Sherry Frick (Blandin Leadership alumna), and her husband Paul, have owned and operated Minuteman Press in Grand Rapids for 20 years. Sherry is a driving force behind the Itasca Strong initiative, supported in part with a $5,000 Blandin Foundation grant. “Working through Covid19 has had many challenges for us, as it has for most. We …
Susanna Elsen is a childcare provider in Hill City. In 2020, Blandin Foundation awarded three grants totaling $50,000 to support childcare providers in the Itasca area. “As I think through the biggest impact that COVID-19 has had, there are many small things that pop into my mind. These small things combined have created a unique …
For pioneering work to put community vision and benefit at the center of rural broadband deployment efforts and his strategic and supportive contributions to the Blandin Broadband Strategy Board and the Governor’s Broadband Task Force. President and CEO of Hiawatha Broadband Communications from 1998-2013 Inducted into the Winona County Fair “Hall of Fame” for his …
What We Fund Grantee organizations and projects must align with Blandin Foundation’s mission and meet the following requirements: Located in Minnesota and benefit rural towns/cities with populations under 35,000 including Native Nations. Find the size of your community using the U.S. Census. Used for charitable purposes. Authorized by the Internal Revenue Service as having Section …
Oct 8 Census deadline update Itasca County Census Partners – Thanks to your leadership, Itasca County’s self-response rate is at 55.5% today and the Bureau is reporting that 99.1% of households in Northern Minnesota have been counted. Thank you!!! Counting will continue through October 31. A federal court has ordered the Census Bureau to keep …
James Bowyer Responsible Materials Program Director – Dovetail Partners, Inc. Our mission is to provide authoritative information about the impacts and trade-offs of environmental decisions, including consumption choices, land use, and policy alternatives. We seek to challenge concerned and motivated “thinkers, effect positive change and quickly as possible, and provide objective information in an accessible …
For the leadership and commitment Jan has shown to the now eight townships of the Cloquet Valley Internet Initiative over the near decades-long struggle to bring broadband connectivity to her rural region due north of Duluth. Her steadfast positive outlook and consistent efforts to work with incumbent and prospective providers alike has allowed this initiative …
Katie Fernholz Executive Director – Dovetail Partners, Inc. katie@dovetailinc.org Kathryn (Katie) Fernholz has been a leader within the forestry community in the Upper Midwest through her service as Chair of the Minnesota Society of American Foresters and her appointment to the Minnesota Forest Resources Council. She is a member of the Board of Directors of …
For their vision and innovative partnership that brought fiber optic communications to more than 1700 rural farms and businesses providing a model that has now been replicated in multiple rural Minnesota counties. In 2010, approximately 52 percent of all Lac qui Parle residential properties and business properties still depended on dial-up or satellite. In 2008, …