Crutcher family endows new foundation scholarship at Northwest
Senatobia, MS (03/20/2023) — The Storage Plus Endowed Scholarship was recently established at Northwest Mississippi Community College by Tracy and Melody Crutcher of Senatobia.
The Crutchers are the owners of Mini Systems, Inc., located in Sardis, which specializes in the fabrication and construction of mini storage systems. The company does construction in 17 states from coast to coast. The family also owns Storage Plus and has storage facilities and several laundromats in Panola and Tate counties.
Tracy Crutcher studied computer programming at Northwest's Oxford campus before going to work for Mini Systems from 1991-1996. After that business was sold, he moved to South Georgia in 1996 to work for a supplier/manufacturer and then to Florida in 2001 to start his own company called Diversified Building Systems. In 2002, Mr. Crutcher had the opportunity to return to Mississippi and take over ownership of Mini Systems, increasing sales of the company tenfold since returning.
"I always had a connection to this business, and I felt like it was time to come home. I had to rebuild the business and it has been growing ever since," Tracy said. He stated that mini storage is a huge and growing industry that now includes amenities such as climate-controlled storage and storage for RVs.
The Crutcher family has strong connections to Northwest. Melody's uncle, the late Joe Broadway, served as executive assistant to former Northwest President Dr. David Haraway and as the district dean of Career-Technical Education. Her uncle Larry Broadway was a long-time employee of the Physical Plant at Northwest.
Of their four children, three graduated from Northwest. Their son Cass Cole participated in the 2+2 program at Northwest and the University of Mississippi, earning degrees in criminal justice. Cole is now an attorney in Jackson. Their older daughter Lissa Beth Cole Owens, attended Northwest for two years and is a registered nurse working at LeBonheur. Daughter Alex Crutcher was in the pre-nursing program at Northwest before attending Delta State University and is also an RN. Tyler graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in nuclear engineering and is actively working in the family business.
Tracy feels a responsibility to give back to the community that has given so much to him and his family. "We have gotten financially to the point with our businesses that we are able to give back to the community where we make our living," Tracy said. He said that when he saw Northwest building the Concourse in Batesville, it started him thinking about a way to help the students in Panola County. "Northwest is a great school, and it is growing. I feel like we need more kids coming into the workforce with a skill and a trade, and Northwest is a great place for that," he added. They decided to name the scholarship Storage Plus, because he feels like that is a name that people in the area will recognize.
"Tracy Crutcher is a hard-working individual and desires to help students obtain the training they need to be successful in life. It is important to him to give back to the communities that have supported his business and help students believe that they, too can achieve success by working hard. We are so appreciative of the generous gift the Crutchers have given to establish the Storage Plus Scholarship," said Patti Gordon, executive director of Institutional Development at Northwest.
The Storage Plus Endowed Scholarship will be awarded one student from Panola County and one student from Tate County in a Career-Technical program and who maintains a 2.0 GPA.
Mini Systems, Inc., the sister company to Storage Plus, is also supporting the college as the presenting sponsor for the Inaugural Northwest Soiree this Saturday, March 25th, at the Heindl Center for Performing Arts. The Soiree is a formal fundraising event for the Northwest Mississippi Community College Foundation and will feature Mississippian Singer-Songwriter Marty Stuart and his fabulous superlatives in concert. Tickets can be found at www.heindlcenter.org.
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The Storage Plus Endowed Scholarship was recently established at Northwest Mississippi Community College by Tracy and Melody Crutcher of Senatobia.