Murfreesboro, Tennessee (9/12/17) – The annual J.C. Gordon Memorial Scholarship, provided by First Community Mortgage (FCM) for the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) in Shelbyville, Tennessee was initiated recently according to an announcement made jointly by Ms. Laura Monks, Interim President of TCAT and Keith Canter, CEO of FCM. The funding of the scholarship begins immediately and funds are being distributed to assist students beginning in the fall, 2017.
According to Canter, the scholarship is for $7,500 annually, in perpetuity through FCM Cares, the company’s charity and community service initiative. More specifically, funding will be done using a portion of the proceeds from FCM’s annual Tyler Morrissey Memorial Golf Tournament, held in Murfreesboro, TN.
“This annual scholarship has been created by unanimous vote of the FCM Cares board of directors in honor of J.C. Gordon, who was one of the founders of First Community Bank and was an original board member of First Community Mortgage,” said Canter. “J.C. passed away last year and he is certainly missed. He was a remarkable leader and his career is a testimony to what can be accomplished by someone with a high school diploma who is committed to excellence in their craft or trade. He made a difference in his profession and his community, and it is our pleasure to honor his memory and family with this scholarship. It is especially meaningful that we can do this in cooperation with an outstanding school in the town where he spent most of his adult life.”
The scholarship funds will be provided to TCAT annually, and they will be administered by TCAT leaders. The amount of funds being provided will allow TCAT administrators to provide support to multiple students for each of the trimesters of their academic year.
“What an excellent expression of honor to Mr. Gordon, and welcome help to students who may otherwise not have access to the technical education TCAT provides to help them improve their trade or craft,” said Monks. “What FCM has done is a fine example of support for developing the kind of workforce that is needed so badly here in Tennessee. The support of the Tennessee General Assembly for the kind of education we provide is encouraging, and having a company like FCM build on that is deeply appreciated. Our hope is that others will follow their example.”
Jennifer (Gordon) Feldhaus, one of J.C. and Edna Gordon’s four children, who resides in Shelbyville, said, “This is such a fitting honor of our Dad, and our family. We are so appreciative that the FCM Cares board of directors chose to do this. It is an affirmation to Dad and the life he lived, but also to the kind of hard-working, dedicated person who wants to use their abilities to advance their careers and make a difference in their community. We will be excited to see what a difference this makes in providing opportunity for students at TCAT in Shelbyville.”
Current Recipients:
- Manuel Moreno/ Welding, Machining
- Andrew Sells/Machine Tool Technology
- Reid Sisk/Machine Tool Technology, Drafting & CAD Technology – also President of Student Government Association
- Jacob Warren/Machine Tool Technology
About Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology
The Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology serve as the premier suppliers of workforce development throughout the State of Tennessee. The Colleges fulfill their mission by:
- Providing competency-based training through superior quality, traditional and distance learning instruction methods that qualify completers for employment and job advancement;
- Contributing to the economic and community development of the communities served by training and retraining employed workers;
- Ensuring that programs and services are economical and accessible to all residents of Tennessee; and
- Building relationships of trust with community, business, and industry leaders to supply highly skilled workers in areas of need.
About FCM Cares
Giving back and helping others within the community is one way FCM Cares can fulfill and make their mission statement a reality. The FCM Cares foundation is employee-managed and allows FCM to give back to our local communities in a more effective and efficient manner. They raise funds for the foundation through direct First Community Mortgage, Inc. employee and business partner contributions, special events and the fundraising efforts of its employees. Employees from the company are appointed as Directors of the foundation and distribute funds throughout the year in accordance with the foundation’s budget and the board’s approval.
The four areas of focus for FCM Cares include Education, Women/Children, Housing and the Military.
Learn more about FCM Cares at www.fcmcares.org.
About First Community Mortgage
Founded in 2002, First Community Mortgage is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Community Bank (TN) with operations centers in Murfreesboro, Louisville, Columbus and Kansas City. First Community Mortgage is a FNMA, FHLMC and GNMA seller/servicer and offers mortgage solutions to consumers and financial institutions. With mortgage volume of $2.1 billion in 2016, First Community Mortgage was ranked the #1 lender for new construction homes for the past 5 years as published by Metrostudy and #6 for 2014 in the Nashville Business Journal’s Book of Lists.