Southwest Initiative Foundation

Southwest Initiative Foundation

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

December 31, 2021

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 celebrated those dreams in front of a small crowd of friends, family, business leaders and elected officials from across

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

November 19, 2021

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 Minnesota; a great fit for the EDC’s new Elevate Business Academy. Elevate Business Academy is the first and only Community Business

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

November 1, 2021

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? They turn dreams into finished products on a 24-hour cycle taking advantage of advanced 3D printer technology. “They could do this anywhere,”

Elevate program founded to support diverse businesses, entrepreneurs

November 1, 2021

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 the Southwest Initiative Foundation in 2017 to design and implement a Business Retention

‘Elevate’ has its first graduates

July 3, 2021

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 report was sponsored with a grant from Southwest Initiative Foundation to design and implement a Business Retention

Survey provides picture of ethnic businesses in Willmar

August 8, 2017

WILLMAR—A recent survey indicates about 12 percent of all the businesses in Willmar are owned by minorities. The survey also indicates that the new Americans who own nearly 70 businesses currently operating in Willmar view the town favorably—calling it safe and quiet. Conducted by the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Authority and funded with a grant from the Southwest Initiative Foundation, the survey provides the community’s first solid look at diverse businesses

Translate »