Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation Helps Hormel Institute Realize Its Vision

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Owatonna, has accepted the Hormel Institute into its High Potential Business Program, recognizing the unique contribution the Institute makes to economic development in the region through its research in the preventative and therapeutic properties of compounds derived from foods.

The High Potential Business Program is part of the foundation's commitment to helping build businesses that create good jobs and increased wealth in southern Minnesota communities.

Through its participation in the High Potential Business Program, the Hormel Institute, located in Austin, will receive financial and management assistance toward achieving its vision of becoming a world-class cancer research center.

As an independent research branch of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota, the Institute's purpose is to promote research and education in various fields of biological science with applications in medicine. Last year the Hormel Institute reported several significant and highly publicized cancer-related discoveries carried by hundreds of radio and TV stations, and it holds numerous patents related to anti-cancer agents.

"The High Potential Business Program is a significant part of our commitment to business growth in the region," said Brad Brown, the Foundation's Business Success Program Officer, "and it occurs in two phases, with Phase One currently underway. In this phase we assess the opportunities and obstacles to growth, and work with the Institute's management team to develop growth objectives and identify the resources needed to reach those objectives. In Phase Two, the foundation will provide assistance to the Hormel Institute in implementing its growth plans for a period of up to 36 months."

Since 1986 the Foundation has provided loans and technical support to over 265 businesses with a net of nearly 4,900 jobs created or retained.

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