IQ Magazine, 1st Quarter 2017

IQ

1ST QUARTER 2017

BUSINESS

Social Skills— A St. Cloud company masters the art of digital marketing. Pg. 10

PHILANTHROPY

Paying it Forward— Program participants discover the gift of giving back. Pg. 46

REWARDING INITIATIVE Introducing the idea people— including our new CEO—who are poised to help Central Minnesota thrive. Pg. 20

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IQ

Initiative Foundation Quarterly 1ST QUARTER 2017

Contents FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

20

6

27 32

37

Rewarding Initiative

A new mentor-driven fellowship powers up the region’s innovators and idea people.

A Return to Rural Roots

Matt Varilek returns to the Midwest to lead the Initiative Foundation.

Cooking Up New Solutions Hilltop Regional Kitchen to provide as many as 100,000 meals a year to Central Minnesota seniors.

Where the Jobs Are

Today, young Central Minnesotans don’t need to leave the region to find fulfilling careers.

Initiatives:

Regional Highlights

Get the latest economic and community development highlights from the 14-county area.

10

Business:

Social Skills

A young St. Cloud company is mastering the art of digital marketing.

12

Economy:

Planting Seeds for the Future Introducing a new business loan for underserved communities.

16

Community:

Mr. Frank’s Neighborhood

Dan Frank’s work will continue to improve towns across the region.

46

Philanthropy:

Paying it Forward

Program participants keep the momentum going by becoming donors.

50

Home Made:

Shark Industries

Peek inside the automotive aftermarket industry.

52

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WHAT’S ON YOUR WISH LIST? 1ST QUARTER 2017

3

Dear Friends, The moving truck was loaded and our belongings were secured for our midDecember move from Washington, D.C., back to Minnesota. The family pets were settled into their carriers on the seat beside me as I started the engine, put the truck in Drive and pointed it West.

Trailing me in the family minivan were my wife, Maggie, my mother-in-law, Becky, and our three kids: Willa (7), Mae (6) and Rhys (20 months). As I drove, I reflected on the transition ahead of us. Maggie and I were ecstatic about my new job at the Initiative Foundation and our return to the Midwest. But this was going to be all new for the kids. Would they miss their friends? Would they adapt well to their new school?

These questions lingered as I came home to greet Willa and Mae following their first day of classes. When I asked how it went, they excitedly told me the big news.

Their former school was the “Home of the Owls.” And their new school? That’s right: “Home of the Owls.” For all that was different, one of the most important things to them had stayed the same, and they loved it.

As I move into my new role at the Initiative Foundation, I’m having a shared experience. Much has changed—for me, and for the outstanding Initiative Foundation staff—as I follow in the footsteps of founding president Kathy Gaalswyk. For one thing, I have joked that I am now the Foundation’s shortestever president (because in addition to being exceptionally talented, Kathy is also President Matt Varilek and family. tall!). In addition, I bring my own set of experiences and style to the job.

Amidst the change, though, the most important things remain the same, including our mission “to empower people to build thriving communities and a vibrant region across Central Minnesota” through a diverse array of tools including loans, grants, training, technical assistance, resource referral, philanthropic services and more.

As you page through this edition of IQ Magazine, you’ll find a powerful story about four emerging leaders, our Initiator Fellows, who are doing amazing work to diversify and energize the regional economy. You’ll read about Luke Riordan, founder of DAYTA Marketing, and how he built a social media marketing agency fresh out of college. And you’ll read about area high-schoolers who are finding new ways to explore career and leadership opportunities right here in Central Minnesota.

If you’ll pardon the owl-related pun, you could say this group represents a “who’s who” of high-potential leaders for the region. I’m proud to be among their newest partners, and I’m grateful for their positive influence on the region now and in the years to come.

Enjoy the magazine.

Matt Varilek PRESIDENT

4 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

VOLUME 23, 1ST QUARTER 2017

Initiative Foundation President | Matt Varilek VP, External Relations | Carrie Tripp Marketing & Communications Manager | Bob McClintick Editorial Managing Editor | Elizabeth Foy Larsen Writer | Laura Billings Coleman Writer | Maria Surma Manka Writer | Lisa Meyers McClintick Writer | Gene Rebeck Writer | John Reinan Writer | Andy Steiner Art Art Director | Teresa Lund Photographer | John Linn Illustrator | Chris McAllister Advertising Advertising Director | Brian Lehman Advertising Manager | Lois Head Advertiser Services | Janelle Breen Subscriptions Email info@ifound.org to subscribe or to make subscription inquiries.

405 First Street SE Little Falls, MN 56345 (320) 632-9255 | ifound.org

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Initiatives

WADENA TODD

CROW WING

MORRISON

MILLE LACS

PINE

BENTON STEARNS

SHERBURNE

ISANTI

CHISAGO

Regional Investment Highlights

CASS

KANABEC

IQ

WRIGHT

WESTERN MORRISON COUNTY | Intern Gains Real-World, Practical Experience We are pleased to welcome Jordan Witt as an Initiative Foundation intern. A senior at Little Falls High School, Jordan spends eight hours a week assisting staff members and learning how a regional community foundation operates. Jordan’s internship is made possible through the Little Falls Internship program, a program developed through the city’s participation in the Foundation’s community development program.

TODD COUNTY | Community Literacy Efforts Receive Boost Reading for the Future, an initiative of the Freshwater Education District, has set a goal to distribute books to more than 500 young children in the Staples area. Powered by an Initiative Foundation grant, the project aims to inspire young readers and encourage family reading time.

WADENA COUNTY | VISTA Position to Build Capacity, Drive Volunteerism

MORRISON: Little Falls High School senior Jordan Witt is gaining real-world experience during his Initiative Foundation internship.

Wadena County Developmental Achievement Center, Inc., (DAC) has been selected as a 2017-2018 AmeriCorps VISTA host site through the Initiative Foundation. The VISTA project will focus on developing a robust volunteer program and will seek to expand local business partnerships. DAC, which provides vocational programs for adults with disabilities, will recruit in April for a service position that begins in July.

NORTHERN CASS COUNTY | Invasive Species Training Arms Inspectors with Tools, Tips The Cass County Soil and Water Conservation District used an Initiative Foundation grant to sponsor a series of workshops aimed at interrupting the spread of aquatic invasive species in Central Minnesota’s lakes and rivers. The workshops provided in-depth training in conflict resolution, de-escalation techniques and lake-science ecology fundamentals.

CROW WING COUNTY | Fund Brings Holiday Hope to Brainerd Area Struggling Brainerd families received assistance this past holiday season from the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation’s Spirit of Hope Fund. Created to address unexpected financial emergencies, this fund provided one-time donations to help with needs ranging from medical expenses to car repairs.

In all, combined with matching funds from the Initiative Foundation, 150 households and 250 individuals received $17,000 in assistance.

MILLE LACS COUNTY | VISTA Member Helps Brighten Smiles in Onamia CROW WING: The Spirit of Hope fund delivered $17,000 in holiday assistance.

6 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

In her second year of service with the Onamia Area Early Childhood Coalition, AmeriCorps VISTA service member Karen Nelson has been working to develop, implement and facilitate oral health education and screenings. As a result of her efforts, the coalition has been able to leverage donations to provide 72 oral hygiene kits, 552 toothbrushes and 42 tooth-brushing timers to Onamia children.

“ I hope to keep donating to the Initiative Foundation in future years.

I like to support groups I think are doing positive things.”

– Charlotte Stephens, donor and program participant

SOUTHERN BENTON COUNTY | Innovative Educators Receive Classroom Grants Nine Sauk Rapids-Rice teachers have received nearly $4,000 in grants from the Sauk Rapids-Rice Education Foundation, a Partner Fund of the Initiative Foundation. Each educator was recognized for initiatives that create rich classroom experiences. Winning projects ranged from the sponsorship of a book-sharing field trip to the purchase and deployment of a refurbished 3-D printer.

SHERBURNE COUNTY | Supplemental Food Eases Stress, Provides Assistance Families in the Elk River, Zimmerman and Otsego areas gained access to healthy meals thanks to the efforts of the Community Aid of Elk River’s Kidz Kitz supplemental food program. The program leveraged a grant from the Initiative Foundation to income-eligible qualifying families with extra food to supplement daily meals and ensure that children do not go hungry.

STEARNS COUNTY | Pillars Event Celebrates Success, Addresses Challenges Nearly 350 community members gathered at the River’s Edge Convention Center in February for the seventh annual Greater St. Cloud Community Pillars event. The Initiative Foundation co-sponsored gathering highlighted successes such as local trails, corporate wellness efforts and pre-school programming while acknowledging that more work needs to be done for race and economic opportunity.

BENTON: Teachers recognized, rewarded for classroom-enriching initiatives.

WRIGHT COUNTY | Strategy Document Plots Region’s Economic Future Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services of Monticello leveraged Xcel Energy and Initiative Foundation funds to help Wright, Stearns, Sherburne and Benton counties update a five-year economic development strategy plan that identifies opportunities to spur job growth. The plan also clears the way for potential federal investments for infrastructure needs and assistance in the event of an economic or natural disaster.

