Southwest Initiative Foundation receiving $1 million in McKnight funds

As the Minnesota Initiative Foundations mark 40 years of service, the McKnight Foundation is announcing a total $6 million investment in the people, ideas, and locally led solutions shaping rural communities across the state. Each of the six Minnesota Initiative Foundations will receive $1 million in funding in 2026, including $500,000 in additional general operating support.

Southwest Initiative Foundation is one of the six foundations receiving funding. Its service region encompasses 18 counties in southwest Minnesota and the two Native nations that share this geography.

Said Southwest Initiative Foundation President Scott Marquardt in a press release: "This investment is a powerful affirmation of the impact our team has made. The support will increase our capacity to meet the needs in southwest Minnesota at this moment and into the future. We've been doing economic development work since our inception, and this will allow us to continue to invest in one entrepreneur, one dream, one main street at a time, growing the vitality of our much-loved rural places."

The grants reflect McKnight’s enduring partnership with the Minnesota Initiative Foundations and a belief that rural people and places deserve investments that match their contributions and importance.