OWATONNA, MN, December 29, 2025 – Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) recently approved six grants totaling $99,865 to support economic development initiatives in SMIF’s 20-county region.
The Economic Development Grant program supports initiatives which enable communities to create more prosperous local economies by growing economic development and entrepreneurship initiatives.
The 2025 Economic Development Grant award recipients are:
- $20,000 to City of Blue Earth to sustain dedicated staff capacity in the Blue Earth Rural Entrepreneurial Venture (REV) program to coordinate initiatives, support business and leverage partnerships in their goal to strengthen the long-term resilience of the local and regional economy.
- $6,000 to city of Henderson to develop Main Street Marketing, a community-wide strategy to encourage more visitors after road closures forced businesses to shut down.
- $16,850 to city of Preston to launch the Bluff Country Business Academy, an eight-week business education cohort for new and existing local business owners to learn business planning, bookkeeping, marketing, succession planning and management skills and build their peer network.
- $20,000 to city of Winthrop to fund an eNavigator position which will provide regional entrepreneurial guidance.
- $20,000 to Sharing Our Roots in Northfield to strengthen market access for more than 20 small, immigrant and underserved farmers in southern Minnesota by coordinating buyer outreach, vender onboarding and fulfillment support, while leveraging shared infrastructure.
- $17,015 to Southeast Minnesota Food Rescue and Redistribution in Rochester to support Harvesting Health: A Bridge Between Rural Prosperity and Community Health, a project that links Olmsted Medical Center and disadvantaged rural growers to deliver regeneratively grown food that fuels health, reduces waste, strengthens local economies and creates financial gains from surplus crops.
“Especially for our small towns, having the capacity to think holistically and long-term about community resiliency in the face of economic shocks is critical,” shared Benya Kraus, SMIF president and CEO. “We are proud to support the initiatives of these awardees, and the local leadership behind them.”
For more information on SMIF’s grantmaking, contact Jennifer Heien at jenniferh@smifoundation.org or 507-214-7040.
About Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF), a donor-supported foundation, invests for economic growth in south central and southeastern Minnesota, serving a region that includes 20 counties, 175 communities and one Native nation. The Foundation has provided more than $178 million in grants, loans and programming within the region during the past 39 years. SMIF’s key interests include entrepreneurship, Early Childhood development and community vitality. To learn more about our work and mission, visit www.smifoundation.org.
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