EASTERN CHISAGO COUNTY | Clean Energy Hub Spurs Innovation, Solutions The Chisago Lakes Area is approaching a goal of 100 percent energy independence thanks to the early success of its Clean Energy Financing Hub. Created in partnership with an energy consulting firm, and using a grant from the Initiative Foundation, the Hub leverages public and private financing resources to develop clean energy projects and reduce energy consumption.

ISANTI COUNTY | Isanti Broadband Target of New Study A countywide broadband study is underway to identify service gaps and infrastructure improvements.

The effort, driven by statewide efforts to invest in broadband improvements, includes input from schools, hospitals and higher education institutions and will guide local officials as they plan and execute updates. The study is being funded, in part, by a grant from the Initiative Foundation.

KANABEC COUNTY | Green Light for SBDC Outreach Training Heidi Steinmetz, executive director for the Kanabec County Economic Development Authority, has been given the go-ahead to pursue outreach training from the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

SBDC outreach training and certification provides economic development professionals with the tools to assist small business owners and entrepreneurs. Funding for a portion of the training is made possible through an Initiative Foundation grant.

CHISAGO: Initiative strives to develop clean energy projects and reduce energy consumption.

PINE COUNTY | Nonprofit Pilots Innovative Workforce Project A project to create sustainable jobs for people with developmental disabilities, severe and persistent mental illness or brain injuries is underway at Pine Habilitation and Supported Employment, Inc. Working at an aquaponics facility, employees are providing fresh produce for the Nemadji Community Resource Center’s Meals on Wheels and senior dining programs. The project is supported by a grant from the Initiative Foundation.

1ST QUARTER 2017

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business

LUKE RIORDAN: “If you think digital marketing is easy, you’re doing it wrong.”

Social Skills How a young St. Cloud company is mastering the art of digital marketing.

By Lisa Meyers McClintick | Photography by John Linn

Luke Riordan had nursing in mind when he chose Saint John’s University. It was an internship in social marketing, however, that took the 2011 graduate down a different path and ultimately led to the creation of DAYTA Marketing, one of the St. Cloud’s area’s most lauded and cutting-edge new businesses.The company creates and manages clients’ social media platforms and also develops and produces websites, online videos, design services and photography.

DAYTA got its start before Riordan’s senior year at Saint John’s University, when he was hoping to obtain extra credits so he could graduate early. Riordan had an interest in digital marketing and noticed the orthopedic and sports medicine clinic where his dad and four physicians worked in Stevens Point, Wis., didn’t have an online presence beyond a basic website. Twitter was three years old and Facebook was picking up steam.

Riordan put together a summer internship proposal and got to work. He made educational videos, posted local sports news about patients, produced healthy tips of the day and introduced contests that brought new patients through the door and drew positive comments 10 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

from established patients.

When school began that fall, the clinic didn’t want to lose the momentum that Riordan had created, so they hired him to continue as a consultant. The vision for DAYTA Marketing began to take shape on his drive back to school from Wisconsin.

Riordan got much-needed support when Saint John’s connected him to the St. Cloud Area Chamber Executive Dialogue Group for feedback and advice, a process that resulted in three members becoming DAYTA customers. Riordan’s uncle, John Riordan, a self-described serial entrepreneur, believed in the DAYTA plan enough to relocate from Wisconsin to St. Cloud to help his nephew launch their new venture.

New Tools

DAYTA takes a holistic approach to its work, steering new clients through a 130-step process to assess their online health and reputation. The DAYTA team goes deep, Riordan said, to determine the client’s mission, strengths and weaknesses before developing plans to build brand awareness, manage a business’s reputation and engage followers through platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and SnapChat.

“That’s what social media is about,” said Riordan, who’s now 27.

“It’s human beings interacting online.”

As social media marketing rises, DAYTA’s reputation for successful, cutting-edge expertise has taken Riordan from a mostly self-trained, one-man consultant to leading a thriving team of 28 in just five years—with plans to keep growing.

“He’s a very energetic young man with a vision and talent,” said Dan Bullert, business finance manager with the Initiative Foundation, which invested in the company in 2016 to help it reach the next level of growth.

Riordan said there is no “magic bullet” for effective, successful social marketing, and platforms can be swiftly moving targets that require constant research and development.

“If you think digital marketing is easy,” he said, “you’re doing it wrong.”

To address those challenges, DAYTA is developing proprietary software to help clients track every aspect of their digital marketing efforts, including social sites, website hosting, reviews and responses to customers, analytics, annual campaigns and events. The dashboardstyle tool also provides quick ways to set up meetings with DAYTA staff and is a repository for documents that outline the client’s mission, buyer personas and strategies.

Showing Initiative

Tucked between railroad tracks and Third Avenue in Waite Park, DAYTA’s offices buzz with the energy of millennials who goodnaturedly jostle for scarce conference room time. (Riordan anticipates needing a bigger location by 2018.)

The company already has moved four times since its humble

BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS A Timeline Of Success

2011 2012

2013 2014 2015 2016

uke Riordan starts DAYTA Marketing with a laptop L and a basement shared with spiders.

J ohn Riordan joins the company. Within three months they rent their first office, add their first employee and finish the first year with 35 clients and $97,000 in revenue.

beginnings. Today, DAYTA’s leadership team includes Amy Jo Paul, who went from intern to head of operations (Riordon refers to Paul as “the glue that holds everything together”); Brian Myres, a former head of sales at Capital One, as chief operating officer; and Stephen Woods, a former software engineering manager at Native X, who is the company’s chief technology officer.

Solid leadership will be key to gaining the more than 1,000 customers DAYTA hopes to attract within the next five years.

“We want to continue to expand our reach across the United States while keeping our headquarters here,” Riordan said.

Recipe for Success

That goal seems like a safe bet. Minnesota Business Magazine named DAYTA one of Minnesota’s 100 Best Companies to work for in 2014. A year later, Riordan was awarded Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year by the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce and recognized as one of the community’s Five Under 40 People to Watch.

His success is part of a carefully crafted work-life balance philosophy that guides the company. “We work to live, not live to work,” Riordan said. “No matter how great work is, nobody is going to choose work over family. That’s a huge value for us.”

It’s a win-win for the region, as well, providing college graduates with attractive jobs and the chance to settle down and raise families in a growing community.

“Most people want to be proud of where they work,” said Brian Myres. “That’s not limited to millennials. DAYTA Marketing is making a difference beyond the bottom line.”

RIORDAN’S RULES

Tips for success in a fast-growing industry.

1.

2.

F ive employees are added to help handle 250 percent growth in business.

N amed one of Minnesota’s Best Companies by Minnesota Business Magazine.

3.

merging Entrepreneur of the Year award through E the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce.

S taff of 28 works with more than 150 customers nationwide.

4.

Get employees involved. Allowing workers to be ambassadors and post about work activities can generate new customers while also letting potential new employees get a feel for your business culture.

Make business personal and playful. Even a non-retail business, such

as Tom Kraemer Inc. (dumpsters and storage containers), has more than 2,000 likes thanks to videos that let customers go behind the scenes of this family business.

Watch for new social opportunities. Every social platform tweak or upgrade can yield new and improved ways to reach customers. Facebook’s Canvas ads, for example, allow personalized customer interactions, such as a jewelry store that walks customers through ring selections based on their preferences.

Offer internships. For businesses requiring unique skills, hands-on training can be the best way to prepare, find and train future employees.

1ST QUARTER 2017

11

economy

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY: The Initiative Foundation is proud to support the Agua Gorda Cooperative.

Planting Seeds for the Future

Photograph byTom Meersman, printed with permission from the Star Tribune

The Initiative Foundation and the Northwest Area Foundation join financial forces to invest more intentionally in Central Minnesota’s underserved communities.

By Gene Rebeck

A couple of years back, Jaime Villalaz got a call from a group of Latino farmers near Long Prairie looking for $150,000 to buy 54 acres of land.

The farmers knew they had an attentive ear. Villalaz is the agricultural business development program director for the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that supports Latino entrepreneurs in the metro area and Central Minnesota. What’s more, he had been working with this group, the Agua Gorda Cooperative, since 2012. Villalaz took their case to LEDC loan program director Rocio Bustillos and agency founder Ramón León, who in turn approached the Initiative Foundation.

It was the type of funding the Foundation was happy to provide.

And now the Foundation is in an even better position to help more businesses succeed.

In January, the Initiative Foundation received a $1 million investment from the St. Paul-based Northwest Area Foundation.

The Initiative Foundation will use this program-related investment to increase the number and amount of loans it makes—with an emphasis on quality jobs for economically disadvantaged people.

Filling a Gap

The relationship between the two foundations began in 2006 when the Northwest Area Foundation made a 10-year, $1 million investment in the Initiative Foundation’s revolving loan fund. The investment targeted the Foundation’s Green Loan program and projects that involved alternative energy, energy efficiency and recycling, said Lynn Bushinger, the Initiative Foundation’s chief operating and financial officer.

This new investment will have a different mission.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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economy, continued from page 12

“We’re looking to increase the loans we make to new businesses and social enterprise ventures that are creating quality jobs for underserved populations—people living in poverty, women, veterans and new Americans,” Bushinger said. “We have a number of programs that help develop emerging leaders, entrepreneurs and social enterprise efforts. We believe this programming, along with technical assistance, will surface the kind of projects we would like to fund.”

