IQ Magazine, 2nd Quarter 2016 by Initiative Foundation

1ST 2ND QUARTER QUARTER 2015 2016

ECONOMY

Jobs Pipeline— Pneumatic pipe plug manufacturer poised for success, job creation. Pg. 10

PHILANTHROPY

Toasting Success— Area foundation says “Cheers!” to Central Minnesota’s young professionals. Pg. 14

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF COMMUNITY INVESTMENTS.

2015 ANNUAL REPORT

FOLLOW THE (EMERGING) LEADER As baby boomers retire, a new generation discovers the rewards of public service. Pg. 18

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Initiative Foundation Quarterly 2ND QUARTER 2016

Contents FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

Follow the (Emerging) Leader

As baby boomers retire, a new generation is embracing the rewards of public service.

Healthier Nonprofits, Healthier Hometowns

Books for Every Child

Economy:

Jobs Pipeline

As the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sewer infrastructure ages, a startup pneumatic pipe plug manufacturer in Hanover is poised for successâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and job creation.

Philanthropy

Toasting Success

The Morrison County Area Foundation is making Little Falls a compelling option for young professionals.

32 Invasion Persuasion

In the battle against aquatic invasive species, increasingly creative strategies are being used to preserve lake, river quality.

Regional Highlights

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

Well-managed nonprofits are more effective partners when it comes to solving community challenges.

Nurturing the love of reading in Central Minnesota preschoolers.

Initiatives:

Home Made:

RMI Outdoors

Inside the world of rotomolding.

2015 ANNUAL REPORT A year in review: Learn about the ways in which you helped the Initiative Foundation invest in Central Minnesota.

Where is IQ?

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2ND QUARTER 2016

Dear Friends, When our daughter Melanie and her cousin Aleisha were little they played countless hours of office, business, store or school—anything where they could be in charge of their six little brothers. That is, of course, until the boys learned to make a hasty exit to the trees, to their bikes or to the lake with their fishing rods. What is it that makes some want to be leaders? What keeps others from realizing their potential to lead? These are important questions as we face a significant generational shift of leadership across our communities, nonprofits and businesses. In our 14 counties alone we need more than 11,000 people just to fill local elected and appointed positions and to serve as executives and board members of our nonprofits. Hundreds more are needed to own and manage our local businesses. Some leaders will move into these roles naturally, while others have yet to realize their abilities or to fully recognize how much we need them. That’s why we launched the Emerging Leaders program last year and were thrilled to recognize 36 graduates at our spring celebration. We heard updates from several who have taken on new challenges. I was humbled by their stories, several of which are captured in this edition of IQ Magazine. Throughout the magazine you’ll find other leadership stories— from the ground-up evolution of Salem WEST, a thriving and vital-to-the-community nonprofit in Deerwood, to the innovative (Left to right): Larry Korf, chair of the Initiative Foundation Board of Trustees, with Emerging Leaders efforts taking place across the state adviser Emmanuel Oppong and Kathy Gaalswyk, to interrupt the spread of aquatic Initiative Foundation president. invasive species. Watch for more information later this fall about our new Initiators Fellowship— a program that focuses on emerging entrepreneurs who will help lead the next generation of enterprise across the region. As for Melanie and Aleisha, they are now busy wrangling their own children— future leaders, all of them, if I you want my honest opinion!

VOLUME 20, 2ND QUARTER 2016

Enjoy the magazine.

Kathy Gaalswyk PRESIDENT P.S.—Save the date on Friday, Oct. 7, for the Initiative Foundation’s 30-year celebration at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud. Visit ifound.org/whatifmn for details.

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

IQ Magazine unlocks the power of Minnesota leaders to understand and take action on regional issues.

RANGEDELIVERS.COM Printed at Range, Inc. with Soy-Based Ink on Recycled Paper

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Initiatives

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CROW WING

MORRISON

MILLE LACS

PINE

BENTON STEARNS

SHERBURNE

ISANTI

CHISAGO

Regional Investment Highlights

CASS

KANABEC

WRIGHT

WESTERN MORRISON COUNTY | Sprouting With Possibilities Sprout Food Hub and Growers and Makers Marketplace, an indoor, year-round market for locally produced food and art, opened in grand style April 1-2 in the Little Falls Manufacturing Development Center. The former Crestliner plant now houses 23 businesses. More than 500 people attended the two-day event, including Congressional representatives and state and federal agricultural leaders.

TODD COUNTY | Celebrating Success in Staples About 200 Staples-area residents came together for dinner and conversation March 29 to advance priorities in the Initiative Foundation-led Thriving Communities Initiative (TCI). A year-long program, the TCI team is harnessing public engagement to improve workforce opportunities in collaboration with local schools and to enhance recreational opportunities for all ages.

WADENA COUNTY | Coalition Coalesces on Early Childhood

TODD COUNTY: The Staples TCI team celebrates its success.

Early childhood leaders are renewing their focus on the needs of children and families with a revised strategic plan that takes stock of community assets and challenges. With support from the Initiative Foundation, community leaders are setting a course to increase awareness, engage and empower families and solidify early learning programs.

NORTHERN CASS COUNTY | Early Childhood Coalition Refresh A revised strategic plan is in the works for the Pine River-Backus Early Childhood Coalition following a March meeting attended by nearly three dozen community members. In addition to identifying strong community assets, participants identified challenges and solutions—from transportation to jobs to gaps in support services—as they work to enhance early childhood opportunities.

CROW WING COUNTY | Profit with Lunch & Learn Sessions Nonprofit Lunch & Learn sessions are up and running in the Brainerd Lakes area. Up next: A June 23 conversation at the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce with Kristine Kosek, Program Officer with the Otto Bremer Trust. Quarterly sessions are sponsored by the Initiative Foundation and several Brainerd Lakes area partners.

MILLE LACS COUNTY | Tourism Study Fishes for Insights

MILLE LACS COUNTY: Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents visit from the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

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Half of all people who visit the Mille Lacs Lake area are fond of fishing—especially ice fishing, which results in higher per-visitor spending. Learn more about the Initiative Foundation-supported visitor profile, a year-long study conducted by the University of Minnesota Tourism Center, and how it will shape future tourism efforts: conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/178349.

“ I believe the Initiative Foundation’s programs and investments will continue to address business and workforce development challenges and help for-profits and nonprofits grow deep roots.” – David Monroy, new Initiative Foundation Board of Trustees member

SOUTHERN BENTON COUNTY | Taking Action for At-Risk Youth The Initiative Foundation and Sauk Rapids-Rice Independent School District have teamed up to receive a three-year, $618,000 grant from Youthprise and the Social Innovation Fund to serve 166 young people, ages 14-20, who are at risk of dropping out of school.

SHERBURNE COUNTY | Welcome, David Monroy! David Monroy, an Elk River attorney with three decades of business, real estate and corporate law experience, has joined the Initiative Foundation’s Board of Trustees. David also serves on several nonprofit boards and is past chair of the Three Rivers Community Foundation, a Turn Key Partner Fund of the Initiative Foundation.

STEARNS COUNTY | Driven to Serve Brenny Transportation has been recognized by Minnesota Business Magazine in its annual Community Impact Awards. The award recognizes midsized companies (51-250 employees) for positively impacting Minnesota communities. In 2015, Brenny gave more than $49,000 to community organizations. Brenny is a supporter of IQ Magazine and the Initiative Foundation.

WRIGHT COUNTY | Prepping for PPREP in Delano

SHERBURNE COUNTY: David Monroy starts three-year term as Initiative Foundation Board of Trustees member.

Leaders in Delano are partnering with the Initiative Foundation to address community recovery efforts in the weeks and months following a disaster. The Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency and Emergency Partnership (PRREP) program is a pre-disaster exercise to align civic, faith and nonprofit support systems to respond in times of need.

EASTERN CHISAGO COUNTY | Shovel Ready Development in North Branch Interstate Business Park in North Branch, the state’s largest industrial park, has been certified for the Shovel Ready Program by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Shovel Ready certification means all pre-construction activities have been completed on the site. An Initiative Foundation grant helped with demographic research, planning and marketing.

ISANTI COUNTY | Cambridge Designs its Future More than 150 Cambridge-area residents joined the Minnesota Design Team in early April to help envision opportunities for the community’s future. A participant in the Foundation’s Thriving Communities Initiative, the effort aims to build consensus on downtown opportunities, Highway 95 design options and traits to make Cambridge unique.

KANABEC COUNTY | Countywide Economic Development Takes Shape A new economic development authority has been formed, with guidance and technical assistance from the Initiative Foundation, to capitalize on countywide economic development opportunities. The Kanabec County Economic Development Authority (KCEDA) Board includes business leaders and county, township and city representatives. The first staff member will be hired by the close of 2016.

PINE COUNTY | Honing Their Grant-Writing Skills

ISANTI COUNTY: Cambridge community members envision a new future. Photo courtesy of Isanti County News

More than a dozen Pine City-area grant writers had the opportunity to sharpen their skills during an April 13 workshop led by Initiative Foundation grant writer Barb Downs. Using a logic model approach, Downs guided participants in strategies and tactics to identify organizational needs and to align objectives to potential funding opportunities.

