MN Small Business

That’s how Red Wing’s Sturdiwheat sources the ingredients for their beloved pancake, bread, and dessert mixes. It’s what they’ve done for more than 80 years. Today Sturdiwheat is family-owned and operated by mother-daughter team Suzanne and Missi Blue. Pioneers of the Perennial Percent label, Sturdiwheat looks to improve soil and water quality with each mix they sell.

Andrew Kasun, a self-declared mad scientist who loves to dabble in the kitchen, created the crunch core frozen treats they named Leo’s Pops for his son Leo. Leo, who navigates the world on the autism spectrum, especially loves the unique texture of their frozen treats.

The mission of Good Graces Paper Co. is just as multilayered as its name. First, the designs are crafted to speak to other Black women, giving them a place to express their anger and exhaustion while finding a way to maintain hope and healing. For those outside of the immediate audience, the designs seek to challenge– to spark curiosity and conversations that will lead people to learn more about the issues and histories of which they are uninformed. But even that isn’t the entire story:  “I have some designs that are just pretty!” laughs Melanie. 

It’s Grace's artistic eye and attention to detail that allow her to transform her experiences outdoors into stunning hand-illustrated stickers, wrapping paper, and notebooks for her company Little Rocks Design. Whether as inconspicuous as a mushroom or as magnificent as Lake Superior, which Grace can see from her window in Duluth, anything can become a sticker to commemorate the environment of Minnesota in particular and the Midwest in general.

For Melissa Daul of Minneapolis, the discard pile receives new life through her wood working business Reclaimed North. Melissa started turning wood in 2018. Her first teacher was her father, a fantastic wood worker.

For Emma Crutcher of Cool Trash in South Minneapolis other people’s trash is literally her treasure.  Emma discovered the Precious Plastic project, which was founded in 2013. This project hosts a suite of open source plans to build machines to recycle plastic on a small scale. “This movement challenges us to think about plastic as a valuable resource for building and creating,” explained Emma.