mound, in addition to a student from Savanna that proposed a sign language business, and a student from the Galena Territory who is developing a hand-crafted artisan doll line.

The application window normally opens by early February and closes late March with winners announced in May.

(2024 application coming soon)