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economy

EXPANSION PLAN: (From left to right) Greg Majernik, Marc Bevacco, Glen Meyer and Karl Trott see nothing but growth and opportunity.

Jobs Pipeline As the country’s sewer infrastructure ages, a startup pneumatic pipe plug manufacturer in Hanover is poised for success, job creation. By Sarah Colburn

Karl Trott and Marc Bevacco understand rubber. In fact, they understand rubber so well that they joined forces to create one of the first American startups in the pneumatic pipe plug industry in more than 30 years. “There just aren’t many people in the world who can actually do this,” said Trott, referencing his and Bevacco’s 16 years of industry experience. Trott is the vice president in charge of sales for Plug Technologies, the Hanover-based company he started with Bevacco and Glen Meyer, a practicing attorney who was looking for a change. With Bevacco’s engineering background and Trott’s sales experience, it just made sense for the friends to branch out on their own. The three men built Plug Technologies from the ground up, piece by piece, rack by rack. After designing their products, they created the machines that manufacture the inflatable plugs that are used to block the flow inside storm and sanitary sewer pipes so crews can make repairs. Three years after after starting their business, the partners are completing their first round of international outreach and are thinking

about an expansion. The industry is ripe with opportunity as sewer and water infrastructure continues to age across the United States—in some places, the systems are nearly a century old. According to the Minnesota Governor’s Water Summit, which was held in February, Minnesota’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs an estimated $11 billion in upgrades. The United States will need between $400 and $600 billion worth of upgrades over the next 20 years for safe drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Trott, Bevacco and Meyer have long understood the industry’s potential. But to turn their business plan into action, they needed to arrange financing with several different funding partners in addition to providing their own equity injection. They worked with Crow River State Bank (now Minnesota Lakes Bank), Wright County Economic Development Partnership and the city of Hanover. They also received an equipment loan through the Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF)—a move that committed the owners to ensure that 50 percent of the well-paying jobs they create will go to workers from low- to moderateincome backgrounds. The Initiative Foundation helped tie it all together CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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economy, continued from page 10

PLUGGING & REPAIRING: Plugs are inserted into pipes and then inflated. The expanded plugs block the pipe’s flow so repairs can be made.

“ The Initiative Foundation was eager to get involved because Plug Technologies established a business that provides quality living wage jobs that didn’t exist before.” by serving as the Local Development Organization (LDO) for the MIF loan. The Foundation also provided financing for research and development and other working capital needs. “The Initiative Foundation was eager to get involved because Plug Technologies established a business that provides quality living-wage jobs that didn’t exist before,” said Dan Bullert, the Foundation’s business finance manager. “It’s a net economic gain to the region because it’s generating sales nationally and internationally and paying wages locally. And as the company continues to grow, there will be opportunities to create even more jobs down the road.” That potential was readily apparent to Heidi Peper, the director of sales for Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH), an engineering and architecture firm that provides economic and community development services to area cities, including Hanover. Peper assisted Trott, Bevacco and Meyer in obtaining and organizing their funding sources. “The city and I were more than excited about this opportunity,” Peper said. “It was just a perfect fit between the business and a vacant space available in the city of Hanover. It was a nice size project.” While the initial financing for the project involved many partners, some of the funds were only to be used for capital expenses and equipment.

Hands On

The team has done everything themselves from day one: they laid an epoxy floor inside the warehouse, plumbed the building, installed lighting and added air compressors. And for the first year, they didn’t sell a thing. “We were hemorrhaging money,” Bevacco said. They worked on the building and designed and built the equipment

they would need to manufacture their products. Bevacco designed machines that separate molds and cut rubber and steel. He also engineered the tables, stands and racks to outfit the entire building. Once the machines were up and running, they began to manufacture prototypes, testing each one by hand—a practice they still use today. The company prides itself on providing a superior product, a competitive price point and outstanding customer service. Trott worked to gain the trust of distributors who sell or rent to end users. In the fall of 2015, the work paid off and Plug Technologies was accepted as a preferred vendor with several of the larger rental supply chains in the United States. They received their first international order in March: Four small plugs they shipped to Hong Kong. Meyer, who handles purchasing and accounts receivable, said while he can’t yet quantify the ripple effect of that sale, entering the Asian Pacific market is significant. As China delves into its infrastructure, Meyer said, the demand for their product will increase. As the leaders of Plug Technologies get their footing in the industry, they’re starting to consider plans for expansion as they work to double their sales each year for the next three to five years and add at least 20 new products to their line. As the product line grows, so will their building and workforce needs. Ultimately, the company’s leaders envision expanding at their current location. Those opportunities appealed to Greg Majernik, who relocated his family from California to Minnesota after the company launched to take a job as Plug Technologies production manager. “We have a real niche market,” he said. “We’ve got nowhere to go but up.”

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philanthropy

INVESTING IN THE NEXT GENERATION: MCAF’s Steven Andres (left) and John Blissenbach want young people to put down roots in Central Minnesota.

Toasting Success The Morrison County Area Foundation is making Little Falls a compelling option for young professionals. By Marian Rengel | Photography by John Linn

Growing up on his parents’ Christmas tree farm near Pierz, Jon Blissenbach experienced firsthand all that Morrison County communities had to offer young people. “I’ve always been passionate about the area,” said Blissenbach, who lives in Sauk Rapids with his wife, Becky, and their three children. As chief operating officer of Atomic Learning, the Little Falls-based company that provides online learning resources to K-12 and higher education schools, Blissenbach wants to do his part to ensure that young people see Central Minnesota as a place where they can put down roots. “This community is going through generational change,” said Blissenbach, who wants to help Morrison County prepare for change by developing business and work opportunities so that students don’t struggle to find fulfilling work after they graduate from high school. His desire to make sure the up-and-coming generation sees the region’s potential—not just for careers but also volunteer opportunities and a rich family life—led Blissenbach to

help form the Little Falls Area Young Professionals Group in 2014. Not three months after its founding, the group was contacted by the Initiative Foundation about forming a new board for the Morrison County Area Foundation (MCAF), a grant-making fund that had lost all of its board members and needed a new generation of leaders to review grant applications and award funds. Created to support nonprofit organizations, school districts and local units of government that serve people living or working within Morrison County, MCAF is a Turn Key Partner Fund of the Initiative Foundation. “We believe that local people have the greatest sum of initiative, knowledge and relationships to achieve a brighter future,” said Carrie Tripp, the Foundation’s vice president for external relations. “Community funds are a great example of how that philosophy can be put into action and is part of the reason this type of fund is a cornerstone of our Turn Key Partner Fund program.”

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Taking on MCAF was a perfect fit with Blissenbach’s goals. He agreed to chair the board, then found eight peers. Joining him CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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philanthropy, continued from page 14

was Teresa Giese, who now leads Junior Achievement of Morrison County, and Steven Andres, co-owner of several Design Electronics stores. From the beginning, the group knew they wanted to grow the MCAF endowment so they could award more grants and invest in the next generation. To do that, MCAF needed a fundraising event. Since getting people together was what Blissenbach and his team excelled at, they decided to create a networking opportunity for young people looking to find new jobs and careers in the area. From that event another idea took shape. “One of us came up with the idea for a beer tasting event,” recalled Andres, and Cheers to Morrison County was born. “It was and still is very trendy.” It’s also a link to local businesses. “The Brainerd Lakes Area will have five breweries this year,” Blissenbach said. “We try to keep it as local as possible.” The group decided to hold the event in the hangar at Camp Ripley, an inspired choice that capitalized on people’s interest in seeing an area of the camp that is not normally visited by the public.

DOUBLE THE FUNDS

Cheers to Morrison County raised $8,500 in 2014 and $13,000 in 2015. For 2016, the group is aiming for $15,000, which should allow MCAF to award upwards of $10,000 in grants, doubling its Morrison County grant funding in just two years. Each year, the Cheers to Morrison County organizing committee has partnered with local nonprofits, which provide volunteers to work at the event. In return, MCAF donates a portion of Cheers proceeds back to those organizations. It’s a strategy that further strengthens the event’s ties to the community it serves. “Young professionals are our community’s future leaders,” said Kristi Ackley, a Turn Key partner fund specialist at the Foundation. “Involving them in charitable endeavors, civic engagement and nonprofit leadership is important to building and maintaining thriving communities.” More than 800 people are expected to raise a glass at the third annual Cheers to Morrison County event on Sept. 17. In addition to beer-tasting and networking, participants at the three-hour gettogether will also be able to sample locally produced wine, cider and food. While MCAF will focus its ticket sales on young professionals, the general public is welcome. “It’s good networking,” Blissenbach said. “It’s a lot of fun but not rowdy.”

GROWING FOR GOOD With its growing endowment, MCAF is able to provide more grants to support programs and initiatives in the wider Morrison County community. Some of the grant awards include … •F riends of Pine Grove Zoo: $3,000 for an interactive multimedia educational project • City of Royalton: $1,000 for a community splash pad project • Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest: $1,000 for program expansion into Morrison County • Holy Trinity School, Pierz: $1,000 for the fourth-grade LEGO Robotics unit

The third annual Cheers to Morrison County craft beer and wine tasting festival is Sept. 17. Enjoy unlimited samples from over 30 breweries, vineyards and local food vendors. Net proceeds go to Morrison County Area Foundation. Visit cheerstomc.com to learn more.