Each year, the Initiative Foundation issues $2.5 to $3 million in loans spread across 24 to 30 transactions. Generally, those dollars are leveraged five or six times. Total project financing per year, therefore, is in the $15 million range. Future Initiative Foundation loans are then financed with the money that’s repaid by the original borrowers.

“Typically, we operate our revolving loan fund as a gap financing product,” said Dan Bullert, the Initiative Foundation’s business finance manager. “We work with other financing sources, typically banks or credit unions that are the lead lenders on projects.” For example, a business might be purchasing equipment or real estate or buying other types of physical assets.

“Oftentimes, a primary lender has limitations on how much they can lend based on regulations and bank policy,” Bullert added.

It’s common that a primary lender’s financing rate is limited to 75 or 80 percent of the project cost. “If the borrower doesn’t have the other 20 or 25 percent cash on hand to make it work, the borrower’s plans might be delayed. So we enter the transaction to provide gap financing in conjunction with the primary financing to move the project forward.”

The $1 million investment from the Northwest Area Foundation is a crucial part of the Initiative Foundation’s 2017-2019 strategic priorities. “We will be intentional about supporting and growing for profit and nonprofit businesses; cultivating the next generation of leaders; working with new entrepreneurs as they start businesses and social enterprises; and improving the economic status of disadvantaged people,” Bushinger said.

That means casting a wider net and possibly departing from traditional lending patterns. “We always want to maintain a strong partnership with the financial institutions,” Bullert said. “But if a project comes to us and isn’t necessarily bankable, we want to be able to consider those as well.”

Bushinger said the Northwest Area Foundation’s mission is in direct alignment with the Initiative Foundation’s key strategies.

“Access to capital is key to asset-building in our region,” said Nikki Foster, program officer for the Northwest Area Foundation.

“Our program-related investments are meant to directly benefit those low-income communities through lending capital.”

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to helping Community

CDFI PROUD The Initiative Foundation is among more than 1,000 organizations nationwide that are certified as a Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI. Certified organizations are eligible to apply for awards through a variety of programs offered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s CDFI Fund. These awards enable CDFIs to finance a range of activities in income-eligible areas to cultivate a healthy and stable local economy.

Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) like the Initiative Foundation promote quality jobs and access to capital. “We also are looking for opportunities in our target communities—immigrants and refugees, rural areas, communities of color, and native communities.

The Initiative Foundation, which targets resources to rural areas and is starting to work more with immigrants and refugees, particularly in St. Cloud, really aligns with our approach.”

Foster also noted that the Initiative Foundation’s “strong performance on the first program-related investment” was a key reason why the Northwest Area Foundation chose to renew its relationship. “We really rely on the experts in our region like the Initiative Foundation to meet our mission,” she said. “We’re excited to see the positive outcomes of our investment over the next seven years.”

Bearing Fruit

The Initiative Foundation hopes future results resemble those being achieved by the Agua Gorda farmers. Villalaz reported that in late January, the cooperative signed a $20,000 contract with La Loma, a Minneapolis-based tamale manufacturer in Minneapolis. The farmers will supply La Loma with tomatillos that are used for making green salsa.

While deals like this help provide some financial security for the farmers going forward, “the most important thing is, they own their own land,” Villalaz said. The farmers also are able to hire people and “spread some of their revenue in the Latino community.”

With its refreshed lending resources, the Initiative Foundation is poised to help all kinds of communities plant new economic futures.

Contact Business Finance Manager Dan Bullert at dbullert@ifound.org or (320) 631-2013 to learn more about the Initiative Foundation’s business finance program.

14 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

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community

DAN FRANK: ”It’s important for communities to figure out: ‘How do we attract people to come into town?’”

Mr. Frank’s Neighborhoods Dan Frank is retiring as head of the Initiative Foundation’s community development programming. But his work will continue to improve towns across the region.

By Gene Rebeck | Photography by John Linn

It’s fitting that Dan Frank’s last project is in Pequot Lakes.

As the Initiative Foundation’s senior program manager for community development, Frank first became involved in the Foundation’s work when he was a citizen leader in that town. Since then, Frank’s 15-year community development career has taken him to more than 50 hometowns across the region. From Braham to Foley to Longville, Frank has helped towns assess their challenges, capitalize on their assets and create action plans to increase their economic and cultural vitality.

“What I like most about my work is when I see people who love their community and are willing to give of their own time and treasure to make change happen and keep their community a vital place,” Frank said.

A Facilitator and Collaborator

It’s a commitment that Frank understands from his own personal experience. Before joining the Initiative Foundation in 2001, Frank participated in a community development project in Pequot Lakes, where he was a community education director. The Initiative Foundation-facilitated process helped the town make several important quality-of-life investments, including the creation of a skateboard park, teen center and a family center.

When Frank heard about a job opening at the Initiative Foundation, he decided to apply. Within three years, he was running the Foundation’s community development programming.

“The Foundation took a chance on me,” Frank said. “I didn’t have an awful lot of experience other than having a local connection in a program. I didn’t have a lot of experience that was directly related to working for a community foundation.”

But, as noted by Don Hickman, the Initiative Foundation’s vice CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

16 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

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community, continued from page 16

“ What I like most about my work is when I see people who love their communities and are willing to give of their own time and treasure to make change happen and keep their community a vital place.” president for community and workforce development and Frank’s longtime boss, “Dan is one of the best hires we’ve ever made. Not only is he one of the kindest, most patient people I’ve ever worked with, he also has a deep and sincere commitment to rural and low-income communities. And he understands how to work with people—in particular, good civic-minded folks who are passionate volunteers.”

In addition to his skills as a facilitator and collaborator, Frank also helped the Foundation reframe the community development program when the recession hit. “During that time of stress, people had a little less patience for process and a lot of meetings,” said Kathy Gaalswyk, former president of the Initiative Foundation. “They were more eager to get some real things done.” When Frank came on board, it was a lengthy program and required local leaders to spend many hours away from their families and businesses. Frank retooled the process to concentrate the training into a shorter cycle.

The Go-to Guy

One town that has benefitted greatly from Frank’s expertise is Milaca, which started participating in the Foundation’s community development programs a decade ago. Today, the town continues to seek out new ways “to keep the momentum going,” according to Dave Dillan, a local educator and community leader. Milaca has a strong arts community, but “it was a bit scattered,” said Dillan. “So our arts task force created our own arts center and the Milaca fine arts council.” The council’s activities include concerts and art shows.

Frank has continued to be the resourceful go-to guy for many rural communities. For instance, following Frank’s advice and guidance, Milaca started a community foundation through the Initiative Foundation to raise money for local projects. Its endowment is now up to more than $75,000, and the local foundation has given grants to support projects that benefit Milaca each year since the endowment’s creation in 2011.

Frank also has played a leadership role at the state level in the field of community development. In 2007, he helped organize a group called Friends in the Field, which brings together community development professionals to get to know each other, discuss current issues relevant to their work, and forge new collaborations that better serve their communities.

“He really knows how to bring people to the table,” said Friends in the Field co-founder Joyce Hoelting, who is the assistant director of the University of Minnesota’s Extension Center for Community Vitality. For instance, “Dan and I, along with others, decided last year that we really needed to diversify the group and be more inclusive of community development agents from immigrant and minority populations. Dan’s spirit of inclusion and welcoming nature has made that happen, along with a helpful contact list of his own.”

18 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

Community Coach

This year, Frank is wrapping up his career at the Initiative Foundation where it began—in Pequot Lakes. Mark Jurchen, a Pequot Lakes community leader who has known Frank for more than two decades, describes him as “a community coach” who makes everyone feel that their insights and input are valued—and who also keeps meetings and processes moving.

Those talents have been crucial to Frank’s last project. This year, Highway 371 is being rerouted to pass east of Pequot Lakes.

Residents and businesspeople “are concerned about how that traffic pattern is going to change things,” Frank noted. “You’re not going to have people driving by, seeing your business and stopping. Now residents have to figure out: ‘How do we attract people to come into town? And how do we promote it?’”

It’s an issue that has literally and figuratively divided the community. And that’s given Frank another opportunity to facilitate collaboration. “Dan is helping us work through the process of bringing the community back together,” said Jurchen. “And more importantly, he’s helping us form a really good vision of the community going forward.”

AN EVOLUTION IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Beginning in March, the Initiative Foundation will accept applications from Central Minnesota communities interested in participating in its Thriving Communities Initiative program—an evolving iteration of the Foundation’s community work that blends local philanthropy, leadership development and asset-based community training.

The program takes a grassroots approach to enhance community vibrancy and elevate economic vitality—all of which is supported by a sustainable philanthropic tool (a community endowment) to support the advancement of local projects, programs and services.

To learn more about how your community might participate in this two-phased program, visit ifound.org /community/thriving or contact Michelle Kiley at mkiley@ifound.org.

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By Laura Billings Coleman | Photography by John Linn

F

rom his view in the front of the classroom over the last decade, University of Minnesota Extension Educator Rod Greder could see for himself the struggles that students with attention problems face when trying to stay focused on their work. He also saw an opportunity.

