Skip to content

The Hormel Inspired Pathways Program

We created and run a program to provide scholarships and college advising for children of Hormel Foods team members.

While there are a number of opportunities for Hormel Foods employees to further their education, there wasn’t yet a program in place to help the children of employees better themselves through education.

Communicating in the diverse pool of languages spoken in Hormel Foods communities has been key to reaching our audience.

After researching / gaining an full understanding of the challenge, our team worked with Hormel Foods to develop the Hormel Inspired Pathways program. Inspired Pathways grants two-year college degree program tuition to the dependent children of all Hormel Foods team members in the United States.

The program is designed to be inclusive of all dependent children of Hormel Foods team members, and is not based on achievement of a certain test score or GPA. The only requirements academically are that the student graduates from high school and meets the entry requirements of the community college. We also partner with community colleges in cities where we have operations to help better serve students. In addition to the tuition assurance program, program resources and community mentorship committees will be provided to bring resources to the students, including assistance with applications, internships and other career development opportunities.

Visit HormelInspiredPathways.com

Successes To Date

  • 500+

    Applicants

  • $1.0M+

    In grants awarded

  • 72

    Colleges with a Pathways student

  • 1.3K

    Students Advised

The program has been very successful to-date with over five hundred applicants and over one thousand students and parents taking advantage of the free financial aid and college advising. We’re currently continuing to focus on outreach efforts and and providing students and Hormel Foods team members more resources in their native languages.

Inspired Pathways Director Nate Lockett and Attention Span CFO Garrett Law visiting plant communities in Iowa to get the word out.

Creating and Running the Program

  1. 01

    Designed and created the program, the rules and other details needed.

  2. 02

    Built the Hormel Inspired Pathways Website, which, in addition to defining the program is also how students apply.

  3. 03

    Began marketing the program to the Hormel Foods US team, no small feat given the wide range of languages spoken, comfort with technology, and different preferred methods of communications and more among the employees.

From creating and leading online workshops for all children of Hormel Foods employees to creating print and digital reminders and promotional material, to administering the program, our team is proud to be deeply involved in every aspect of this incredible benefit.

Read student success stories