RAISING THEIR GLASSES: Cheers to Morrison County brought in $13,000 in 2015.

16 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

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4/23/15 9:33 AM

2ND QUARTER 2016

A EM S B B AB R A Y By C B IN O El iza G OM be th TH E Fo y E RS La R R rs EW E en | Ph A TIR ot R E og D , ra S A ph O N y by F E Jo P W hn U G Li B nn LI EN an C E d Pa S RA ul ER T M id V IO dl es IC N ta E. IS ed

“I’VE LEARNED THAT IF I DON’T STAND UP AND THROW MY NAME IN, THEN I CAN’T COMPLAIN.” // Quinn Nystrom

Like every small town in Central Minnesota, Genola has amenities and traditions that make it special to its 71 residents. There’s the Genola Ballpark and its beautifully manicured softball and Little League diamonds. And there’s the trailhead for the Soo Line Trail, which takes hikers, snowmobilers and ATV enthusiasts through forests, farmlands and streams all the way to Superior, Wis. Genola also boasts 21 businesses, which are doing so well the community hasn’t had to raise taxes in over six years. But when Genola Mayor Larry Korf thinks about the future of his town, his pride is mixed with concern. Already retired from his career as the CEO of DeZURIK, a global valve manufacturer based in Sartell, he’d also love to pass the torch for the job of mayor, which he got as the result of a write-in ballot more than 25 years ago. The question is: Who will take his place? It’s a quandry community leaders across the region are facing. “The quality of life in a community is determined by local governance,” said Korf, who also serves as chair of the Initiative Foundation’s Board of Trustees. “But the retirement of so many Baby Boomers will leave a huge void across the state, especially in small communities and townships. If we don’t replace this

2ND QUARTER 2016

“ GROWING UP, I HAD SO MANY ROLE MODELS WHO WERE ABLE TO OVERCOME THEIR DIFFERENCES TO ACHIEVE THINGS AS A COMMUNITY.” // Tim Nelson

generation of leaders, towns will have to consolidate and will lose their unique identities.” In the next 10 years, Central Minnesota’s population of people ages 65 and older is expected to grow by 49.5 percent, according to the Minnesota State Demographic Center. During that same period, our population of working-age adults will increase by just 2 percent. That looming shift is an urgent issue for the business owners and managers who keep the region’s companies growing and for local governments and community organizations. According to Initiative Foundation research, more than 4,800 civic leadership positions—from school boards to city councils to county boards and state and federal offices—exist in Central Minnesota. If you count regional nonprofit executives and board members, that number swells to more than 11,000. Those numbers add up to huge opportunities for Central Minnesota citizens who are looking to grow in their work and civic lives. “University of Minnesota research indicates that one out of every 27 people will need to take on a community leadership role in Greater Minnesota as our population ages,” said Michelle Kiley, community development specialist at the Initiative Foundation. “Public service can be seen as thankless work. But we know from research and our own experience that there’s a tremendous reward that comes from serving your community.” Giving young people across the region the tools they need to succeed in civic leadership is the goal of the Foundation’s Paths to 20 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

Civic Engagement workshop series, an in-depth extension of the Foundation’s Emerging Leaders program, which has just finished its first year. Designed to give advanced training to almost 50 motivated community members between the ages of 18 and 40, these programs are one piece of a plan to address to the region’s demographic shifts. “We want to build the networks of these future leaders, provide them with customized training and help them identify public service positions within the region that they are inspired to take on,” said Kiley. These initiatives are a natural extension of the work the Foundation has been doing for 30 years. “All of the Initiative Foundation’s programs are grounded in the premise that local people are the key resource to identifying and implementing action strategies that build community,” said Kathy Gaalswyk, president and CEO of the Initiative Foundation. “We all win when this happens. It will be the key to the growth and success of our region in the coming decades.” That’s a concept that resonates with these three young leaders. While each has taken a different path to public service, they are united in the belief that the only way to make positive change in your community is to step up.

FROM ADVERSITY TO ADVOCACY QUINN NYSTROM

BAXTER

Although she didn’t know it at the time, Quinn Nystrom’s

journey to public service started when she was just 10 years old. That’s when her younger brother, Will, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Desperate to find a cure for the chronic and potentially fatal disease, Nystrom went door-to-door throughout her Baxter neighborhood to raise money for diabetes research. When she was diagnosed with the same disease just three years later, Nystrom’s determination kicked into an even higher gear. Today, Nystrom, who is 30, is taking the lessons learned from her diabetes advocacy work—she runs her own nonprofit and has published a book on the topic—and is putting her experience to good use as the youngest person to ever win a seat on the Baxter City Council, a position a friend encouraged her to run for while they were at a Goo Goo Dolls concert in 2014. At the time, the Council had no women, much less anyone who was just starting out in their professional life. “I wanted our local government to more fully represent the people,” said Nystrom. “I believed that both Millennials and women wanted to be represented.”

“ ONE OUT OF EVERY 27 PEOPLE WILL NEED TO TAKE ON A COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ROLE IN GREATER MINNESOTA AS OUR POPULATION AGES.”

Joint Powers Alliance, a contracting agency in Staples, she sits on committees for the parks and trails system and health care and is on another committee devoted to combatting sex trafficking in the area. “Quinn is a very passionate individual, whatever the cause,” said Baxter chief of police Jim Exsted, who recruited Nystrom to be on the sex trafficking committee. “It really helps to have someone who cares so much and is willing to publicly support the work we are doing.” Public service comes naturally to Nystrom, in part because she’s grown up in a family that values it: Her mother, Rachel Reabe Nystrom, is a longtime Crow Wing County commissioner. Her father, Bob Nystrom, serves on the Brainerd School Board. “I feel indebted to the community that helped raise me,” she said. “I am the woman I am today because of Baxter and I feel it’s important to advocate on its behalf.” Nystrom also hopes to get elected to the state House District 10A seat, a goal she set during her year in the Initiative Foundation’s Emerging Leaders program. It would be a huge commitment on top of an already daunting schedule, but for Nystrom it’s worth the work. “I’ve learned that if I don’t stand up and throw my name in, then I can’t complain,” she said. “I want to go after things in life where I think I’ll have a voice.”

THE CALL OF HOME TIM NELSON

Since being elected, Nystrom has thrown herself into her duties. In addition to her diabetes advocacy and full-time job as a public relations and social media specialist at the National

CAMBRIDGE

Tim Nelson has a story he loves to tell about growing up in Braham, the Central Minnesota town at the corner of Isanti and Kanabec counties that’s known throughout the state for its homebaked pies. Nelson was 4 years old and his family’s Lutheran church

EXISTING CENTRAL MINNESOTA LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

ESTIMATED TOTAL

11,346 6,000

Nonprofit board members

1,600 1,560

City planning commissions County officials (elected)

860

Federal and state offices

600 429

County commissioners County planning commissions School Boards Nonprofit executives City mayors/council Township supervisors/officers

140 70 45 42 2ND QUARTER 2016

had burned down, necessitating a relocation to the town’s high school auditorium, which was also being used by the local Catholic church while it built its own parish. Both congregations wanted to host a service the Wednesday before Thanksgiving but couldn’t figure out how to schedule them on the same evening. So they decided to have a joint service, a move so popular that it’s still an annual event. “That example of focusing on what we share and can achieve together made a huge impact on me,” said Nelson, 35, who today is the assistant attorney for Isanti County and a member of the Initiative Foundation’s Emerging Leaders advisory board. “Growing up, I had so many role models who were able to overcome their differences to achieve things as a community.” A high achiever who was named Minnesota’s Male ScholarAthlete of the Year when he was a senior at Braham Area High School, Nelson went on to study at St. Olaf College and Yale Law School. But while many of his classmates were eyeing lucrative careers in blue chip law firms, Nelson felt the call of home and moved back to Minnesota to clerk for two federal judges. During that time, St. Olaf and Yale solicited Nelson for donations. “My first thought was that my high school needed my help more,” he said. Nelson knew resources were tight, so he volunteered to create an alumni database and network to support local initiatives that helped the town’s kids, including the building of the Braham Event Center. “He’s very committed to the area,” said Patricia Lind, a town leader and driving force behind the Event Center. Lind first worked with Nelson on a poverty prevention task force. “The alumni network he created has turned into a vital link for us to reach out to people who want to give back to our community.” Nelson’s next move is to run for state senate in district 32, an area that includes his hometown. “There’s a saying that for some small communities, their greatest export is their talented young people,” said Nelson, who is more of aware of this reality than ever now that he is a new dad. “Greater Minnesota is seeing a resurgence of people like me moving back. I want to pay it forward and do for other young people what my community did for me.”