“I just naturally started to wonder whether there was a technological solution that could help,” said Greder, a family farmer with a Ph.D. in genetics as well as a background in corporate marketing and research. From his home in Pine City, Greder began to assemble a team of researchers, partners and experts who shared his vision for an eyeglass interface that could detect when a wearer is distracted, and draw a wandering mind back to the work at hand.

Since its launch in 2010, Awear Technologies has attracted plenty of notice, including funding from the National Science Foundation, a new U.S. patent, and a recent showing as a finalist for the prestigious MN Cup, a startup competition sponsored by the U of M’s Carlson School of Management. But taking a big idea and turning it into a sustainable business is not always a straight path. “The struggle for most entrepreneurs is that they also have a life,” said Greder. “They’ve got obligations, and they’ve got bills to pay. You have to balance employment at your real job and working on your idea and your passion, and that can take time.”

But Greder’s bold vision for bringing assistive eyewear into education just got a big boost thanks to the Initiators Fellowship, a program of the Initiative Foundation that supports the region’s most promising social enterprise builders. Over the next two years, Greder will receive a $60,000 stipend to help cover living expenses and allow him to focus on his work plan and develop his leadership skills. As one of the first cohort of four Initiator Fellows, he’ll also receive customized technical training and mentor support to help move his idea from prototype to production. Fellows were chosen through a selective panel process in the fall of 2016.

Made possible by an endowment fund launched by Granite Equity Partners, along with other regional supporters, the Initiators Fellowship program is modelled on a successful fellowship created by the New York-based Echoing Green Foundation.

It represents a major investment in Central Minnesota’s human capital—one that supporters believe will pay great returns over time. “The program is the latest in a whole portfolio of strategies the Initiative Foundation supports to promote economic development in the region,” said Rick Bauerly, founder and managing partner/CEO of Granite Equity Partners and a member of the Initiative Foundation’s Board of Trustees. “We don’t expect to launch another Google through these fellowships and mentorships. That’s not how we will measure success. Instead, the goal is to retain and empower leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and initiators to apply their passion and their purpose over decades from within this region with assistance from the Initiative Foundation and its partners.”

In fact, the Foundation believes the program’s impact will extend well beyond the business community. “The person is valued over the project,” said Jeff Wig, the Initiative Foundation’s vice president for economic and organizational development, who also serves as program manager for the Initiators Fellowship. “Our aim is to develop key future leaders of Central Minnesota—people who will serve on our city councils and county commissions and lead our region’s nonprofit boards. We hope to see some Initiator Fellowship graduates on our own Board of Trustees some day.”

Here’s a closer look at the first four Initiators Fellows chosen for their commitment to powering what’s possible in Central Minnesota:

Getting out there and telling people that life goes on after a diagnosis of diabetes really means everything to me.

When Quinn Nystrom’s younger brother was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, the enterprising fifth-grade figure skater went straight to her school library to find out how to help. “Unfortunately there were just three books—one was a cookbook, and the other two were medical texts,” Nystrom remembers. None contained the answers she was looking for when, just over two years later, she learned she had the same chronic and incurable disease. “I was 13 and I really thought my life was over.”

Growing up in Baxter, Minn., Nystrom never met another teenage girl with diabetes until her parents sent her to Camp Needlepoint, a summer camp in Hudson, Wis., that’s hosted by the American Diabetes Association. Spending time with other teens who also were learning how to cope with constant carb counting, insulin injections and blood sugar checks was life-changing. “I realized that even though I didn’t get a choice about having a chronic disease, I did have a choice about determining the quality of my own life and how I was going to react.”

By the time she was 16, Nystrom set out on a national barnstorming tour as the American Diabetes Association’s National Youth Advocate, raising more than $150,000 for diabetes research, and becoming the youngest recipient of the prestigious American Diabetes Association Star Award. Now 31, Nystrom has written the book she wished for when she was first diagnosed: “If I Kiss You, Will I Get Diabetes?” (RiverPlace Press, 2014) and is building a national constituency as a patient advocate speaking for the one in 10 Americans with diabetes.

]

She’s also building a consultant business as a diabetes advocate for the more than 1.9 million Americans newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes every year. “I talk about what it’s really like, and that living with a chronic illness has taught me a lot about failure, and that I don’t get to win every day,” she said. “It also teaches you how to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and do what you have to do all over again.”

Nystrom, who will graduate with a master’s degree in communication management from Syracuse University this spring, said that lesson has been invaluable in all her pursuits, from winning a seat on the Baxter City Council to losing her recent run to represent District 10A at the Minnesota Legislature. She intends to use the Initiators Fellowship opportunity to build a sustainable business model from her home base in Central Minnesota. The business venture will allow Nystrom to respond to speaking requests from across North America, and to grow Dateline Diabetes, a nonprofit she launched to ease the financial burden for families with diabetes who face annual medical costs more than twice as high as non-diabetics.

“If I were living in Minneapolis, I don’t think I would have been given this opportunity, and I know it will allow me to reach more people right here in Greater Minnesota,” she said. With nearly 18,000 new cases of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes diagnosed in the state each year, “Getting out there and telling people that life goes on after this diagnosis really means everything to me.”

Quinn is being mentored by Tom Anderson, chief executive officer of Integrated Retirement, a Brainerd-based provider of retirement plan expertise and services to financial organizations. Anderson is a friend of the Initiative Foundation and a member of its business finance committee.

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There are so many hardworking people here, and we want to stay in the community that educated us.

When she makes a new acquaintance, Hudda Ibrahim isn’t shy about asking for ideas to help connect Central Minnesota’s growing immigrant community with job opportunities. “There are so many hardworking people here, and we want to stay in the community that educated us,” said Ibrahim, a Somali-born peace and social justice educator at St. Cloud Technical & Community College.

Arriving on campus as a student in 2007, Ibrahim was at a loss about what to study and how to speak up—challenges she carried with her when she transferred to the College of Saint Benedict and found she was part of an even smaller minority of students of color.

“Being the only black Muslim woman in my class could be intimidating, but I started to understand that if I don’t extend my hand, I won’t make any progress,” she said. “It taught me to get out of my comfort zone and reach out into the community.”

That attitude clearly worked. Ibrahim was elected president of her class—the first Somali woman to hold the position. With a master’s degree in peace studies/policy analysis from the University of Notre Dame, Ibrahim interned for a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit aimed at promoting dialogue between Palestinian and

]

Jewish women, and even traveled back to Mogadishu to explore non-violent solutions to the conflict in Somalia. But coming back to St. Cloud—where she now mentors college-bound Somali girls— was always part of her master plan. “This is home,” she said.

Now with the support of the Initiators Fellowship, Ibrahim is working to launch a consulting firm committed to lowering the cultural barriers that exist between traditional area employers and an increasingly diverse community of newcomers ready for new opportunities in the workplace.

Ibrahim sees herself as mediator, career coach and liaison with the cultural fluency to help St. Cloud employers understand the special needs Muslim workers may have, for instance, and to train new immigrants about how to overcome cultural hurdles that can stand in the way of getting hired. She also hopes to help small immigrant and non-immigrant businesses see the benefit of reaching out to serve customers from across the community.

“The message I want to get out is that if you want to expand your business, you have to make room for other people.”

Hudda is being mentored by Joanne Kudrna, director of strategy services for Granite Equity Partners, a St. Cloud-based private investment and holding company and one of the primary investors in the Initiators Fellowship program. Joanne is a friend of the Initiative Foundation who shares her strategic planning expertise with local nonprofit organizations.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

22 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

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Coming from a small town, I hate seeing business or storefront vacancies—I just want to fill them all up.

That’s why I get so excited about all of the creative things cities can do to thrive.

Fergus Falls native Annie Deckert has always loved the look and feel of a thriving main street, but it wasn’t until she took a class in urban planning at St. Cloud State University that she saw how policy and design can build connections in a community—or keep them from occurring. “I took a class that discussed the evolution of home design and its impact on neighborhood engagement,” said Deckert.

“It was so interesting to me, I decided to make it my major.”

After graduating, Deckert turned a college internship into a city planning job in Big Lake, just as it became one of the country’s fastest growing communities. Later, as director of economic development in Elk River, she found she looked forward to meeting with small business owners and entrepreneurs, but could see they were often overwhelmed by the policy and paperwork involved in expanding their operations. “At some point you’d have to give them a huge stack of papers,” detailing everything from tax codes to zoning ordinances to tax incentive programs, “and say, ‘Good luck’—and then a lot of times, you’d never hear from them again, resulting in missed development opportunities.”

That discovery inspired her to start the Decklan Group, a consulting firm she launched with business partner Tim Dolan. The firm helps businesses navigate available financing opportunities

]

and growth incentives, as well as assisting with branding strategies aimed at helping communities attract new business. “We sort of work as matchmakers between business and government, helping them find the right fit,” she said. Though the Decklan Group works primarily with manufacturing firms and mid-sized businesses ready to grow, Deckert said that small businesses, start-ups and social entrepreneurs could benefit from the assistance even more.

