MN Small Business

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.

Welcoming visitors of all ages, Nate and Tracy enjoy being a destination for multigenerational families, fermentation aficionados, or day trippers just looking for a change of scenery — their front porch, also known as the Keepsake Cider Tasting Room, truly is a family-friendly site.

North Circle Seeds Farm in Vergas, Minnesota cultivates dozens of organic seeds for gardens and farms throughout the upper Midwest. Led by Zachary Paige, North Circle Seeds (NCS) commits daily to creating an ecologically diverse, equitable, and inclusive food system. “We are a small company focused on adapting seeds to our area and stewarding different varieties that other companies don’t carry,” states Rachael Roisum, a longtime volunteer at the farm. 

Minnesota’s people are what make this state an amazing place to be.  Minnesota’s people have built and celebrate strong community ties.  Diversity is a virtue, an asset that makes the way we live richer.