LONG PRAIRIE

As the first and only Latino on the Long Prairie City Council, James Ruiz holds a historic position in a town where almost half of all elementary school kids look like him. But the unassuming manager of an auto parts store doesn’t have much time to dwell on his accomplishments. In addition to his full-time job and his work on the city council, Ruiz also is a volunteer firefighter and a member of both the town’s park board and his church’s Knights of Columbus order. “I don’t see my work as something to be proud of,” said Ruiz, who is 26, of his civic involvement. “It’s just something that has to be done. If we try and make the town a place for residents to enjoy, we’ll keep people here.” Born in Ventura, Calif., to parents from Mexico, Ruiz moved with his family to Long Prairie when he was 5 years old, on the early CONTINUED ON PAGE 43

22 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

ENGAGE IN CIVIC LEADERSHIP? PATHS TO CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, A FOLLOW-UP TO THE EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM, SUPPORTS CENTRAL MINNESOTANS AGES 18 TO 40 WHO ARE INTERESTED IN OBTAINING AN ELECTED, APPOINTED OR STAFF POSITION WITHIN A LOCAL UNIT OF GOVERNMENT (COUNTY, TOWNSHIP, CITY, SCHOOL BOARD). SESSIONS ARE JULY 20, AUG. 3 AND AUG. 17 AND INCLUDE WORKSHOPS AND PRESENTATIONS ON ETHICAL LEADERSHIP; INTERACTING WITH THE MEDIA; EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE MODELS; RESOLVING CONFLICT BY WORKING ACROSS SECTORS; AND UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF

A NEW VOICE JAMES RUIZ

READY TO

GOVERNMENT FINANCE. REGISTRATION IS OPEN THROUGH JUNE 22. VISIT IFOUND. ORG/COMMUNITY/TCI/EMERGING-LEADERS TO LEARN MORE.

For a complete rundown of Emerging Leaders program alumni, visit ifound.org and, in search, use the keywords “emerging leaders bios.”

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Healthier NONPROFITS,

Healthier HOMETOWNS Well-managed nonprofits are more effective partners when it comes to solving community challenges. By Lisa Meyers McClintick | Photography by John Linn

Behind the doors of Salem WEST in Deerwood, Amanda Meier sorts through daily donations of clothing and household goods, making sure they’re freshly washed and mended. She also takes calls from people in need of everything from a box of diapers to beds to furniture for a large family hit by hard times. As one of a few staffers among an army of volunteers that keeps Salem Lutheran Church’s community outreach program growing, Meier brings empathy and understanding to families in need. In her younger years she was pregnant and homeless, living in a tent in nearby Crosby. “I was so hungry,” she recalled. “Thank God for county food programs and food shelves.” While government programs helped Meier get the nutrition she needed and find a place to live, she needed Deerwood’s Salem WEST program for furniture and essentials to set up a household. “A lot of people have a point in their life where they feel like they’re hanging on by a thread,” she said. Besides providing the physical comforts of furnishings, Salem WEST’s act of kindness gave her a boost of emotional strength, a rope to hold onto when she really needed it.

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Amanda Meier, DEERWOOD “ A lot of people have a point in their life where they feel like they’re hanging on by a thread.”

Where for-profit ventures typically have a single goal—to turn a profit—nonprofits have a double bottom line: They need to be financially and provide a mission-based community

benefit.

viable

2ND QUARTER 2016

Stabilizing Communities

Salem WEST is one of more than 1,700 nonprofits serving Central Minnesota. The region’s nonprofits range from charities and foundations to social welfare and advocacy organizations to professional associations to religious organizations. Their aim is as varied as their cause: to feed the hungry or help the disadvantaged, to educate children and families, to support seniors, to care for our lakes and rivers, and to develop communities through civic, history and arts organizations, education associations or economic development corporations. Where for-profit ventures typically have a single goal—to turn a profit—nonprofits have a double bottom line: They need to be financially viable and provide a mission-based community benefit. To manage their dual purposes, nonprofit leaders need to develop the skills and knowledge to run a charitable organization while also growing their business acumen. Since its inception in 1986, the Initiative Foundation has supported the array of nonprofit organizations that weave a safety net and provide quailty-of-life services throughout the 14-county region. “At the outset we asked ourselves, ‘How can we help nonprofits be more self-sustaining?’ How can we use our assets to strengthen communities and families?” said Kathy Gaalswyk, Initiative Foundation president. Realizing the importance of nonprofits and their key role in keeping the region stable and its quality of life sustainable, the Initiative Foundation and its contributors have added additional

tools beyond grants and loans to help these organizations thrive.

Continuous improvement

Traveling home from a conference in 2000, Gaalswyk shared her idea to provide more nonprofit training and support with a former Otto Bremer Trust program manager. They agreed more could—and should—be done and pooled their resources to launch the Healthy Organizations Partnership in 2001. HOP, as it was known, provided participating organizations with a variety of tools to build their capacity so they could deliver on their missions while developing stronger nonprofit leadership. “When nonprofits are strong and well-managed, they can be more effective partners in solving community challenges,” said Christine Fuglestad, communications director with Otto Bremer Trust. While that’s an important standard in any economy, it’s a crucial requirement when times are tough. When government budgets were being cut in the mid-2000s and the economic recession underscored the demand for expanded support, nonprofits were left scrambling with shrinking budgets, fewer donations and greater need for their services. “We knew we had to help everyone think differently about funding,” said Chris Fastner, Initiative Foundation senior program manager for organizational development. That thinking led to the creation of another signature Initiative Foundation program: Financial Resiliency through Social Enterprise (FRSE), an in-depth initiative to bolster and strengthen CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

HOW THE INITIATIVE FOUNDATION SUPPORTS NONPROFITS The Initiative Foundation’s Organizational Development programs have helped to build and strengthen more than 500 Central Minnesota nonprofit organizations. These faith-based, government, charitable and philanthropic organizations across the 14-county area serve residents of all ages and abilities, from birth to hospice.

Since 1986: BY THE NUMBERS $30 million: 1,955: 515:

Grant dollars dispersed throughout 14-county region

1,700:

Nonprofit leaders who have received Initiative Foundation training and assistance

Central Minnesota nonprofits served by the Initiative Foundation

190: VISTA service members placed with host sites since 2000

255:

Nonprofits serving Central Minnesota— a 32 percent increase since 2000

Central Minnesota nonprofits that participated in long-term Initiative Foundation training and education programs

20: Average number of specialty workshops

offered annually by the Initiative Foundation

Grants and programming are powered by your generosity. Contributions to the Initiative Foundation endowment, paired with grants received from state and national funders, provide the financial resources to support nonprofit programming and initiatives.

26 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

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28 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

Nurturing the love of reading in Central Minnesota preschoolers. Alisha Williams-Washington’s son Sam is one of the top readers in his fourth grade class at a St. Cloud elementary school. “He just loves books,” said Williams Washington, proudly. “He reads more than he watches TV.” The way Williams-Washington tells it, Sam’s love of reading began when he was a newborn. She was still recovering from Sam’s birth when the nurses at St. Cloud Hospital told her about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, an international nonprofit that works with local organizations to send one book a month free of charge to children from birth to age 5. “I was a young, single mom, just 20 years old,” she said. “I thought this program had to be some kind of paid subscription scam. But then, when Sam was still a baby, we started receiving these nice-quality books. By the end, he had his own library.” The brainchild of the singer Dolly Parton, Imagination Library was launched in 1995 in her home state of Tennessee. Parton, whose father never learned to read or write, knew the importance of building a love of reading in preschool-aged children regardless of a parent’s financial situation. The Initiative Foundation has been a funding partner of Imagination Library since it came to Central Minnesota, providing ongoing grant support since the program launched in the region. “The Imagination Library is a stellar example of the Initiative Foundation’s commitment to early literacy for more than 13 years,” said Tammy Filippi, Initiative Foundation early childhood specialist. “It embraces the importance of reading to young children while encouraging and promoting parent engagement.” Imagination Library is just one of a number of early literacy programs supported by the Initiative Foundation. In North Branch, the Take Home Literacy Packet Project provides parent-child literacy resources and support to 30 of the district’s highest risk children and families. And the Reach Out and Read program, supported by the Initiative Foundation and the Otto Bremer Trust, is active in a number of communities, including Brainerd, Cambridge-Isanti, Onamia and Pine City. The program, which provides books for children and parents at routine pediatric visits, has enrolled an impressive 22,285 — or 42 percent — of children in Central Minnesota, according to Lynne Burke, Reach Out and Read’s state director.

2ND QUARTER 2016

This support signals a significant commitment to building early-childhood literacy in the region, said Don Hickman, Initiative Foundation vice president for community and workforce development, who added that the long-term benefit of supporting children’s early learning has been proven to pay off for communities in the long run. “If we invest in kids in early childhood, we can head off a lot of problems that can occur later in life,” Hickman said. “Because the return on investment on these types of programs is so great, this is a cost-effective approach that can prepare children for lifetime success.”

Personal Libraries

like Corduroy, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Ferdinand, Llama, Llama and Ladybug Girl. Every child receives The Little Engine That Could, which is Dolly Parton’s favorite book. The final book is Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! by Minnesota author Nancy Carlson.

“

Research show that when families receive Imagination Library books,the rate of reading to children one or more times a day increased by 22 percent.

