OWATONNA — Helping at-risk youth, creating a community that can sustain itself with local renewable energy and attracting bioscience industries to the state all fit into one of the “ Seven Revolutions” being supported by an area foundation.
The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation has awarded three $10,000 grants to area communitybased partnerships to help them implement their projects.
The St. Peter Family-School Partnerships for Academically At-Risk Youth program received its grant to help at-risk students to have post-secondary education opportunities by involving parents.
The project is headed by St. Peter Public Schools in partnership with Mankato Area Public Schools and Minnesota State University.
The group Rural Advantage received a grant to help implement its Madelia Model. The group is looking for ways to provide local renewable energy from biomass within a 25-mile radius of the community.
They hope it will create a market for perennial crops (or third crops), which will in turn improve water quality and ultimately create jobs in rural areas.
Organizations involved in the Madelia Model planning efforts include Madelia; Madelia Chamber of Commerce; Watonwan County; Watonwan Soil and Water Conservation District; University of Minnesota; Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and Madelia Municipal Light and Power.
The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota’s BioBusiness Resource Network received a grant to help grow biobusiness companies in Minnesota. It is a group of business, government and academia.
A spokeswoman for the group, Amy Johnson, said they are, “Focused on fostering and cultivating the state’s bioscience sector.”
She said they will use the grant to help do research to see where the state stands compared to other states, create a 20-year strategy for biosciences, and create a network to provide technical and educational support to businesses.
“It’s everything from startups to established businesses. We’re supporting about 40 companies now, including four in southern Minnesota,” she said.
Groups involved include Minnesota State University; Mayo Clinic; University of Minnesota, Southern Research and Outreach Center; and University of Minnesota, Hormel Institute. In April, the Owatonnabased SMIF hosted an event, Unlocking the Seven Revolutions Today by Erik Peterson, senior vice president from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.
The revolutions include things like preparing for the aging of America, the coming scarcity of water and the need for renewable energy.
Attended by more than 400 business and community leaders, Peterson’s interactive presentation called on them to think about tomorrow in a different way. The foundation has pledged to offer up to $50,000 in grants to groups working on programs that follow one of the “ Seven Revolutions.”
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