Southwest Initiative Foundation

Graduating class 12 2021

A new class of future Kandiyohi County business leaders graduates from Elevate Business Academy

WILLMAR—Their business dreams include a barbecue restaurant, a fashion line, a shoe store, a family entertainment destination and the continued success of a community coffee house. The seven men and women—Candace Aaker, Nick Aaker, Mohammed Abdi, Daniel Carranza, Fatouma Hachim, Hans Hibma and Victoria Hibma—who participated in the second class of the Elevate Business Academy […]

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EDC ElevateGraduation Spring 2021 269

Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission awarded State grant

WILLMAR—On Friday, November 12, 2021, the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission (EDC) was awarded a $76,000 Small Business Partnership Grant by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The goal of this grant is to fund programs that promote the growth and success of entrepreneurs and small businesses in

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Economic developer finds region is fertile grounds for diverse spectrum of entrepreneurs, for lots of good reasons

HUTCHINSON—More than two decades of helping entrepreneurs get started in southwest Minnesota has taught Scott Marquardt many lessons, but perhaps none so important as these. This place grows them, and they like it here. How else to explain the Douglass brothers, Carl, Brian and Sean, and their commitment to Douglass Innovations in northern Kandiyohi County?

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Elevate

Elevate program founded to support diverse businesses, entrepreneurs

WILLMAR—The Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar’s Economic Development Commission began training the second Elevate class of entrepreneurs and local business owners Sept. 16. The 12-week Elevate course offers hands-on training in business planning and management while providing business education and coaching specifically tailored to underserved minority entrepreneurs in the county. The EDC partnered with

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Elevate

‘Elevate’ has its first graduates

WILLMAR—Learning how to successfully prepare, operate and manage a small business over the course of 12 weeks, five local entrepreneurs graduated June 16 from the first Elevate class in Minnesota. In a 2017 survey, the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission found an increasing number of minority-owned businesses opening in and around Willmar. The EDC

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