Imagination Library came to Central Minnesota in 2005, when United Way of Central Minnesota decided to fund the program for children in its service area of Stearns, Benton and parts of Sherburne and Wright counties. Community support for Imagination Library has been strong from the start: By 2015, 10,479 children from 6,625 families were enrolled. Since the program was launched, more than 1 million books have been distributed to local children, making the Central Minnesota operation the 13th largest Imagination Library program in the world. “Dolly Parton wanted to increase literacy rates and improve kindergarten readiness,” said Pam Hunsaker, the Northwest regional director of Imagination Library. In fact, research funded by the U.S. Department of Education found that when families receive Imagination Library books, the rate of reading to children one or more times a day increased by 22 percent. Each month, thousands of books are shipped to children in participating communities. Book selections rotate, but include classics

”

The monthly packages were exciting for Sam WilliamsWashington—and inspiring for his mother. Because her son was so enthusiastic about his new books, she felt compelled to sit down with him and discover their new gift. “I have to admit that I would probably not have read to him as much as I did,” Williams-Washington said. “I didn’t have much time or money back then. But reading became our thing.” Community sponsors pay for books and mailing, at a cost of $25 per year per child. Today, Imagination Library has mailed more than 60 million books to children in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Jon Ruis, United Way of Central Minnesota president and CEO, says that Imagination Library represents a CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

getting books into the hands of children. By 2019, the Initiative Foundation, through partnerships with regional early childhood coalitions, plans to enhance the literacy of 9,000 of the region’s children who live in impoverished areas. It’s a goal that’s all the more important in light of recent budget cuts, which have significantly reduced library hours in several Central Minnesota communities. One grassroots strategy for getting books into the hands of children who don’t have easy access to libraries is for community members to come together to construct and maintain Little Free Libraries, which are free-standing lending boxes where people can donate and borrow used books. The Initiative Foundation has provided funds for early childhood coalitions in Staples-Motley, Onamia, Pequot Lakes, Little Falls, Mora, Princeton and St. Cloud to construct Little Free Libraries. In Little Falls, community members built a Little Free Library by one of the town’s churches and also added a bench so that people could sit down and enjoy the books. “The planning and sustainability of Free Little Libraries allows different sectors of the community to come together,”said Tammy Filippi, Initiative Foundation early childhood specialist, who notes that the early childhood coalition in Onamia has worked with the local high school industrial arts department, 4-H and early childhood coalition members to build the structures. “To have Little Free Libraries located at different places in the community provides a visual of books in unusual places—which sparks and hopefully encourages action to take a book and possibly donate a book in the future.” Visit littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap to search for a Little Free Library near you.

30 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

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32 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

INVASION Persuasion By Gene Rebeck | Illustration Chris McAllister

In the battle against aquatic invasive

species, local governments are using increasingly creative intervention strategies while engaging the public to help preserve the quality of our lakes and rivers.

Zebra Mussles In the battle against aquatic invasive species (AIS) in Minnesota lakes and waterways, Lake County in northeastern Minnesota has an advantage. Its AIS species is tasty. Derrick Passe, Rainy River coordinator for the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), called rusty crayfish “little lawnmowers” for their ability to rapidly denude lake vegetation. The Ohio River Valley natives have been in the waterways near and within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for years; recently, they’ve been threatening to spread farther, removing valuable vegetation and crowding out smaller native crayfish. Lake County SWCD has been coordinating to trap these pests, but to get the public involved it has to spread the word. That’s why it organizes a rusty crayfish “boil” every other Tuesday during the warmer months at the Ely Farmers’ Market. The scent of vinegar and seasoning, along with the lobster-like flavor of the crayfish, lures people over to the District’s AIS booth. There they can learn more about preventing its spread into other Boundary Waters lakes. Most anti-AIS agencies don’t have that kind of luck. Eurasian milfoil, zebra mussels and newer threats including Asian carp and starry stonewort require counties to conduct boat inspections at lake landings and to educate residents, resort owners, anglers and

visiting boaters to “clean, drain and dry” their boats. Nobody wants to cook these species—counties, lake associations, resorts and boaters simply want them gone, or at least not to spread. Happily, they’ve been getting help. In 2014, the Minnesota Legislature appropriated $10 million a year to help counties battle AIS in their waters. Another $4 million was recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council and was approved by the 2014 Minnesota Legislature for disbursement to the Initiative Foundation to fund innovative statewide pilot programs to prevent the spread of invasives. Thus far, the Initiative Foundation has awarded more than $1 million to anti-AIS initiatives across the state, ranging from catch and release projects to combat rusty crawfish, decontamination efforts in Kandiyohi and Carver Counties and integrated pest management initiatives. In Stearns County, where Lake Koronis has been infested with starry stonewort, a grass-like algae, the Koronis Lake Association has set up a program of containment and control to manage the infestation and keep it from spreading. In Lake County, SWCD’s crayfish boil is one of the creative ways that organizations are informing the public about AIS. In the battle against these invaders, inspections, decontamination and clear and effective communications need to be part of a comprehensive strategy.

2ND QUARTER 2016

" Starry Stonewort

COMBATTING AIS

WITH AIS CONTROL A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING FIELD WITH NO ONE SINGLE SOLUTION, IT’S TIME TO FOSTER A CULTURE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION.

BROADCASTING THE MESSAGE

AIS has been “one of the primary concerns or threats to Minnesota lakes and waterways for more than a decade,” said Don Hickman, vice president for community and workforce development for the Initiative Foundation. The Foundation, Hickman added, is working with communities statewide to develop an engaged vision that brings together as many stakeholders as possible—anglers, resort owners, tribal communities, pleasure boaters, government units, nonprofits and others. With AIS control a rapidly developing field with no one single solution, he said, the Foundation wants to “foster a culture of creativity and innovation.” One of the Foundation’s AIS grant recipients is Wildlife Forever, a national organization that developed the “Clean, Drain, Dry” message that has become a keystone of anti-AIS tactics. It also provides an extensive catalog of printed materials that organizations can tap to spread the word. Pat Conzemius, Minnesota conservation director for Wildlife Forever, said his organization will use its grant, in part, to reach new audiences in new ways— including the use of Augmented Reality (AR) graphics that, when scanned by smartphonetoting anglers, will pop with infographics and other interactive content such as video. “Folks will be able to scan our graphics—print ads, bar coasters, placemats and signage at a boat ramp—to get an AIS tutorial on how they can help with prevention efforts,” he said, noting that AR graphics will reach a different demographic than billboards and ramp signs traditionally reach. “We’re just scratching the surface on potential uses, but it will definitely bring boat ramp signs into the 21st century.” Other initiatives aim for a more general audience. The eight-county Mississippi Headwaters Board, which works to protect the big river’s first 400 miles, will use the grant to help expand distribution of two AIS infomercials that his organization has produced, according to Executive Director Tim Terrill. The “Minnesota Traditions” infomercials have been playing throughout the state on broadcast television and Fox Sports North. These broadcasts will show how “minimal change in boaters’ habits can really help us protect our lakes here in Minnesota,” Terrill said. His group is using social media platforms to target younger recreationalists, including pleasure boaters, kayakers, water-skiers and duck hunters. Another grant recipient is Buffalo-based Crow River Organization of Water (CROW), which works with government units and organizations in portions of 10 Central Minnesota counties that are part of the Crow River watershed. In the past two years, CROW has provided programming support for county governments and other entities throughout the watershed. It also has been creating educational materials and presentations at county fairs, bait shops, gas stations and waterway access points, as well AIS-focused articles and publications for lake associations property owners and area residents. CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

34 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

In addition to the Cass County, Lake County and Crow River projects, the Initiative Foundation has approved grants to other organizations battling AIS:

Carnelian-MarineSt. Croix Watershed District: Big Marine Lake in Washington County has a number of relatively small 2- to 10-acre areas of Eurasian water milfoil in open water. Herbicide treatment typically turns the milfoil brown and knocks it down, but doesn’t kill the plant or the root crown, resulting in recurring treatments. This project proposes a new approach to treat the areas three times in one day at six-hour intervals to maintain the herbicide concentration at the level required to kill milfoil without exceeding safety standards.

Carver County Water Management Organization: The county plans to provide outbound boaters at the Lake Minnewashta access with proof-of-inspection tags that would allow them expedited future lake access. It also would expand this tagging system at Lake Waconia, which would allow them to bypass the inspection process at other county lakes if the tag is still intact. This will enable project partners to determine the feasibility of a centralized inspection system.

Koronis Lake Association: This Stearns County lake is the first (and, so far, only) in Minnesota to be infested with starry stonewort, a plant-like algae that grows in dense mats, squeezing out native water plants and preventing fish from reaching spawning grounds. The lake association has set up a program of containment and prevention to manage the infestation and keep it from spreading to other lakes.

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established mid-sized nonprofits by helping them explore and evaluate earned income opportunities. Participant nonprofits receive a planning grant, professional consultation and technical assistance through the Initiative Foundation—plus four days of training on nearly a dozen topics ranging from market feasibility and research to becoming successful entrepreneurs. A variety of organizations have tapped the program, including the Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau serving Chisago County, Employment Enterprises, Inc., in Little Falls, Family Pathways in Cambridge, and Bridges of Hope in Brainerd. “A secondary effect of FRSE is that it helps nonprofit leaders better understand their operations from a business perspective so that they can maximize resources toward their mission,” said Fastner. “Many nonprofit executive directors who have gone through FRSE say they look at their overall operations differently as a result of program participation.”

