Funding Awarded: $61,000

INDUSTRY PARTNERS:

Dotson Iron Castings

Key Partners:

MN State University-Mankato, Southern MN Initiative Foundation, The BioBusiness Alliance of MN, Center for Rural Policy and Development, South Central College, Riverbend Center for Entrepreneurial Facilitation, South Central Workforce Council

Project Summary:

In the Mankato area, new renewable energy entrepreneurs and ventures will be invited to participate in entrepreneurial teams developed by the partners. Participants will benefit from education, networking, collaborating and mentoring. The project was instigated by a 133-year old local foundry and the local university & community/technical college to jump start new ideas and products that will be manufactured in Minnesota.

Project Outcomes:

• Partnered with Clean Tech Open, a global venture capital network with objective of finding, fostering, and funding entrepreneurs in renewable energy.
• Developed and launched website: www.cob.mnsu.edu/college/mnrem.html 
• Organized and hosted breakfast briefing for outreach to 75 entrepreneurs and potential mentors
• Organized and hosted Executive Business Plan Summary, Entrepreneurship Marketing, and other training opportunities for over 30 entrepreneurs
• Initiated and supported the development of new undergraduate program in sustainability and renewable energy
• Recruited, organized, and implemented the premier lecture of Malcolm McIntosh titled "Sustainability: Humanity's Next Great Project" for over 125 entrepreneurs and key community leaders and thinkers.

Project Description:

Creating a start-up business can be a scary and lonely experience, yet successful new businesses are the life-blood of rural communities. To succeed as an entrepreneur, it takes a team of support people in marketing, sales, finances, and other business disciplines.

This project brought these mentors together to support area entrepreneurs through a series of events in Mankato, MN. The meetings of budding entrepreneurs, through discussions, helped determine common ground and created a support network within the entrepreneurial group. The project also began to identify gap areas in our region that need to be addressed to adequately support clean technology entrepreneurs.

Dr. Brenda Flannery, Professor of Management at Minnesota State University Mankato (MSU) described the excitement of 10 entrepreneurs during a recent event, "We had two hours set aside to work on writing the executive summary of the business plans. We started at 6pm and by 10pm they really didn't want to stop talking with each other."

Mankato-area business executive Denny Dotson of Dotson Iron Castings and Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation's Tim Penny and Pam Bishop provided significant guidance of the project's efforts as Advisory Board members.

"It's the relationships that are going to be a lifelong learning experience for them," said Bryan Stading from Riverbend Center for Entrepreneurial Facilitation. "Some of these projects may stall out for a little bit, but it's these relationships that will rekindle the idea with a different approach. Those relationships are priceless."

CleanTech Open North Central was another key program partner with it's mission to "find, foster, and fund clean technology entrepreneurs."

"I hope that there will be 5 new companies developing out of this grant," Said Dr. John Frey, Director of Business Partnerships for the Division of Strategic Partnerships at MSU and Interim Director of International Renewable Energy Technology Institute of Minnesota (IRETI MN). "And, they will help develop the economy here in Southern Minnesota."