That’s why Deckert plans to use her Initiators Fellowship to serve that constituency—creating a new funding model that will serve businesses just getting off the ground, or even opening a collaborative co-working space where entrepreneurs can get good advice, share ideas and expand their networks. While she said many of Central Minnesota’s small towns have the business resources and workforce to attract new ventures, “The open-arm, how-can-wehelp-you feeling is so great in Central Minnesota—sometimes you can solve a potential problem with a text message because people actually know each other on a first-name basis and strive to make things happen,” she said. “Coming from a small town, I hate seeing storefront or downtown vacancies—I just want to fill them all up. I want to do everything in my power to make things happen.”

Annie is being mentored by Elk River attorney David Monroy, a member of the Initiative Foundation’s Board of Trustees. David is past chairman of the Three Rivers Community Foundation, a Partner Fund of the Initiative Foundation, and chairs the Elk River Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 48

24 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

SUPPORTING COMMUNITY-UNIVERSITY PROJECTS

Agriculture & Food Systems

Clean Energy

Natural Resources

Leech Lake Area Boys & Girls Club Community Garden is a hands-on classroom in Native American culture, traditional growing, gathering & harvesting practices.

Solar Schools is bringing together Leech Lake Tribal College, school districts, regional organizations, utility companies & UM students to install several solar arrays & to document the project case study.

Big Trout Lake research & conservation plans are protecting this deep, clear lake & providing habitat for Minnesota’s coldwater fish, birds & wildlife.

Serving Central Minnesota To learn more about these projects and others: • rsdp.umn.edu/central • facebook.com/UofMNExtRSDP University of Minnesota Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

Tourism & Resilient Communities Nisswa Lake Park Design partnered hundreds of community members, visitors & City officials to plan for lake access, trail connections & a natural shoreland setting.

Funding available for projects that partner University of Minnesota and communities working together for sustainable development.

To learn more or submit a project idea, contact Molly Zins: zend0007@umn.edu or 218-828-2332.

1ST QUARTER 2017

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After jobs in government and the private sector, Matt Varilek moves home to the Midwest to lead the Initiative Foundation.

By Elizabeth Foy Larsen | Photography by John Linn

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GROWING UP IN YANKTON, S.D., MATT VARILEK SOMETIMES FELT

EMBARRASSED THAT HE QUALIFIED FOR FREE AND REDUCED SCHOOL LUNCHES. “AT THE TIME, I DIDN’T LIKE HAVING A LUNCH TICKET THAT

WAS A DIFFERENT COLOR FROM THE KIDS WHOSE PARENTS PAID FULL PRICE,” SAID VARILEK, WHO STARTED HIS NEW POST AS THE

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE INITIATIVE FOUNDATION IN JANUARY, TAKING OVER FROM FOUNDING PRESIDENT KATHY GAALSWYK.

Today, Varilek has a different take on that formative experience. As he sees it, that helping hand, and many others along the way, enabled an ambitious kid with modest Midwestern roots to reach his potential. In his view, many doors would have remained closed to him—from an undergraduate education at Carleton College in Northfield, made possible by Pell Grants and Stafford Loans, to graduate school at Cambridge University in England, where he was the recipient of a scholarship from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and at the University of Glasgow Scotland, where he was supported by a scholarship from Rotary International.

Those opportunities have now come full circle. Varilek comes to the Initiative Foundation following a stint as the chief operating officer for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in Washington, D.C. He sees his new role at the Foundation as a fit for the next stage in his career, and for his family. He and his wife, Maggie—also a South Dakota native—want to raise their three young children in the kind of close-knit place that gave them their starts.

“There is something about growing up in a place where you run into people you know and feel like there’s a real sense of community,” said Varilek. “We’re so pleased that our kids are experiencing those things here in Central Minnesota.”

We talked to Varilek about what drew him to the Initiative Foundation and where he sees future opportunities for the organization and the region.

“ It’s common to think of economic development narrowly as a way to grow businesses and jobs. But it’s

important to remember that people also want to live in places that have

great cultural opportunities, parks, trails, natural beauty and other amenities.”

28 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

IQ You bring a fresh set of eyes to your role at the Initiative Foundation. What do you think are the region’s assets?

Varilek:This region is growing, both in terms of job creation and

population—we are fortunate that people are moving to Central Minnesota. That means we have some very strong communities that are producing prosperous, innovative companies as well as people who are eager to give—not just financially, but also of their time and talents.

The region’s natural beauty is also an important asset. It’s common to think of economic development narrowly as a way to grow businesses and jobs. But it’s important to remember that people also want to live in places that have great cultural opportunities, parks, trails, natural beauty and other amenities.

That mix makes Central Minnesota a very attractive place.

IQ What, in your opinion, are the region’s opportunities for improvement?

Varilek:Central Minnesota’s low unemployment is an indicator

of economic vitality, but it also means that businesses can have a hard time finding the talent they need to achieve full potential.

In addition, as the population ages, we see a great need for a new generation of leaders to fill important roles in business and the nonprofit and public sectors. Some communities are working through challenges associated with welcoming new Americans.

Fortunately, these challenges also represent an opportunity, because new members of our communities can help to address the need for additional leadership and talent.

IQ How do you see that idea being implemented?

Varilek:As with everything, progress will require partnerships

and collaboration. At the Initiative Foundation, workforce development with a variety of partners has been a longtime area of focus. Our Emerging Leaders program is also a great tool by which we help to cultivate the next generation of leaders. And the new Initiators Fellowship program (see page 20) is an exciting way that we’re making a deeper investment in a group of high-caliber leaders and entrepreneurs with the potential to make enormous long-term impacts in the region.

IQ Several of your previous professional experiences have involved small businesses. Why do you believe small businesses are so important to regions like Central Minnesota?

Varilek: The short answer is that over 90 percent of businesses are small businesses, and they generate something like two-thirds of all net new jobs. It’s also where so many innovative technologies come from. We think of America as an innovative place, and it’s often the small businesses that are coming up with new ideas and

doing the experimentation that larger businesses then can take to scale. These are among the reasons that the Initiative Foundation’s work providing gap financing for small businesses is so important.

IQ How do you think your governmental experience will help you in your new role?

Varilek:In my most recent post in D.C., I had a team of 180 people

and helped to provide strategic direction for the SBA as a whole. That leadership experience will be helpful as we seek to build upon the Initiative Foundation’s fantastic 30-year track record of success.

My time as the economic development director for Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota gave me a lot of on-the-ground exposure to key issues that are important to leaders in rural communities. I loved going from town to town, meeting with mayors, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and others. Those kinds of visits here in Central Minnesota are one of the best parts of being in my new role.

IQ The Initiative Foundation is a 30-year old organization with a $44 million endowment. Given the sound financial health, why is it important for people to continue to invest in the work we do?

Varilek:Starting

with The McKnight Foundation’s original support in 1986, and right through to the present, the Initiative Foundation’s great work has been enabled by the generosity of a diverse and growing group of donors and volunteers. Without resources, partnerships and support, our strategies amount to nothing more than good intentions. But despite all the progress already achieved, it’s more critical than ever that we continue to engage our partners, including individual donors, because the needs in our region continue to evolve and grow. We’d like to be able to help more businesses expand and more workers move into higher-skilled positions. We’d like to help more kids—especially those in poverty—come to kindergarten with the skills they’ll need to succeed. We’d like to do even more to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species in our beautiful lakes and rivers. All these things take resources to achieve. Fortunately, the Initiative Foundation throughout its history has shown itself to be a high-impact, trustworthy steward of the resources that have been entrusted to us.

IQ Why is a nonprofit suited to make strides in those areas?

Varilek:

We’ve developed a diverse set of effective tools to achieve our mission. Though we are a nonprofit ourselves, those tools involve a great deal of partnering with diverse people and organizations. Examples include our lending programs to forprofit and nonprofit enterprises, providing training and technical assistance for communities and nonprofits, developing individuals as leaders, and providing services to Partner Funds and foundations that facilitate even more philanthropy in the region. Through that set of tools and relationships, our reach and impact are substantial.

1ST QUARTER 2017

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2017-2019 STRATEGIC

PRIORITIES

The Initiative Foundation,with generous support from local donors and state and national funders, has laid out the following objectives for the next three years:

SUPPORT & GROW

HELP NEW ENTREPRENEURS

existing for-profit and nonprofit businesses

and the startup of businesses and social enterprise ventures

• 300 quality jobs created • 600 quality jobs retained • $6 million in new loans issued, resulting in $36 million in funds leveraged • 900 people have increased workforce skills • 75 people advance to skilled work positions • 4 50 nonprofit organizations have increased capacity to meet their missions

• 300 emerging entrepreneurs have increased skills and knowledge • 50 new business and social enterprise ventures are created • $3 million in new loans are issued, resulting in $18 million in funds leveraged

IMPROVE THE ECONOMIC STATUS

ENHANCE KINDERGARTEN READINESS

• 6 00 new Americans benefit from improved economic conditions • 3 00 economically disadvantaged rural residents benefit from improved economic conditions •N ine low-income communities are more resilient and sustainable

• 9,000 children living in impoverished areas are enriched through literacy activities • 900 early childhood caregivers, providers and educators have increased workforce skills

of financially disadvantaged people

CULTIVATE THE NEXT GENERATION of leaders working and living in our region

• 1 85 up-and-coming leaders engage in community service throughout the region • 4 6 leaders serve in public office or on nonprofit boards for the first time • 3 45 next-generation leaders increase their leadership and workforce skills

30 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

for children (ages 0-5) living in poverty

WORKING TOGETHER WE CAN ENSURE THAT CENTRAL MINNESOTA… • Has an abundance of talented people and job-creating enterprises that contribute to economic growth and vitality.