Filling the Gaps

Greg Meyer, DEERWOOD “ Our success has been a combination of getting the right training, the right volunteers and donors, and wonderful support from different organizations.”

Like many nonprofits, Salem WEST launched not with a detailed business plan but a humble wish to fill a community need when local hospital employees asked for layette packages with diapers and baby clothes for single moms who had just given birth. That effort grew into making baby blankets, collecting more clothes and seeking donations for living expenses. It wasn’t long before someone needed furniture, and the Salem WEST outreach officially launched in 1993. The church became a hub for donations and a gathering place for volunteers willing to deliver bulky items to families moving into new

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repairable clothing or furniture, and handling phone calls. Salem WEST assists an estimated 350 to 500 households a year, he said, with the help of dedicated and talented volunteers who keep the program humming. At the same time, the nonprofit wouldn’t have progressed this far without the extra support and training provided by the Initiative Foundation, which in addition to placing a VISTA service member for a year, offered training on ways to leverage social media, collaborating with other nonprofit organizations and investing in new technology such as point-of-sale registers at the store. “Our success has been a combination of getting the right training, the right volunteers and donors, and wonderful support from different organizations,” said Meyer, who added that he always feels encouraged by the many people outside the church who step up to help. Contributing to Salem WEST’s success, Fastner said, is Meyer’s eagerness to avail himself to every Initiative Foundation nonprofit support program over the years and his willingness to apply what he’s learned to his organization’s mission. “We would not be where we are today without the support and resources of the Initiative and resources of the Initiative Foundation,” Meyer said. “We were a group of people with the passion and heart to make a difference, but we did not have the skills, background and resources to accomplish the work to grow to where we are today.”

housing or replacing losses after disasters such as fire, said Greg Meyer, director of outreach at Salem Lutheran. While the region had support and services for people needing food and shelter, there was an unmet need, Meyer said, for those who were almost making ends meet financially but teetering close to the edge and unable to absorb hits like a failing vehicle or unexpected medical bills. Social workers and other nonprofit organizations began referring clients to Salem WEST, and the group quickly outgrew the limited church space they had as mattresses and beds cluttered the halls. Volunteers moved it to a former laundromat in 2002 for collecting donations and sought additional storage space to handle unique assets, including when Ruttger’s or other resorts renovated guest rooms and generously donating hundreds of older beds and furnishings. By 2009 Salem WEST took another leap forward and opened a thrift store to sell donated items they couldn’t use, such as books, art and grandfather clocks. Profits made from selling those items enabled them to purchase what they needed the most—including furnishings such as dressers and twin beds. “We work really hard to use and recycle everything we can,” Meyer said, and they engage about 100 volunteers a week for processing donations, making deliveries and pickups, fixing

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BOOKS FOR EVERY CHILD CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30

significant chunk of his organization’s budget—$200,000 a year for the books alone—but he thinks the impact it has on children and families in the region outweighs any financial burdens the program creates. “Imagination Library helps our kids build a real connection to their books,” said Ruis. “They love them and they don’t ever want to give them up.” Community partners agree that the program is making a difference. In 2013, the Initiative Foundation helped fund a series of focus groups that investigated Imagination Library’s impact on the region’s children. Participants agreed that the program helps children learn early reading skills, develop stronger parentchild bonds and significantly increases the number of books in participants’ homes. More than 90 percent of parents in the focus groups said their kids read more because of the program, according to the United Way of Central Minnesota.

A Common Language

Kindergarten teachers in Central Minnesota say that one unexpected—and delightful — side effect of Imagination Library is that many children start school with in-depth knowledge of a unified set of books. Because children in an age cohort are sent the same Imagination Library books each month, by the time they

reach school age, those books are burned into their memories. It becomes a sort of common classroom language or reference point. Other early reading programs in the region have had a similar, unifying impact. Last year, the Brainerd Public Library sponsored 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, a national program designed to encourage parents and children to work together to reach the seemingly daunting reading goal. Participants chart their progress on special tally sheets created by local librarians and are rewarded when they reach specific milestones. The Initiative Foundation supported the program with a grant that paid for printing costs, T-shirts and posters. Brainerd Children’s Librarian Darcy Dwyer says area families have been surprised at how easily they have reached the 1,000-book mark. “It seems like a lot at first, but if you are reading to your kid before bed every night, it quickly starts to add up,” Dwyer said. “And parents can count it each time if their child wants to read the same book 10 times. The kids get little prizes along the way, and at the end they get this adorable T-shirt that says, ‘I read 1000 books before kindergarten.’” Children recognize the shirt on their friends in playgroups and at school, making the experience feel more like a club. Rosalie Wieser of Pillager likes to take her three children, Juniper, 5; Sadira, 2; and Silas, 4 months to storytime at the

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Brainerd Public Library. Juniper, who starts kindergarten in the fall, is already at 900 books. She’ll top 1,000 well before September. Wieser said her kids look forward to their weekly library trip, where they usually check out between 10-15 books. And when the library holds a used book sale, sometimes the frugal stay-at-home mom will splurge on a stack of old children’s books for a few bucks. “It’s like Christmas,” Wieser said of her older girls’ reactions. And they’re just as excited when they reach a tally-sheet goal. Weiser believes that all this reading prep means that, “When Juniper goes to kindergarten in the fall, she’ll be ready. She has a big vocabulary. Maybe she was born that way, but I really think that reading all these books together plays a big role. She can’t wait to start school, and she’s already excited about teaching her younger sister everything she learns.” Same goes for Williams-Washington’s son Sam, who is sharing his love of reading with his younger brother George, age 3. “When his brother’s book comes in the mail, he sits down and reads to him,” Williams-Washington said. “They look at the books together. Before he knew what reading was, Sam got the practice of sitting down and looking at a story and working on his comprehension skills. That added to him being ready for kindergarten. And it’s doing the same for George, too.”

Imagination Library Affiliates in Central Minnesota Total enrolled children in Minnesota: 42,106 UNITED WAY OF CROW WING & SOUTHERN CASS COUNTIES 424 S. Eighth St., Brainerd Total enrolled children: 1,871

MILACA THE FIRST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION, INC. 120 Sixth Ave. SE, Milaca Total enrolled children: 234

MORRISON COUNTY UNITED WAY 107 SE Second St., Suite 200, Little Falls Total enrolled children: 1,136

ONAMIA AREA EARLY CHILDHOOD COALITION 35465 125th Ave., Onamia Total enrolled children: 107

UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA 3001 Clearwater Road, Suite 201, St. Cloud Total enrolled children: 8,109 To find an Imagination Library affiliate, or to start your own, visit usa.imaginationlibrary.com/find_my_affiliate.php

2ND QUARTER 2016

INVASIVE PERSUASION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34

TARGETING TEENS

CROW is using its Initiative Foundation grant to reach the next generation. It is creating classroom presentations and materials designed to be informative and fun, including journaling materials and games. In particular, it will target teens who are starting to make unchaperoned use of their parents’ jet-skis and boats. CROW is planning focus groups that will bring young people together to determine the best strategies for educating younger water-based recreationalists about AIS. One thing CROW already has learned: Kids use social media to get and share information—but Facebook isn’t their top cyberspace gathering spot. So it’s targeting AIS messages on other platforms, such as Instagram. Last summer, CROW also sponsored pre-movie AIS trailers in Delano and Hudson, a program it plans to repeat this season. CROW also has conducted focus groups with lake property owners. (When it comes to AIS information, most prefer traditional newsletters and mail over digital communication.) And with funds from the Initiative Foundation and watershed counties, CROW is distributing waterproof cellphone bags to hunters that include AIS prevention tips. “We work really hard so that we’re being inclusive in the conversation about how to prevent the spread of AIS,” said Charlene Brooks, CROW’s water resource specialist. CROW Watershed Coordinator Diane Sander said her organization will continue to develop “creative ways to get the AIS message out to multiple users.” That will include outreach to businesses in the watershed counties. Cass County also is using a Foundation grant to train inspectors on how to de-escalate confrontations with recreationists. Rima Smith-Keprios, AIS program coordinator for the county’s Environmental Services Department, has contracted a survey of county lake-resort PaulGazelka.IQ.W12.ad_Layout 1 12/21/11 11:37 AM P

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Asian Carp owners to determine the best ways to talk about AIS prevention without “scaring customers away” from their lakes. “We felt that the resort owners were a huge part of the puzzle,” Smith-Keprios said. “We didn’t know a lot about what they were doing, how they were doing it. We found out they felt that they were really overlooked as far as having a voice in the whole process.” In the fight against AIS, access inspection still remains key. Cass County Environmental Services has secured funds matching an Initiative Foundation grant to create training workshops for rookie watercraft inspectors. To develop these workshops, Cass County is partnering with Minnesota Sea Grant, the University of Minnesota, the state Department of Natural Resources, Central Lakes College and others. Partnerships, communication and the sharing of good ideas and best practices are essential in the ongoing, ever-shifting battle against aquatic invasive species. As Lake County SWCD’s Passe noted, paraphrasing a Boundary Waters conservation officer, “Ultimately, the spread of AIS has to be stopped by neighbors talking to neighbors.”

