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Employees of Dolly Parton's Dollywood, which includes Dollywood’s Splash Country, Dolly Parton’s Stampede, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort, Dollywood Cabins, and Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show, just got some exciting news. Herschend Enterprises, operating partner of Dollywood, will now cover their employees’ tuition, fees, and books for those who further their education.
“We know when our hosts are happy and feel cared for that they are going to pass that along to our guests,” Eugene Naughton, president of The Dollywood Company, said in a statement. “The creation of the program allows another avenue for us to care for our hosts."
“One of The Dollywood Foundation’s key tenets is to ‘learn more.’ This program is created with that very tenet in mind," he continued. "We want our hosts to develop themselves through advanced learning to fulfill the foundation’s other tenets: care more, dream more, and be more. When our hosts strive to grow themselves, it makes our business and our community a truly better place.”
Tuition will be covered through the GROW U pilot program. Seasonal, part-time and full-time employees will be able to pursue diploma, degree and certificate programs across 30 learning partners at no personal cost. Herschland Enterprises will also provide partial funding for 150 additional programs in fields including hospitality, engineering, human resources, and art design, according to Knoxville's ABC 6.
Dollywood's GROW U program is powered by Guild Education, which works with Taco Bell, Disney, Lowe's, and Walmart on similar initiatives. The pilot program is set to launch later this month.