• Is a thriving region where people choose to live, work, give and play.

• Fosters a culture of philanthropy where people give generously of their time, talent and resources.

715,000 RESIDENTS

162

HOMETOWNS

14

COUNTIES

1 MISSION

Join us in our work to empower people and build thriving communities and a vibrant region across Central Minnesota.

Donate today at give.ifoundconnections.org

Contact us at (877) 632-9255 to pledge a gift to the Initiative Foundation’s general endowment.

IFOUND.ORG | INFO@IFOUND.ORG | (877) 632-9255 1ST QUARTER 2017

31

Hilltop Regional Kitchen provides as many as 100,000 meals a year to senior citizens in Central Minnesota.

By John Reinan | Photography by John Linn

32 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

DESIGNING CHANGE: Renovations at the former Eagle Bend High School will more than double food-preparation capacity.

In the Todd County town of Eagle Bend, an abandoned high school is getting a new life as a regional kitchen that will prepare as many as 100,000 meals a year for the area’s elderly and disabled residents.

Hilltop Regional Kitchen, funded by an array of private and public grants, along with contributions from citizens and civic groups, is set to open this summer in the renovated Eagle Bend High School, which closed several years ago.

Replacing the current cramped facility at the Eagle Bend Senior Center—located in a 107-year-old former drugstore building—the new regional kitchen will meet commercial standards and more than double the capacity of a service that provides individual Meals on Wheels as well as supplies of packaged frozen meals to senior citizens throughout Todd and Wadena counties. Across Minnesota, 21 percent of the population will be 65 or older by 2030, according to data from Minnesota Compass. The ratio is notably higher for the same period in Todd and Wadena counties, where nearly 27 percent of the population will be 65-plus.

That makes now the right time for Hilltop Regional Kitchen to grow as the demand for meals skyrockets, said Rick Hest, president of the Eagle Bend Senior Center.

“We went from under 30,000 meals a year five years ago to over 50,000 now,” Hest said. “We don’t have enough storage for all the supplies that come in to make these meals.

I don’t know how the volunteers are doing it in our current kitchen. They’re crawling all over each other like ants!” After the kitchen staff prepares hundreds of individual hot meals each day, drivers head out to deliver them throughout the two counties. The kitchen is one of only two facilities in the state that also prepares “bundled” meals, which are 14-day supplies of frozen individual meals that the recipients can heat up.

Among the towns the new kitchen will serve are Wadena, Verndale, Browerville, Long Prairie, Staples, Clarissa and Motley.

“

Once we

develop this format, they can take this template and

have a kitchen design that can work anywhere.

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RICK HEST: “We went from under 30,000 meals a year five years ago to over 50,000 now.”

The total cost of the regional kitchen is expected to be $850,000 to $900,000, and that could climb a bit if additional money can be raised for a few hoped-for amenities, such as a new parking lot.

The Initiative Foundation helped move the project ahead with a pair of critical $10,000 grants. One funded early planning and was the first grant the effort received.

The second paid for a feasibility study that recommended the closed high school as the site of the new regional kitchen.

“We helped get the wheels turning early in the process,” said Dan Frank, the Foundation’s senior program manager for community development, speaking not only of this project but of the Initiative Foundation’s work in general, which includes serving as a resource, sounding board and cheerleader for citizen-led community efforts.

The Needs of Elders

Underpinning the nutrition effort is a stark demographic fact: Rural Minnesota is

quickly growing older.

About one in every seven Minnesotans— more than 800,000 people—lives in a rural area or a town of less than 10,000. These rural residents are twice as likely to be at least 80 years old when compared to their counterparts in the state’s urban areas, according to a recent report by the Minnesota State Demographic Center.

Many of these older adults live alone, and they often lack mobility. Hoping to remain in their homes, they often need help with some elements of daily living, including proper nourishment.

That’s the goal of meal programs like the ones provided by the Hilltop Regional Kitchen. Money spent on these programs is returned many times over in savings elsewhere, particularly in healthcare costs, said Julie Myhre, director of the Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives in the Minnesota Department of Health.

“For every $1 of federal Meals on Wheels spending, there is a $50 return on Medicaid savings alone,” she said. For its

part, the state sends more than $17 million a year to community health boards to promote access to healthy food and physical activity, and to discourage tobacco use.

“It’s about changing the environment, the systems people are a part of,” Myhre said. “We provide guidance on evidencebased strategies, but these efforts are locally driven. Communities choose what strategies make sense for them.”

Teresa Ambroz, a state nutrition coordinator, said meal programs are an important way to increase access to healthy food for Minnesota’s rural seniors. “In rural areas, the grocery stores are often closing,” she said. “That was the case with this group in Todd and Wadena counties. Also, as you age, your ability to get out is reduced, and the transportation systems are not there in the rural areas.”

Verna Toenyan, Todd County’s aging coordinator, has seen that scenario play out repeatedly.

“We have a ton of people who frequent the dollar stores [to buy food], and they’re CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

34 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

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Where the

JOBS

Are

Today, young Central Minnesotans don’t need to leave the region to find fulfilling careers. The key is to help them realize there’s a world of opportunity close to home.

By Andy Steiner | Photography by John Linn

Lucas Bollig wasn’t sure what to expect when he showed up for a job interview at Pequot Tool and Manufacturing. He knew the company specialized in machining and fabrication, so he figured it would look and feel just the way he imagined any factory would look and feel.

“The truth is,” said the Brainerd-born-and-raised Bollig, “I’d never been in a factory. I expected a grungy atmosphere. I thought it would be like working in a mine or in another dirty place. I never expected it to be like this.”

When he says, ‘like this,” Bollig describes something “very clean and bright and not noisy at all.”

That one visit to a manufacturing facility shattered Bollig’s stereotypes about the industry. Today, in his job as a manufacturing engineer at Pequot Tool, Bollig, now three years in with a couple of promotions under his belt, wears regular street clothes to work. He has his own cubicle, computer, phone and voicemail. The only safety

gear required? Steel-toed boots.

Breaking down perceptions about manufacturing jobs is one important step toward encouraging more young Central Minnesota residents like Bollig to take another look at the career opportunities that are plentiful in the region. As a growing economy collides with a shrinking labor force, Central Minnesota needs to come up with ways to help young people in the region understand that they don’t need to leave home to find a good job, said Don Hickman, Initiative Foundation vice president for community and workforce development.

“A lot of kids don’t know that great opportunities exist right here,” Hickman said. “Say you’ve gone to school in your hometown your whole life. You’ve always seen that big building down the road, but you don’t know that they’re a company that employs 200 people with good benefits and good wages. Most kids think that they have to move to a big city to get a good job, but that’s not the case anymore.”

I’d never been in a factory.

I thought it would be like working in a mine or in another dirty place.

1ST QUARTER 2017

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Now Hiring

The most plentiful and highest-paying jobs in Central Minnesota include healthcare, information technology and skilled manufacturing, said Adam O’Doherty, executive director of Partner for Student Success, a collaboration of Greater St. Cloudarea school districts, businesses, community agencies, educational institutions and government dedicated to preparing students for career success.

“The workforce in the local manufacturing industry is aging out,” O’Doherty said. “So there are many jobs available there.” The region’s aging population also means that healthcare jobs are plentiful.

In fact, with record numbers of Baby Boomers retiring and new businesses popping up overnight, skilled workers are at a premium, Hickman said. “Earlier this year, a local manufacturing firm went out of business in one of our counties,” Hickman recalls. “They laid off

150 people. That very afternoon I got a call from an economic development person in an adjacent county. She said, ‘I can help every one of those people find work. Can

You can get a two-year degree in manufacturing and quickly move into a living-wage job making $40,000 a year or better with benefits. you help me make a connection?’ So I called the local EDA person, and she said, ‘There’s a purchase agreement pending, but the skilled

workers are one of the key assets … they’re not going anywhere!’”

Degrees of Skill

One roadblock that’s likely intensifying the gap between available jobs and available workers in Central Minnesota is the broadly accepted idea that in order to land the very best positions, every young American high school graduate should go on to college and earn a four-year degree.

But that’s not necessarily the case, said Mike Schmidt, principal of Staples-Motley High School.

“A few years ago, it became the trendy thing to say, ‘America is going to send every kid to college,’” Schmidt said. “The reality turned out to be a bit of a false prophecy.

Right now, the information technology and manufacturing sectors are exploding. These jobs don’t usually require four years of education and jobs are going unfilled.”

Furthermore, many jobs that require two years or less of post-secondary education

Freshman Sydnie MacLeish, from Fort Ripley, hopes to turn her passion for math and science into an engineering career.

Engineer 38 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

Up-and -Coming Car eers A wide range of jobs are available in Central Minnesota, with certain sectors experiencing particularly vigorous growth, say our employment experts.

The Top 4 growth industries in the region include:

Software Developer Brained High School senior Matt Greatens is from Nisswa. He wants to study computer science with a goal of becoming a software developer.

offer wages and benefits that are competitive with those earned by some college graduates, said Tammy Biery, director of the Stearns-Benton Employment and Training Council.

