As part of its effort to invest in economic growth within the region, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) is offering $100,000 in incentive grants. Grants up to $20,000 are available to support collaborative projects or programs in emerging business and workforce areas. Pre-applications for this grant round are due Aug. 24, with awards announced Nov. 25.

“This is the third year of focusing our resources on very specific workforce and business issues that we believe are critical to the long-term economic vitality of our region,” said president and CEO Tim Penny. “These incentive grants are designed to support projects that involve collaboration and achieve sustainable measureable results.”

SMIF’s focus areas include:

Engage immigrants in the workforce to maximize the potential of their diverse assets

Engage elders in the workforce to capitalize on their assets

Strengthen experiential career education to engage high schoolers in successful careers

Create entrepreneur success to support prosperity

Grow biobusiness to increase regional economic vitality

Nine incentive grants totaling $175,000 were awarded by SMIF in the past year.

SMIF uses a pre-application process to determine eligibility and funding priorities. For more information visit www.smifoundation.org/ files/grantpre-app.doc; e-mail grants associate Jennifer Heien at jenniferh @smifoundation.org; or call (507) 455-3215.