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“ MY GENERATION LEAVES TOWN. BUT IT’S IMPORTANT FOR MORE OF US TO STAY AND WORK ON MAKING IT A PLACE PEOPLE WILL WANT TO COME BACK TO.” // James Ruiz EMERGING LEADERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22

edge of an immigration wave that would transform the town. After graduating from high school, Ruiz was more interested in seeking opportunities close to home than striking out for points unknown. There was only one challenge: Most of his peers had left. “I like that Long Prairie is small,” he said. “Long Prairie is a great place to live without the worry of big city hassles. But because so many young people leave, there’s also not a lot to do.” Ruiz’s solution was to get involved. When Long Prairie City Administrator Brenda Thomes met him at a leadership program sponsored by the Blandin Foundation, he told her that he’d eventually like to take more of a leadership role in their community. He had no idea that opportunity would turn out to be just around the corner. When a city council member resigned due to a family illness, Thomes thought Ruiz would be a perfect replacement. “He’s young, very eager to learn and does his research,” she said. Ruiz overcame his initial reservations and said yes. In the short time that he’s been on the council, he’s joined the parks committee and spearheaded efforts to restore a youth soccer field at Westside Park. He wants to bring more events, including dances and parades, to Long Prairie, both for the residents to enjoy and to attract visitors. “My generation leaves town,” said Ruiz. “But it’s important for more of us to stay and work on making it a place people will want to come back to.”

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2015 ANNUAL REPORT Jan. 1, 2015 - Dec. 31, 2015

Amynda Hadfield Brainerd Lakes Area Early Childhood Coalition

SAVE THE DATE 2016 Initiative Foundation 30-YEAR CELEBRATION

FRIDAY, OCT. 7, 2016

Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Edge Convention Center ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA ifound.org/WhatIfMN 2ND QUARTER 2016

DEAR FRIENDS, “What if?” It’s a phrase that’s been on our mind a lot lately. As we celebrate our 30th year in 2016, punctuated by an Oct. 7 event at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, we find ourselves asking a lot of “What if?” questions. What if The McKnight Foundation hadn’t had the foresight to study and invest in the needs of Greater Minnesota in the 1980s by creating the Initiative Foundation and its five sister organizations? What if, since our inception, we hadn’t built grassroots donor and funding partner relationships that have enabled the Initiative Foundation to award more than 5,000 grants in Central Minnesota totalling $30 million? What if our business financing partnerships didn’t exist? What if there were no Central Minnesota organization to meet the growth and expansion needs of the Foundation’s more than 960 loan partners to whom we’ve dispersed $48 million, leveraging more than $300 million in private business investments? As we look to the next three decades, we have a host of “What if?” questions that will drive our work. And we need your partnership your time, talent and resources— to make it happen. What if the Initiative Foundation had a broader, more grassroots donor base so we could do more good in the communities we serve? What if we could provide more support to grow existing for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations? What if we could help cultivate the next generation of leaders working and living in the region? What if, together, we could improve the economic status and well-being of financially disadvantaged people? We’re ready to get to work. Won’t you join us? Thank you, as always, for your past and future support.

IMPACT & INVESTING In this, our 2015 annual report, the impact story of the Initiative Foundation and its many donors and partners continues to unfold and to inspire growth and opportunity. Through your giving spirit, the Foundation and its Turn Key partner funds have awarded more than $1.9 million in grants throughout the year. Your generosity is powering everything from early childhood literacy efforts to affordable housing initiatives to workforce enhancement programs throughout the region. At the same time, the Foundation has worked to strengthen and diversify the Central Minnesota economy by providing 31 business finance loans totaling more than $2 million—economic stimulation that helped to create or retain 280 Central Minnesota

LARRY KORF Board Chair

KATHY GAALSWYK President

jobs while leveraging more than $12 million in private investment.

2015 ACHIEVEMENTS ECONOMY

COMMUNITY

PHILANTHROPY

Increase Access to Skilled Workers

Build a Region to Live, Work, Give & Play

Inspire People to Invest in the Region

280 quality jobs created or retained 816 people with increased workforce skills 2,063 worker wages supported

2301 strengthened community entities 18,658 children, parents and other caregiver development supported 10 natural and cultural amenities improved

$2.5 million in financial resources leveraged for the Initiative Foundation $16.8 million in financial resources leveraged for Foundation partners across the region $4.1 million worth of volunteer time inspired

46 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

what

“ If we could provide more support to grow existing for-profit and nonprofit businesses, our next generation of workers would have greater employment opportunities, creating more stability in the region.” — Larry Korf, Chair, Initiative Foundation Board of Trustees

2015 BOARD OF TRUSTEES

2015 FOUNDATION STAFF Kristin Ackley Turn Key Specialist Kendra Botzek Grants & Accounts Payable Coordinator

Larry Korf Board Chair DeZURIK

John E. Babcock Board Vice-Chair The Bank of Elk River

John J. Babcock Rotochopper

Terri Konczak Early Childhood Dental Specialist

Mike Burton External Relations Officer

Lois Kallsen Office & Facilities Coordinator

Lynn Bushinger Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Michelle Kiley Community Development Specialist

Chris Fastner Senior Program Manager for Organizational Development Tammy Filippi Early Childhood Specialist Rick Bauerly Granite Equity Partners

Charles Black Lance Central Lakes College

Amanda Magnan Program Assistant for Organizational Development Bob McClintick Marketing & Communications Manager

Dan Frank Senior Program Manager for Community Development

Michele Miller Controller

Kathy Gaalswyk President

Alyson Twardowski Marketing & Communications Assistant

Sharon Gottwalt Business Finance Assistant Linda Eich DesJardins Past Chair Eich Motor Company

MaryAnn Lindell Executive & Human Resources Administrator

LaRae Foehrenbacher Fund Development Assistant

Andrea Goedderz Organizational Development Specialist

Reggie Clow Clow Stamping

Jolene Howard Information Systems Administrator

Daniel Bullert Business Finance Manager

Barb Downs Grants Specialist

Mayuli Bales Diocese of St. Cloud

Don Hickman Vice President for Community & Workforce Development

Pat Gorham Gorham Companies

Eric Stommes Vice President for External Relations Amanda Whittemore VISTA Program Specialist

OUR WORK: Our community, organizational and economic development approach is steeped in the knowledge that economy, community and philanthropy are intertwined. Working Lee Hanson Past Chair Gray Plant Mooty

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“ If the Initiative Foundation had a broader, more grassroots donor base, OUR NUMBERS what ? we could improve our communities at an even greater rate.” — John E. Babcock, Vice Chair, Initiative Foundation Board of Trustees

2015 FINANCIAL SUMMARY Uses of Funds: $8,240,504

Sources of Funds: $9,373,516 Grants & Contributions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,498,912 Investment Income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,194,928 Business Financing Revenue & Repayments. . . . . . . . $ 2,358,961 Other Operating Revenue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 320,715

| 37% | 34% | 25% | 3%

*Excludes unrealized loss on investments of $3.7 million.

Economic Development, Business Financing, Investments.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,907,588 Grants, Scholarships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,216,427 Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,485,365 Foundation Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 716,298 Communications & IQ Magazine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 488,407 Fund Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 426,419

| 35% | 27% | 18% | 9% | 6% | 5%

Grants & Scholarships Economic Development, Business Financing, Investments Inspire Local Ownership, Quality Jobs

Investment Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,907,588 Service/Healthcare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,019,200 | 35% Manufacturing/Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 663,532 | 23% Operations/Technical Assistance… … . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 654,507 | 23%

Unlock the Power of People

Investment Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,216,427 Turn Key Partner Funds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,074,409 Innovation Fund. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 337,683 Healthy Lakes & Rivers.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 329,610 Organizational Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 139,000 Early Childhood/Dental Network.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 111,400 Economic Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 102,250 Scholarships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 82,575 Thriving Communities Initiative.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 39,500

| 48% | 15% | 15% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 2%

Retail/Wholesale.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 479,550 | 16% Technology/Green. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 90,800 | 3%

Programs

Create Thriving Communities Investment Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,485,365

35%

Thriving Communities/Early Childhood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 669,043 Thriving Organizations Partnership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 330,354 Volunteers in Service to America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 279,749 Turn Key Funds/Special Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 206,219

| 45% | 22% | 19% | 14%

16%

Endowment Value $42.8 Million

23%

Total Assets $61 Million

23%

A complete audit report prepared by CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP is available upon request. For a summary of the Initiative Foundation’s impact on the region since inception, visit ifound.org/about-us/annual-reports.

