Southwest Minnesota Foundation Expands Regional Economic Advancement Focus

The Southwest Minnesota Foundation (SWMF), Hutchinson, has expanded its focus on economic and community development and developed a new comprehensive plan for economic advancement. The plan is the result of dialogue that began more than two years ago with The McKnight Foundation and Blandin Foundation, direct feedback from more than 120 regional stakeholders and guidance from area private-sector business leaders

The SWMF's Economic Advancement Initiative is being led by Renae Shields, who was recently hired as the foundation's new economic advancement director. Shields explained that the purpose of the SWMF's new Economic Advancement Initiative is to "engage the private sector in leveraging the wealth of the region's economic assets for the benefit of businesses, individuals and communities." The goals of the new initiative are to create:

• Increasingly knowledgeable regional leaders.

• Expanding and new enterprises in specific economic sectors.

• More successful economic ventures at the community level.

Through the Economic Advancement Initiative, the SWMF will focus its work in upcoming years on five key industry sectors that show promise as regional economic assets, including: renewable energy, food production, bio-agriculture products, specialty manufacturing and recreational opportunities. The foundation has already begun to develop and support private sector leadership in the advancement of renewable energy as a regional economic asset. Its Renewable Energy Summit, which the SWMF held in Granite Falls in March, is an example of the type of work the foundation is doing in this asset area.

"Bringing the many great assets in southwest Minnesota and beyond together to create a healthier and more sustainable economy and environment is a wonderful and exciting challenge," said Shields. "The time is right to make things happen!"

"We believe that our efforts position the foundation as a catalyst, opening doors and making connections that will grow regional economic development efforts," said Sherry Ristau, SWMF president.

The SWMF's Economic Advancement Initiative is part of a larger statewide collaborative, called the Regional Economic Development (RED) group that includes the six Minnesota Initiative Foundations (the Initiative Foundation, Little Falls; the Northland Foundation, Duluth; the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, Bemidji; the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Owatonna; the Southwest Minnesota Foundation, Hutchinson; and West Central Initiative, Fergus Falls), The McKnight Foundation and Blandin Foundation, as well as business groups, other foundations, educational systems, public sector agencies, nonprofits and others. The RED group is promoting a new regional approach to economic development in Greater Minnesota and the Initiative Foundations are one of the key mechanisms.

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