Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation recently gave a $5,000 grant to the Austin Community Charitable Fund. The grant will foster a greatly improved entrepreneurial culture in Austin through developing the Austin Entrepreneurial Exchange. The grant was one of six, totaling $75,782, to support early childhood and entrepreneur projects within southern Minnesota.

“We are pleased to support these six asset-based approaches to current opportunities within our focus areas, and believe they will each contribute to the economic vitality of our region,” says Tim Penny, president and CEO.

The application process and guidelines for the next Incentive Grant round will be announced mid-July; applications will be due Aug.30. For details, visit www.smifoundation.org and click on “Applications.”