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Charles K. Blandin Residuary Trust

Charles K. Blandin Foundation — the formal name of Blandin Foundation — is a private foundation based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. We are Minnesota’s largest rural-based and rural-focused foundation. We are guided by terms of the will of founder Charles K. Blandin, who passed away in 1958 following distinguished careers in education, publishing and paper-making, including …

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Cheryl Adams, UPM Blandin Paper Mill

Cheryl Adams Forest Ecologist – UPM Blandin Paper Mill As the frontrunner of the new forest industry, UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. We reshape markets through cost leadership, change readiness and leading innovation. We create value from renewable and recyclable materials by combining our …

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Chisago Lakes Blandin Broadband Community

Community Visioning Events: The virtual community visioning process took place online via Zoom. See below for meeting materials, including the PPT, notes, and recordings. The Vision Meeting – Friday, June 19. Watch the Recording – password: CLA619)) The Brainstorm Meeting – Wednesday, June 24. Watch the Recording – password: CLA624!*

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Christopher Mitchell

For his research, advocacy and leadership at the national level on behalf of community broadband networks, via public sector ownership and cooperatives, as a strategy for maximizing community benefits from broadband network development. Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance where he researches and publicizes the benefits of community-owned …

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City of Monticello

For its early recognition of the importance of telecommunications to its economic future and for its perseverance in deploying a fiber optic network that has transformed the city’s local Internet environment. In 2005, in response to business and resident complaints about slow, unreliable Internet access and overly expensive telecommunications services, the City Council appointed a …

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City of Windom

For vision and perseverance to construct and operate Minnesota’s first municipal fiber-to-the-home network and its support of regional broadband via Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services. Well into the 1990s, the quality of available internet service in Windom was poor. Community frustration was on the rise. Community leaders did not quit after a failed vote to build …

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Clip: 2020 Census Needs Funder Support to Ensure Rural Inclusion

Funders, both large and small, can support rural Census work to ensure a fair and accurate count.  Blandin Foundation Communications Director Allison Ahcan and Allen Smart, project director at Campbell University’s Office of Rural Philanthropic Analysis, offer ways for philanthropy to get involved in “the most important upcoming policy moment” for rural communities in this …

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Cook County and Arrowhead Electric Association

In recognition of their visionary early work on community access to dial-up Internet which led years later to their innovative partnership that enabled deployment of over 800 miles of Fiber to the Home network stretching from Lake Superior to the end of the Gunflint Trail and the Canadian border. In 2010, the United States Department …

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