Celebrating 40 Years of Partnership in Southern Minnesota

Walking into a room of more than 300 people and feeling like you’ve stumbled into a family reunion— even when you don’t know a lot of the faces—tells you something important about an organization. That was my experience last week at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) in Faribault, where the full-capacity crowd exuded a sense of gratitude and excitement.

That’s because SMIF has spent four decades doing the kind of work that doesn’t always make headlines but quietly shapes everything it touches. It was humbling to sit among community leaders, farmers, and neighbors who could point directly to this organization and say: that’s why I’m here.

The evening marked a genuine celebration of how SMIF has helped the area grow. David Olson, president of The BlackRidge Group at Morgan Stanley recalled how the region looks nothing like it did in 1986. “It’s a richer place. It’s a more complex place. It’s a more diverse place. You’ve got new neighbors, new languages, new businesses, new leaders.” SMIF has grown right alongside that complexity, investing in the capacity of communities to respond to change rather than be overwhelmed by it.

What makes SMIF remarkable isn’t just what it funds—entrepreneurship, early childhood education, and small-town vitality—it’s the philosophy behind the funding. “When we invest in entrepreneurship, we’re investing in the builders of our region,” Benya Kraus, SMIF’s executive director noted. “When we invest in early childhood, it’s the belief that future generations of this place matter.” That long view, sustained for 40 years, is rare. And in rural communities that don’t always have access to the resources available to larger cities, it has been nothing short of essential.

A little history will put this all in context. SMIF is one of six independent entities established with support from the McKnight Foundation in the mid-1980s to invest in regions outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Greater Minnesota was particularly hard hit by the farm crisis, and since their founding, the Initiative Foundations in each area have worked to serve their regions with grants, business loans, programs, and donor services that boost economic strength.

SMIF serves south central and southeastern Minnesota which includes 20 counties, 175 communities, and one Native nation. Its impact on the region is profound and measurable, investing about $5 million annually, and more than $178 million since its founding.

But just considering the financial investments SMIF makes leaves most of the story out. At Enterprise Minnesota we work with small manufacturers in rural communities across the state each day, we witness the impact when vibrant community organizations like SMIF step into boost growth—not with a one-size-fits-all approach, but with deep roots and genuine relationships. A video shown during the event included the comment, “One-off investments don’t build trust. Disconnected efforts don’t build resilience. What works is showing up year after year—with patience, and faith in people.”

SMIF has built that trust through its people. I happened to sit next to Linda Jacobson, the organization’s very first executive director, who got her start through an ag extension feasibility study that was part of her master’s degree. Linda was encouraged to apply for the position and she was hired. That kind of origin story tells you everything about what SMIF is: built from the ground up, by people who live in this place and fiercely love it.

Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation, shared in her opening remarks that one of her favorite quotes is “The future isn’t finished.” The reason it’s a favorite, she says, is that it’s a reminder that we decide the future by what we do every single day. “And what you have done every single day, for the last 40 years, has decided this future, and everything that you do the day after, will create all the prosperity that you deserve.”

To read more about SMIF, its past, present, and future, check out the August issue of Enterprise Minnesota® magazine.

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