YEAR IN REVIEW

All across northeastern Minnesota you’ll find hardworking, compassionate people. If you have the privilege of listening to their stories, you’ll learn of their dedication to supporting their families, businesses, and neighbors. None of achievements of the past fiscal year 2007/2008 would have occurred without the help of the countless partners and community members who contribute their hands, hearts, ingenuity, and voices to build and sustain a thriving region.

• Broke ground in Buhl, Minnesota, on construction of a second Northland Village Assisted Living Community which is scheduled to open in January 2009. The first Northland Village, located in McGregor, Minnesota, opened in April 2007. The Foundation developed this social enterprise initiative as a natural extension of its longtime “Aging with Independence” priority area.
• Awarded 209 grants totaling nearly $1.6 million to nonprofit organizations serving the seven-county Arrowhead Region that address the well-being of children, youth, and families; encourage self-reliance and equality for all people; and assist older adults to remain active, valued, and independent in their communities.
• Received a $100,000 Phase Two grant from the Community Experience Partnership, an aging initiative of The Atlantic Philanthropies, one of just ten awarded nationwide. The grant will facilitate a Northland Foundation-driven program called AGE to age, joining older adults with young people in 10 area communities to work together to identify and address community needs.
• Continued a 22-year relationship with The McKnight Foundation, completing the second year of McKnight’s most recent five-year commitment to the people of northeastern Minnesota, providing up to $7.2 million to support the Northland Foundation’s efforts throughout the region.
• Received a generous $3 million grant from The McKnight Foundation to support the continuing work of the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative, a statewide program of the Northland Foundation and the five other Minnesota Initiative Foundations. Two new local coalitions will be added to the existing 10 in northeastern Minnesota in 2008-09.
• Welcomed a $25,000 recommitment from St. Mary’s/Duluth Clinic Health System, a longtime partner of the Grant Program and KIDS PLUS Program to support children, youth, and older adults.
• Invested over $2.5 million in financing to 13 area businesses to promote economic vitality and family-sustaining jobs. The Foundation currently has under management nearly 100 loans totaling $9.5 million.
• Progressed toward achieving scale within the Business Finance Program portfolio through a $600,000 low-interest loan from the Opportunity Finance Network and a $200,000 Equity Equivalent Investment from Wells Fargo Bank. Total capitalization increased to $18.8 million; the overall goal is to reach $25 million over the next 3-5 years. Achieving scale will enable the Foundation to meet growing demand for more and larger business loans.
• Continued to expand Business Finance Program reach and responsiveness by making loans to healthy non-profit organizations to support social enterprise ventures and organizational capacity. Among such investments were financing for affordable housing projects, mortgage foreclosure prevention services, and the redevelopment of formerly blighted industrial sites for commercial and recreational purposes.
• Supported, through the pilot phase of the Social Enterprise Initiative, eight regional nonprofit organizations to build long-term sustainability.
• Made a $1 million investment in Granite Equity Partners, a Minnesota-based private equity firm that invests financial and human resources in profitable Minnesota companies, many of which are facing succession issues. This investment addresses the Foundation’s economic development mission and complements the work of the Business Finance Program.
• Launched the Northland FFN Alliance, a joint effort of the Northland Foundation and several community partners, through a $138,245 grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The initiative is being offered in Duluth, Proctor, and Hermantown, and Carlton and Lake Counties to offer training, support, and networking to people who don’t work in a licensed child care setting yet regularly care for the young children of family members, friends, or neighbors.
• Continued or began new Minnesota Thrive Initiative funding partnerships with Bush Foundation; the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation; Medica Foundation; The Sheltering Arms Foundation; Mardag Foundation; and Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Foundation for Children. The communities of Duluth, Proctor, and Hermantown comprise the northeastern Minnesota Thrive site, one of six Minnesota pilot sites promoting healthy social and emotional development in young children.
• Delivered 19 different KIDS PLUS Institute events offering education and professional development to 1,600 early care and education providers, K-12 educators, youth development specialists, business people, parents, and youth. These trainings featured nationally and internationally known presenters and were made possible through corporate and foundation support.
• Provided planning grants totaling $14,000 to 18 schools and school districts in the region in support of kindergarten transition programming.
• Graduated 73 ninth graders from the KIDS PLUS Youth Leadership Academies in Duluth and Superior. With the help of twenty volunteer adult mentors, and local funding support from 25 area businesses, young participants gained lifelong leadership skills.
• Encouraged young people’s involvement in philanthropy and civic engagement through the KIDS PLUS Youth in Philanthropy Board. In partnership with the Minnesota Power Foundation, 17 young people and three adults awarded 28 Youth in Philanthropy grants totaling more than $25,000 to youth-developed projects.
• Partnered with the Valspar Foundation’s Minnesota Beautiful Program for the 11th consecutive year to award 443 gallons of paint and coating products to community beautification projects. In all, nearly 4,900 gallons have been awarded in northeastern Minnesota through this collaborative effort.