48 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

OUR FRIENDS Initiative Foundation Program & Endowment Contributors 2012-2015 Your support of the Initiative Foundation’s unrestricted endowment fund is the financial backbone of our long-term success. The endowment provides resources each year for staff to work with local leaders to encourage economic development, help businesses get started or expand, provide workforce and leadership skills and build early childhood programs to help communities thrive. Crimson $50,000+ Blandin Foundation Bush Foundation Cass County City of Hanover – Loan Fund Corporation for National & Community Service Crow Wing County Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation Funders Network for Smart Growth & Livable Communities Granite Equity Partners, LLC Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council Minnesota Power, an Allete Company Morgan Family Foundation Opportunity Finance Network Otto Bremer Foundation & Trust Minnesota Dept. of Employment and Economic Development. The McKnight Foundation USDA Rural Development Partner $30,000+ Connexus Energy East Central Energy Morrison County Stearns County West Central Telephone Wright County Principal $20,000+ Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Benton County Bremer, Saint Cloud City of Baxter City of Little Falls City of Saint Cloud GNP Company Isanti County Mardag Foundation Pine County Schlagel, Inc. Sherburne County US Bancorp Foundation Xcel Energy Foundation Executive $15,000+ Bremer, Brainerd CentraCare Health Foundation Cass County City of Brainerd Clow Stamping Company Stearns Electric Association

Leader $10,000+ AgStar Fund for Rural America Anonymous Donor City of Milaca City of Mora Consolidated Telecommunications Company Crow Wing Power DeZURIK, Inc. Eich Motor Company Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center First National Bank of Milaca Kathy & Neal Gaalswyk Larson Boats, LLC Mid-Minnesota Federal Credit Union Stearns County Todd County Director $7,500 Arvig Communication Systems Cambridge Medical Center/ Allina Health Center for Nonprofit Excellence and Social Innovation Chisago County HRA-EDA City of Elk River City of Long Prairie City of Melrose City of Monticello City of Princeton City of Saint Michael City of Sartell City of Sauk Rapids Manufacturing Fund of Central Minnesota Medica Foundation Associate $5,000+ American Heritage National Bank Avantech Bank of the West Benton Cooperative Telephone Company Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation Citizens State Bank of Waverly City of Cambridge City of Crosslake City of Maple Lake City of Pierz City of Rockford City of Sandstone CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, St. Cloud

Farmers & Merchants State Bank Lee & Jan Hanson The Hyduke Foundation of the Saint Paul Foundation on behalf of the Peoples Bank of Commerce Kanabec County Jo & Larry Korf LINDAR Corporation Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Marco, Inc. MINPACK, Inc. Neighborhood National Bank NOR-SON, Inc. Pequot Tool & Mfg., Inc. Pine Country Bank Schlenner Wenner & Co Stern Rubber Wadena County Widseth Smith Nolting and Assoc., Inc. Entrepreneur $2,500+ Atomic Learning, Inc BankVista Dan & Marie Bullert Central Minnesota Community Foundation City of Albertville City of Annandale City of Becker City of Big Lake City of Braham City of Breezy Point City of Clarissa City of Cold Spring City of East Gull Lake City of Eden Valley City of Emily City of Fifty Lakes City of Isanti City of Lake Shore City of Menahga City of Nisswa City of Randall City of Saint Joseph City of Sauk Centre City of Staples City of Swanville City of Wadena City of Waite Park CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, Brainerd Falcon National Bank Bruce & Mary Fogle

Pat & Carmel Gorham Gray Plant Mooty David Gruenes Don Hickman & Sandra Kaplan McDowall Company Daniel & Sue Meyer Midwest Security & Fire Mille Lacs County Park Industries, Inc., Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation Earl & Christine Potter Randall State Bank RiverWood Banks Rotochopper, Inc. Mil A. Voelker Wadena State Bank Gene & Bernie Waldorf Investor $1,000+ John E. Babcock John J. & Debbie Babcock Rick & Helga Bauerly Family Fund of Central Minnesota Community Foundation Dick & Mimi Bitzan Family Fund of Central Minnesota Community Foundation BlackRidgeBank Brenny Transportation Bridges of Hope Lynn & Darren Bushinger Central Lakes College Foundation City of Albany City of Avon City of Backus City of Bertha City of Cass Lake City of Center City City of Clearwater City of Delano City of Eagle Bend City of Foley City of Freeport City of Genola City of Grey Eagle City of Hinckley City of Holdingford City of Howard Lake City of Isle City of Montrose City of Motley City of Onamia City of Pine City

City of Rice City of Rockville City of Royalton City of Sebeka City of South Haven City of Taylors Falls City of Upsala City of Verndale City of Walker City of Waverly Crooked Lake Township Diamond Tool & Engineering, Inc. Donlar Construction Don & Deanna Engen Falls Fabricating Chris Fastner & Kathy Hakes-Fastner First National Bank North First State Bank of Wyoming Dan & Annette Frank Frandsen Bank & Trust Happy Dancing Turtle HBH Consultants Linda Holliday & Harry Brodmarkle IPEX, Inc. Matt & Jeanne Kilian Michelle Kiley Microbiologics Landmark Community Bank, N.A. Leech Lake Tribal Larry & Karen Lundblad Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Minnesota Economic Development Foundation Minnesota National Bank The Moran Family Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation Martin & Susan Paradeis Phillip & Susy Prosapio Stephen & Gwyn Shelley Shelly Funeral Chapels, Inc. Steve & Leila Shurts Mike & Dorothy Simpson Rita & Everett Sobania SPEDCO Economic Development Foundation of The Saint Paul Foundation Jan Tenold Betty & Jack Thomas Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative Unity Bank The Whitney Foundation Sharla Williams

For the complete 2015 annual report, visit ifound.org/about-us/annual-reports. 2ND QUARTER 2016

home made

RMI Outdoors Little Falls, Minn.

By Maria Surma Manka | John Linn

If you spend any time working or playing outside, you may have seen, used, or wished you had a product from RMI Outdoors. The Little Falls-based company manufactures and sells plastic outdoor products made with a process called rotomolding. Rotomolding is a rotational molding process that uses large equipment to shape plastics into hollow pieces of nearly any size, shape or color. A heated, hollow mold is filled with material and slowly rotated on axis. As the material melts, it gravitates toward the tool by way of centrifugal force, rather than pressure, to fill the mold. Once cooled, the part is trimmed and ready to be sold. Rotomolding companies are often privately owned operations that started in someone’s garage – or, in the case of RMI, in a pole barn. The company started out making polyethylene wheels for docks just as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources outlawed tires and wheels in the state’s lakes. That got RMI off to a strong start and kept it moving in the right direction. The company now makes proprietary products—from deer stands to feeders to utility sleds for ATVs to skis for pulling ice houses. We talked to RMI Outdoors CEO Jon Jungers to get the spin on his company.

50 Initiative Foundation Quarterly ifound.org

JON JUNGERS: When we expanded to Little Falls, we found an empty building near Highway 371 that’s fantastic for visibility.

•C apital Investment The Initiative Foundation and other partners, including Community Development of Morrison County, provided financing to help procure a large rotomolding machine. The twin shuttle machine has two arms that shuttle back and forth in an oven, allowing RMI to mold much larger parts than before and make many smaller parts at once. •C hoice Location “We started out in Swanville and that’s a great community to be in,” said Jungers. “When we expanded to Little Falls, we found an empty building near highway 371 that’s fantastic for visibility. We’ve been able to get new customers just from people seeing us when they drive by.” •A lways Innovating RMI is working on the national launch of a garden product that is yet to be named, but will water plants from a tank that sits beneath the vegetation. RMI Outdoors is helping the customer bring the product from concept to reality.

•F lexible Design The rotomolding process offers more design flexibility than traditional injection molding, and creates a “double wall” construction in which foam fills in the space between the walls. The result is a part that has good structural integrity but is also light in weight.

•S tanding Room Only RMI is probably best known for its durable, plastic deer stands: The cylindrical-shaped Vantage Point and Site Line 360.

Comfort Cares With arch support and wood that absorbs moisture, wearers’ feet stay cool and dry. Any Size While Sven does a strong online and storefront business, they also take custom orders. Rivers’ teams of seamstresses and die cutters can make custom shoes that fit near any foot shape or size. “I have the most incredible staff I could imagine,” she said.

•C reative Collaborations RMI works with customers to help bring their products to life. “Other companies will only make the parts, so it’s a big advantage for us to be able to take a product from concept all the way to manufacturing,” said Jungers. •G rowing Need RMI is aiming to reach sales of $5 million in the next three years – up from $2 million in 2015. Because of the new twin shuttle machine, the manufacturer is getting work with new customers and expanding orders with existing ones.

rowing Workforce The company currently •G employs about 24 people, from high school students to college graduates. Thanks to its success, it expects to increase the number of shifts working out of its Little Falls plant.

2ND QUARTER 2016

where’s IQ?

THINK YOU KNOW? Send your best guess to IQ@ifound.org by July 15, 2016. Three winners will be chosen, at random, to receive a $25 GiveMN.org gift code to support the charity of their choice. HINT: This statue represents the founder of Pie Day in 1990. She arranged for former Gov. Rudy Perpich to declare her town the “Homemade Pie Capital of Minnesota.” Congratulations to everyone who correctly recognized the S’more bench (outside of Ole & Lena’s Sweet Revenge Soda Shoppe in downtown Pine River). Sarah Posterick, Ric McClary and Marilyn Wannebo are the lucky winners of GiveMN.org gift codes.

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