For many young people, she said, fewer years in college means lower debt loads.

“You can get a two-year degree in manufacturing and quickly move into a living-wage job making $40,000 a year or better with benefits,” Hickman said. “But programs for that skill are going unfilled. Part of it is an old stigma about the manufacturing sector. Many parents still have a perception that is almost two generations old—that manufacturing work is dirty, dangerous and doesn’t have options for advancement—but in reality it is now a high-tech and rapidly growing sector of the economy, particularly in Central Minnesota.”

Bollig, who earned a combined fouryear degree in robotics and automated

systems from Central Lakes College and Bemidji State University, said that his degree made him a highly attractive hire at Pequot Tool. But he also knows that the company makes a practice of training new employees and promoting from within.

In fact, degrees aren’t always the key to success in manufacturing careers, said Twyla Flaws, personnel manager at Clow Stamping, a 400-employee-strong metal stamping and fabricating firm based in Merrifield.

“To get ahead in this industry, you have to couple an education with a little common sense and the ability to problem solve,” said Flaws. Her company prefers to hire for character over education, she said, and train and promote from within.

With perspectives like that in mind, Schmidt said he and his colleagues at StaplesMotley High are focused on developing the whole student, looking beyond traditional post-secondary educational expectations and expanding graduates’ perspectives on what it takes to land their dream job.

1

HEALTHCARE Not just physicians and registered nurses, but also a range of support jobs like X-ray and pharmacy technicians.

2

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Including network management, software development and database administration.

3

TOURISM & HOSPITALITY Including food service and hotel management.

4

MACHINING, FABRICATING & DESIGN Including design and fabrication processes that involve laser cutting, 3D printing, 3D scanning and other emerging technologies.

1ST QUARTER 2017

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Pediatrician

Senior Michael Bieganek, from Lake Shore, likes biology and history. He wants to be a pediatrician.

“When we talk post-secondary at our school,” Schmidt said, “that means anything from immediately going into the workforce, to a certification program, to a two-year program or a four-year program or even prepping kids for going into a paid apprenticeship.” Through daily interactions with teachers and administrators and in-class discussions, Staples-Motley is helping students “develop the soft skills they need to get hired.”

Schmidt said the school also partners with Bridges Career Academies & Workplace Connection to participate in Minnesota ProStart, a program of the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation that exposes students to experiences in the hospitality industry. At Staples-Motley, students can take classes led by regional hospitality professionals, preparing them for jobs in a vibrant industry.

Matt Kilian, Brainerd Lakes Chamber president, explained that ProStart offers

practical training for good-paying local jobs.

“You hear a lot about how schools and businesses should work together to bring learning to life,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing. The ProStart program brings chefs into the classroom and students into the kitchens. Our hope is that some of these kids will become our next chefs, managers and entrepreneurs.”

Spreading the Word

Encouraging young people to consider job opportunities closer to home takes creativity and commitment, said Tim Walker, employee development coordinator at Pequot Tool, whose outreach efforts include presentations at high schools and community colleges and an annual robotics competition that’s held in Duluth and co-sponsored by Pequot Tool.

Walker also organized a group of local manufacturers to pool their money and purchase a miniaturized version of a

computer numeric control (CNC) milling machine, a high-tech tool that’s used in many local manufacturing firms. This mini-CNC can be brought to high schools for students to give it a try.

He’s also deeply involved with the annual Bridges Career Day that’s held at Central Lakes College in Brainerd each spring, where some 2,000 students from area high schools come to learn about post-secondary education options, local employers and career opportunities, from healthcare, to law enforcement to the Department of Natural Resources.

In St. Cloud, the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation and the Central Minnesota Manufacturing Association joined forces to develop a “Tour of Manufacturing,” where high school students and their families get to visit local employers.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 42

40 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

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Where the Jobs Are CONTINUED FROM PAGE 40

Che f Brained junior Thea Fisher loves social studies and can see herself in a variety of fields, including politics, culinary arts and education.

Another innovative option for career exploration in Central Minnesota is Scrubs Camps, a three-day opportunity for high school and middle school students to explore healthcare and human services jobs. Through partnerships with local employers Rejuv Medical, CentraCare Health and The Good Shepherd Community, campers experience what it is like to work in these high-demand fields.

As far as Lucas Bollig is concerned, he knows his happy landing at Pequot Tool was a twist of fate, but he’s now committed to letting others know about the possibility of finding a good job in your backyard.

“I grew up here,” Bollig said. “I love the area.

I feel lucky that I found a job right here that’s challenging and satisfying. I’d recommend this work to just about anyone.”

Car eer Res ources for Young People STEARNS-BENTON EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING COUNCIL, ST. CLOUD Provides job seekers with tools and resources; career counseling and assessment; and in some instances, financial assistance for training. // workforceu.com CENTRAL MINNESOTA JOBS AND TRAINING SERVICES, INC., MONTICELLO Matches job seekers, youth, businesses and those seeking training with available resources. // on Facebook @CMJTS RURAL MINNESOTA CONCENTRATED EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM (CEP), BRAINERD Offers employee and employer services to align careers and develop workforce skills. // rmcep.com BRIDGES CAREER ACADEMIES & WORKPLACE CONNECTION Offers high school students opportunities to get involved in the workplace through invaluable hands-on learning experiences. // bridgesconnection.org T. CLOUD AREA SOMALI SALVATION ORGANIZATION (SASSO) S With a focus on supporting the careers of new Americans, SASSO’s African Development Center (ADC) offers microloans to small, immigrant-owned businesses. // sassomn.org

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not getting their fruits and vegetables,” she said. And many of the rural elderly are living on a thin financial edge.

“If you have an illness or some kind of an issue with your home or your vehicle, then your funds go for that, and you’re sitting there eating maybe one meal a day—or no meals,” Toenyan said. “It’s not just the poor any more who need help. The high cost of medication and the fact that people live a lot longer means that middleincome people are more affected than they used to be.”

A Larger Community

That’s why the meal program is so essential, said Hest, the senior center president.

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The Hilltop Kitchen could serve as a model for similar programs throughout Minnesota, said Loren Colman, the Department of Health’s assistant commissioner for continuing care for older adults. The department assisted the Hilltop project with a six-figure grant.

“You can’t have a kitchen doing this in every single community,” Colman said.

“We liked this project because it was regional in nature. They looked at their area and said, ‘How can we use this as a hub and spoke?’ That’s a model that we really think is valuable in the less populated areas of Minnesota.”

The economies of scale make a big difference in food purchasing and preparation, Toenyan said, and the burden on volunteers is less.

“It takes a whole lot of volunteer commitment by the communities that have a kitchen or a senior center,” she said.

“It’s easier to staff a regional kitchen than multiple smaller ones.

“Once we develop this format, they can take this template and have a kitchen design that can work anywhere,” she said.

“It’s exciting. We could never have done this without the help of the Initiative Foundation. I’m very grateful to them.”

The kitchen and its meal program provide more than food for the body. They also help nourish the soul, Myhre said.

“Mental and emotional health is a key component of overall health,” she said. “In Todd County, there is a higher percentage of seniors living alone. These home-delivered meals sometimes offer the only opportunity for them to connect with people.”

Added Hest: “These volunteers do more than just deliver food. I’ve changed innumerable light bulbs; I’ve dropped things off at the library.”

OUR COMMUNITY, OUR HOME. ANDERSON BROTHERS Family Fund

Across Minnesota, communities are slowly embracing cooperation, according to Frank.

“We need to get away from that Friday-night-lights football mentality … that notion that we played that other city in football, so we’re not going to cooperate with them,” he said.

“We understand that cities have different neighborhoods. And I think that counties would do well to realize that most people live and operate in more than one limited geographic area.

“The more we can look across those boundaries and see ourselves as one larger community, the more we’ll see opportunities for efficiency.”

With over seventy five years of fostering community growth, we’ve become attached to the communities we’ve helped build. The Anderson Brothers Family Fund, administered in partnership with the Initiative Foundation, helps strengthen the regional economy, works to preserve the environment, and supports the children and families in central Minnesota.

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philanthropy

Paying it Forward Past program participants become donors to keep the good momentum going.

By Lisa Meyers McClintick | Illustration by Chris McAllister

TAKEAWAYS: The Initiative Foundation, like all community foundations, depends upon a mix of contributors to deliver quality programming, difference-making grants and economic development activity to support the region it serves.

When individual donors share their resources—from gifts of cash to planned giving options such as real estate, stocks, bonds or retirement assets—their contributions are mingled with other revenue sources and invested in a general endowment. The endowment principal is never spent. Only interest earnings are used to fund the work of the Foundation.

Program participants are central to the Foundation’s donor mix. Here’s how they give back.

46 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

On any given day in the icy grip of winter, an estimated one in eight people struggle to pay for heat while bills for health care and other necessities pile up. Poverty hits particularly hard in northern states where heat is as essential as water and food.

Like any widespread and complex social challenge, energy scarcities could be considered overwhelming and too tough to tackle. But bring together enough expertise, resources, donations and a can-do spirit, and it’s surmountable. That’s certainly been the case for the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) in Backus, a nonprofit organization with a mission to make solar energy accessible to people of all income levels.

