ABOUT THE FOUNDATION

Blandin Foundation is a private foundation based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota USA and is the state's largest rural-based and rural-focused foundation. It was founded in 1941 by Charles K. Blandin and today leverages the proceeds from a trust of more than $450 million.

The Blandin Foundation mission is to strengthen communities in rural Minnesota, especially the Grand Rapids area, with the vision of healthy rural communities grounded in strong economies where the burdens and benefits are widely shared.

To do this, the Blandin Foundation engages in three types of work:

Grant making: The longest-running program of the Foundation, grants and scholarships are focused on six major priorities:

• Strengthening economic opportunity in rural communities
• Supporting the educational attainment of rural Minnesotans who may not have had the same advantage as others
• Stimulating promotion of fairness and opportunity
• Supporting specialized leadership development
• Promoting a stronger rural voice, and
• Stimulating intercultural competency

A minimum of 55 percent of grants are targeted to the Itasca County local giving area, with the balance used to support initiatives in other parts of rural Minnesota. Similarly, the Foundation invests heavily in educational opportunity for its home communities, including scholarships and innovative early childhood programs such as Invest Early.

Leadership development: Over more than 20 years, Blandin Foundation has developed upwards of 5,000 community leaders in 250 rural Minnesota communities and nine rural reservations through its Blandin Community Leadership Program. This nationally recognized program builds competencies in three major areas:

• Framing opportunities and challenges that lead to effective action,
• Building social capital for collaboration and resource sharing, and
• Mobilizing a critical mass of resources to achieve specific outcomes

These programs are designed for community teams that reflect the diversity of the community from all walks of life. The core program couples intensive residential retreat with ongoing workshops and trains leaders in communications, conflict management, networking and stakeholder analysis. Additional programs focus on special needs or particular communities, such as persons living in poverty.

Public policy programs: These programs bring research, people and organizations together to address opportunities to strengthen rural Minnesota. The focus is on encouraging informed citizen action to assure that rural perspectives are well represented in public discourse.

In particular, the Foundation focuses resources on two critically important rural Minnesota policy issues: forest resources and broadband technology. In 2006, the Foundation received the National Council on Foundation's Paul Ylvisaker Award for excellence in public affairs for its Vital Forests/Vital Communities initiative.

Blandin Foundation History

Charles K. Blandin established the Blandin Foundation in 1941 to aid and promote Grand Rapids and the surrounding area. In designing the Foundation, Blandin emphasized flexibility to ensure it could adapt to changing times with an underlying philosophy that its work should lead to the “betterment of mankind.”

Since the sale of the Blandin Paper Company in 1977, the financial resources of the Foundation have expanded dramatically, as has its area of service. Once linked, the two are now distinctly separate organizations; the Foundation is private and independent of the paper company which is owned by UPM Kymmene, based in Finland.

The Blandin Foundation addresses issues to enhance the economic viability of rural communities and the well-being of residents. The Foundation’s management and Board of Trustees work diligently to ensure that Charles Blandin’s legacy is served through wise investment and progressive leadership programs, meaningful public policy engagement and grant making.

C.K. Blandin

The son of a Wisconsin farmer, Charles K. Blandin was an entrepreneur before age 12. He turned a part-time job at a weekly newspaper into an apprenticeship and, eventually, a career in publishing. A self-educated, self-reliant man, he adhered to the principle: be progressive, try new things. In his lifetime, Blandin taught school, ran several weekly newspapers, managed a successful metropolitan daily and engineered the growth of a highly profitable, world-class paper mill in northern Minnesota.

Profits of the St. Paul Pioneer Press/Dispatch Printing Company rose impressively under Blandin’s management in the early 1900s. After purchasing the Itasca Paper Company in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 1916, the Dispatch owner died; his widow offered Charles half the company stock and a chance to manage the entire operation. When newsprint production became unprofitable, he changed to ground wood papers and pioneered the manufacture of high-quality, coated stock. In 1927, Blandin sold the St. Paul newspapers, but not the paper mill. Two years later, its name was changed to the Blandin Paper Company.

After his wife died in 1940, Blandin spent even more time in Grand Rapids, deepening his relationship with the community. To prepare for his company’s future and desiring to serve the needs of the area after his death, Blandin stipulated in his will that a foundation be established to perpetuate the distribution of company profits to community advantage. When he died in 1958, the Foundation had assets of approximately $1 million. Income from investments and the diversified holdings of the Blandin development company went directly to the Foundation, as did profits not needed for reinvestment in the mill.

The Foundation Grows

The Blandin Paper Company was sold in August 1977 for approximately $80 million. At the time of the sale, most of the Foundation Trustees agreed that the dollars available to the Foundation for grant making would far exceed what could logically be spent in the Grand Rapids area. New bylaws were adopted, expanding the Foundation’s scope of operations for grants and programs. By 1982, the combined assets of the Residuary and Foundation Trusts had grown to more than $100 million. The following year, the Foundation built new headquarters on the Mississippi River.

The Blandin Community Leadership Program (BCLP) was launched in 1986. That same year, several changes in the Foundation’s governance occurred, most notably the move to focus on enhancing the viability of rural communities across the state. In 2002 the Foundation board and staff initiated a strategic planning process, leading to its focus on the economic viability of rural communities where the benefits are widely shared. The board adopted the Community Economic Advantage approach at its December 2002 meeting and the approach was announced on January 20, 2003.

Concern about the Foundation’s commitment to the local area has spurred periodic challenges and litigation. As a result, the Board of Trustees in December 2003 approved a resolution, ratified by Ramsey County District Court, to commit at least 55 percent of all grants to the area on the basis of a six-year rolling average.

The Foundation considers itself an active and innovative partner in its home community. Grand Rapids benefits from Foundation community leadership programs, public policy initiatives and receives special grants attention.