The Entrepreneur Fund and Great River Energy celebrated a $1 million program loan from Great River Energy powering partnership and entrepreneurship in the region. This partnership will benefit small business owners and entrepreneurs in the shared service area of the Entrepreneur Fund and Great River Energy, where the Entrepreneur Fund provides consulting, programming, training and small business financing up to $750,000.
The check presentation and celebration event took place in Duluth on August 16, 2018, with a short program featuring Entrepreneur Fund CEO Shawn Wellnitz, Great River Energy's Economic Development Director Tom Lambrecht and Great River Energy's Board Chair Bob Bruckbauer. Don Negley, co-owner of Rural Living Environments, also detailed his experiences working with the Entrepreneur Fund and highlighted the importance of powering entrepreneurship in rural communities.
“Great River Energy is proud to expand our partnership with the Entrepreneur Fund and further support the growth of entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses in northern Minnesota. Together with our member cooperatives, we continue to look for ways to support our rural communities,” said Great River Energy President and CEO David Saggau.
Prior to this formal partnership, the Entrepreneur Fund and Great River Energy’s member-owner cooperatives had worked together to support economic development and entrepreneurship with several organizations, including a manufacturer in Grand Rapids and an assisted living residence with multiple locations in north central Minnesota.