Initiative Foundation funding can provide the spark that ignites great ideas—including nonprofits like RREAL—and the expertise to give programs an essential push forward. No one understands that need for momentum like the people who’ve been on the receiving end of grants, loans, program participation and technical assistance from the Initiative Foundation.

“Donations drive our work,” said Carrie Tripp, the Initiative Foundation’s vice president of external relations. “The more people

who donate, the more we can do to get into our communities to help children and families survive, thrive and grow.”

In 2016, the Initiative Foundation awarded 176 grants throughout the region. The $1.4 million infusion of funding helped low-income children in the Mille Lacs area with dental care, advanced literacy efforts for preschool kids in the Mora area, helped provide lunches for children in Sherburne County, and provided funding for a revitalization project in downtown Cambridge. And that’s just a sampling. Initiative Foundation-hosted Partner Funds awarded another $700,000-plus in donor-generated grants throughout the region, for a total of more than $2.4 million in grants.

People who participate in and benefit from Initiative Foundation programs—from community development initiatives to nonprofit educational workshops—are often among those individuals who later make donations to support the Foundation’s work.

Here’s a look at a few program participants who are paying it forward:

Park, chances are good that Charlotte Stephens is involved.

“I’m an advocate for natural parks and trails and social justice in the community,” Stephens said.

The longtime resident and devoted volunteer was able to address both topics as part of the Greater St. Cloud Community Pillars program, an Initiative Foundation-supported effort to prioritize projects and values that strengthen the economy and quality of life for the Greater St. Cloud area. She’s also been involved in Mississippi Partners, a regional public and private coalition that works on a master plan for the river corridor.

Stephens said she’s known about the Initiative Foundation for at least 25 years, but didn’t realize until she started donating two years ago that the nonprofit relied on individuals as well.

“I’ve always been impressed by how much they’re doing to benefit people and communities in the region,” she said. “I hope to keep donating to the Initiative Foundation in future years. I like to support groups I think are doing positive things.”

Katy Botz: Giving back to those who helped

Jason Edens: Sharing renewable energy

A Backus resident for more than 40 years, Katy Botz knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a community’s generosity.

When her family lost their home to a fire in 1976, the town rallied and helped get them back on their feet.

With a desire to give back to her community, Botz joined a team of residents who came together for an Initiative Foundation Healthy Communities Partnership effort in 2007. The group, Backus Area Partners, lobbied for a new street light at a dangerous Highway 371 intersection, upgraded the city park, stepped up a battle against meth and addiction, beautified the town sign and downtown pride, and worked to attract medical facilities to their hometown.

The effort brought together leaders who still reach out to each other to get local projects done. Botz was inspired to get more involved, serving as the school board’s clerk/treasurer and as a member of the Region Five Development Commission.

“It’s a really giving community with a lot of volunteer activity,” said Botz, who has been giving annually to the Initiative Foundation since 2009. “We like to pay it forward.”

Charlotte Stephens: Helping with parks

Whether it’s finding grants, sculpting master plans or the nittygritty work of spring cleanup at St. Cloud’s River Bluffs Regional

The founder of Rural Renewable Energy Alliance in Backus, Jason Edens has participated in almost every nonprofit support program offered by the Initiative Foundation, including Financial Resiliency through Social Enterprise, grant-writing and leadership workshops, and hosting participants of the AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program, who often stay on as employees after their year of service.

The Initiative Foundation helped his alliance evolve from “naïve kids in a cold garage with a big audacious goal” of providing solar power to poor families to a regional success story that could help others across the country as their patented solar panel catches on.

So far, they’ve brought solar power to almost 500 Central Minnesota families. They also are partnering with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe to install the nation’s first low-income community solar array that will be integrated into the federal energy assistance program.

“The ripples from all the good work done here in Central Minnesota have a positive impact on not just the 14 counties, but arguably across the United States,” said Edens, who became an Initiative Foundation donor in 2016. “In a world where one often hears, ‘You can’t,’ the Initiative Foundation is a countervailing force.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP Your donation can make a difference. Visit give.ifoundconnections.org or contact a member of our external relations team today to support business development, help prepare kids for kindergarten and empower local leaders to work for positive change in Central Minnesota. Call (877) 632-9255 or send an email to Carrie Tripp at ctripp@ifound.org.

1ST QUARTER 2017

47

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As CEO and founder of Awear Technologies, Rod Greder already knows his target market—the 10 million children who have attention difficulties that affect their learning. His next step is seeing how his assistive eyewear solutions work for students and educators—feedback that will help him fine-tune a finished product he hopes to bring to market by 2018. “The connections and the credibility that we have now through the fellowship with the Initiative Foundation are really going to help us to make those entry points into schools and learning centers,” he said. “It’s already opening new doors for us.”

Using a set of glasses with variable transparency, and software that detects electrical activity in the brain, Awear’s prototype can monitor a student’s mental focus. The lens stays transparent when students are engaged but clouds when the software detects mental drift, effectively building a neural pathway that encourages kids to refocus. “We’re trying to develop something new and novel,” said Greder. “There’s not a direct analog that exists right now, so one of our biggest challenges has been getting people to understand the

]

science behind it. Our work is based on electroencephalography, neuroscience and feedback behaviors, and that’s not technical know-how that most people have.’’

“I am driven by the idea that we can make a difference. That’s why I’m a teacher—to make a difference in the lives of young people, and this is another way to help fulfill that mission.”

He believes that building the evidence for Awear’s effectiveness during his Initiators Fellowship will strengthen his start-up’s success rate, and could even improve outcomes for the nearly three million kids with diagnosed learning disabilities. “I am driven by the idea that we can make a difference,” he said. “That’s why I’m a teacher—to make a difference in the lives of young people, and this is another way to help fulfill that mission.”

Rod is being mentored by Traci Tapani, co-president of Stacy-based Wyoming Machine. Traci is a long-time member of the Initiative Foundation Board of Trustees and is active in youth and workforce development issues on a state and national level.

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home made

Shark Industries Rockford, Minn.

By Maria Surma Manka | Photography John Linn

Not many manufacturing entrepreneurs start their careers in the fashion industry, but that’s the journey of Diana Mini, president of Shark Industries. When her career in the Los Angeles fashion design industry stalled, she took the opportunity to start a business, Brake Drum Tool Company, with her father, manufacturing products for the automotive aftermarket industry. With no prior knowledge of the sector, she learned it from the ground up and eventually founded her own company, Shark Industries.

“We make 40 percent of everything we sell right here,” said Mini of her company’s facility in Rockford.

Shark Industries’ 50,000 square-foot building was made possible in part through financial assistance from the Initiative Foundation, the city of Rockford and others.

“It was simple to move here, and it allowed us to own the building,” said Mini. “It also helped us create jobs.”

We asked Mini for the inside scoop on what keeps Shark Industries grinding along in its market.

• Weathering Winter Consumers may recognize a Shark product called the Isse Snow Sock, which gives cars better traction on snowy roads and can be attached by the driver. They’ve been a big hit at Yosemite National Park, which sells them to visitors, because— unlike snow chains—they don’t damage roads and are easy to use. The sock is available on Amazon.com and Autozone.com, and Shark hopes to sell the sock more broadly, starting with the western United States.

• Abrasive Opportunities Shark Industries manufactures cut-off wheels, flap discs, surface conditioning discs and mini grinding discs, which are sold throughout the United States and Canada to automotive after-market distributors, including AutoZone, Matco Tools and NAPA Balkamp.

50 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

•S moothing Out the Edges Shark products help manufacturers and auto body repairers remove metal, shape it and cut it. Its best-sellers include cut-off wheels, surface conditioning discs and mini grinding discs.

•R ubbing the Right Way To make a cut-off wheel that can cut through steel, several sizes of grain are mixed with powdered resins and liquid resins.

That material is layered and sandwiched between two pieces of fiberglass on a 20-ton press. The wheel is then baked in an oven for 24 hours.

•E fficient Process About 10,000 cut-off wheels can be made in an eight-hour shift.

•S peedy Delivery When a large customer needed more than 500 packages designed, filled and shipped in just 90 days, Shark outperformed the other vendors when it came to speed and service–despite having five times more part numbers to manage.

•D igital Commerce When Amazon (yes, that Amazon) saw Shark’s products at a tradeshow, it convinced Mini to let it sell Shark products on Amazon.com. As a result, Shark does a “steady” line of business through the online retail giant.

•H appy Customers Shark Industries boasts many awards, and its success comes down to service. “There’s a big difference between a large business and a small one. Our customers are constantly amazed at the lengths we go to so they’re happy,” said Mini.

1ST QUARTER 2017

51

where’s IQ?

THINK YOU KNOW? Send your best guess to IQ@ifound.org

by April 25, 2017.

Three winners will be chosen, at random, to receive a $25 GiveMN.org gift code to support the charity of their choice.

HINT: Created to commemorate the work of a dedicated environmental steward, this mosaic facade is located at a blossoming location along the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway. Make sure to visit during the summer months!

Congratulations to everyone who correctly recognized Willie the Walleye, which is located in the Emily City Park.

Karen Stern, Cindy Myogeto and Phil Yetzer were the lucky 4th Quarter 2016 GiveMN.org gift code winners.

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