In The Community
Minnesota’s Headquarters Ecosystem
Minnesota’s headquarters ecosystem reaches far beyond any single company. It creates jobs, supports local businesses, drives innovation and strengthens communities across the state. See what begins at a Minnesota headquarters and the opportunities it creates across our state.
Minnesota's Future Award
The Minnesota’s Future Award recognizes high-performing, diverse public elementary schools and educational programs for their success in helping all students succeed.
Sonnesyn Elementary’s Lasting Legacy
Sonnesyn Elementary in New Hope received the 2025 Minnesota’s Future Award for transforming its approach to literacy instruction. Through the Science of Reading and Bridge2Read program, the school improved 3rd grade reading scores by 10%, while Principal Mary Jane Adams helped expand evidence-based literacy practices across the Robbinsdale district. Although the school is no longer in operation, its impact continues through the students, educators, and schools shaped by its work.
Bridge2Read
Bridge2Read received the 2024 Minnesota’s Future Award for helping schools improve literacy through free teacher training and classroom tools grounded in the Science of Reading. The program has supported hundreds of teachers and thousands of students across Minnesota with clear, carefully sequenced literacy instruction. At Monroe Elementary, a previous Minnesota’s Future Award recipient, reading proficiency increased between 18% and 25% following the program’s implementation.
Monroe Elementary
Monroe Elementary in Brooklyn Park received the 2023 Minnesota’s Future Award for its schoolwide shift to the Science of Reading. The approach produced significant literacy gains, with 4th grade reading proficiency increasing 18% and 5th grade proficiency increasing 25% from 2022 to 2023. Monroe’s results demonstrate what is possible when educators pair evidence-based instruction with a commitment to every student’s success.
Cristo Rey Jesuit Academy
Cristo Rey is a Catholic coed high school in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. The school’s students come exclusively from families of limited economic means and 99% are students of color. Cristo Rey partners with local employers on an innovative Corporate Work Study Program in which students work one day a week at a participating employer. Their unique educational model has yielded extraordinary results, with over 85% of graduates enrolling in college after graduation.
Groves Academy
Founded in 1972, Groves Academy is a leading school and learning center for students with learning disabilities and attention disorders, as well as a center for literacy instruction, education and advocacy. It is Minnesota’s only established independent school serving children with learning disabilities and attention disorders. The Learning Center at Groves serves over 1,100 students by offering tutoring, speech and language therapy, career counseling, and other services. Groves’ partnerships with local schools have yielded extraordinary results, with students at partnership schools making twice the rate of improvement in reading fluency relative to their nationally normed peer group.
Banyan Community
Banyan Community is a non-profit community development organization that provides academic support to youth in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. Founded in 1997, Banyan began in Joani and Tim Essenburg’s basement with just a few students, but has grown into a neighborhood-wide organization that now provides preschool-through-college services to hundreds of families. Banyan’s success speaks for itself: Remarkably, 100% of Banyan students graduate from high school and are accepted into college, and Banyan scholars outperform the statewide average for college graduation.
Legacy Award
The Legacy Award was given to MBP member companies that exemplify the Minnesota business community’s commitment to corporate responsibility, community leadership, and philanthropy.
Ecolab
Founded in 1923, Ecolab today employs 49,000 associates and works with customers in more than 170 countries. Around the world, Ecolab helps customers deal with the demands of population growth, economic growth, urbanization, changing consumer habits, climate change and water scarcity. Ecolab is consistently ranked in the top 10 of Corporate Responsibility (CR) Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens, and has been named by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 13 consecutive years.
Mayo Clinic
Founded in 1864, Mayo Clinic’s mission is to inspire hope and contribute to health and well-being by providing the best care to every patient through integrated clinical practice, education and research. Today, Mayo Clinic has 63,000 employees and last year treated more than 1.3 million patients from all 50 states and 136 countries. In 2017 and 2018, Mayo Clinic was ranked the #1 hospital in the nation and #1 in more specialties than any other hospital by U.S. News & World Report.
Hormel Foods
Founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, Hormel employs nearly 20,000 employees worldwide and owns some of the world’s most iconic food brands, including Skippy Peanut Butter and Spam. The company’s philanthropic endeavors have focused on hunger relief, education and supporting local communities where Hormel operates. Hunger relief efforts include Project SPAMMY, which has contributed more than 11 million cans of a specially designed shelf-stable poultry product to help malnourished children in Guatemala. Closer to home, the Hormel Foundation is an integral part of the Austin community, partnering with organizations including Austin Public Schools, Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, United Way, and YMCA.