Spotlighting the Partners Who Make Our Work Possible
Conserving our precious lands and waters doesn’t happen alone. To make tangible, lasting change, we rely on the support of partners who are willing to stand with us and do the work. This past year, our corporate sponsors put their values into action, funding our conservation programs and education initiatives, providing in-kind donations to support our work, and showing up to volunteer alongside us, making an impact with their own hands. We’re excited to shine a spotlight on our steadfast partners, who lead by example to make a better future for all.
Adolfson & Peterson Construction
As longtime partners of Great River Greening, Adolfson & Peterson have continually demonstrated their passion for environmental restoration. We recognized their sustained support with our 2024 Headwaters Award, honoring their outstanding leadership in corporate conservation and community engagement. We are especially grateful to Molly Weiss, AP’s Chief Human Resources Officer, who is rolling off Great River Greening’s board of directors after three and a half years of service.
Blattner Company
A new partner in 2025, Blattner has shown an incredible commitment to growing their roots with Great River Greening, becoming one of our top-level Special Event Sponsors in 2026. Their support goes beyond funding, showing up with enthusiasm to get their hands dirty, creating 600+ native seed balls this May. With their dedicated work and deep investment in corporate stewardship, Great River Greening is able to sow seeds of change across the state.
Bridgewater Bank
In spring of 2026, Bridgewater Bank helped to support our work at The Heights: a new development transforming 112 acres into a vibrant, live-work-play community featuring affordable housing, light industrial development and over 20 acres of parks and green space. Our partners at Bridgewater Bank supported planting efforts on the site with both funding and hands-on volunteer participation, planting 40 large canopy trees to help make the neighborhood greener and cooler.
Burns & McDonnell
We are thrilled to be a 2026 “Charity of Choice" for Burns & McDonnell. This year, their employee-owners chose to partner with organizations focused on restoring habitats, rebuilding soil health, protecting water sources and strengthening the natural systems that support our communities. We’re excited about this new partnership and grateful for their commitment to investing in local environmental stewardship.
Connexus Energy
Thanks to support from Connexus Energy, Great River Greening continues to make strides in large-scale wetland restoration at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge—an essential habitat for over 230 species of migratory birds. Connexus Energy’s powerful support for our restoration initiatives allows us to work across 900 acres of vital wetland habitat, combatting invasive cattails, increasing native biodiversity, and improving wildlife habitat and water quality. We would not have been able to expand our impact at this incredible site without their sustained partnership.
Ecolab
The Ecolab Foundation has provided essential support to Great River Greening since 2012, helping us grow statewide restoration initiatives. Ten years after their first gift, we presented them with our 2022 Headwaters Award, recognizing excellence as corporate partners and honoring their dedication to building a more sustainable and climate-resilient Minnesota.
In addition to enthusiastic support of our mission, our partners at Ecolab have been our most engaged volunteering partners with four events since last April! Whether lopping buckthorn, pulling invasive plants, or planting native species, these volunteers have made real, hands-on change at sites across the metro. Through generous financial support and consistent volunteer engagement, Ecolab continues to wholeheartedly embody their dedication to a more sustainable world. We are especially grateful for the leadership of Amie Hedblom, Ecolab Director, Corporate Sustainability Marketing, who is a dedicated member of Greening’s board of directors.
Ever-Green Energy
Ever-Green Energy volunteers joined Great River Greening at our first project with Habitat for Humanity last fall, planting trees to help cool The Heights—the largest affordable and workforce housing investment in Minnesota history. We were moved to hear about how The Heights is making home ownership dreams come true and are proud to have worked alongside Ever-Green Energy volunteers and community members to help provide shade for the future residents of this community.
General Mills
The General Mills Foundation first gave to Great River Greening over 20 years ago, and has since contributed over $110,000 to programs providing service learning for underserved youth and supporting pollinator projects across Minnesota. This spring, we were joined by General Mills volunteers in Prior Lake where they planted, watered, and caged 150 shrubs at Spring Lake Regional Park, alongside support from Three Rivers Park District and Scott County. As a longtime champion of Great River Greening and environmental health, we’re grateful for their continued investment in Minnesota’s lands.
Granite Partners
Granite Partners has offered valuable support to Great River Greening, inviting us to plant trees with them near their Saint Cloud headquarters to promote a greener Central Minnesota. Whether volunteering at Quarry Park and Nature Reserve to support forest biodiversity or helping to plant one tree for every child who took part in the CentraCare Earth Day Run Free Kid's 1K, and another for every dollar donated on the event website, Granite Partners continually demonstrates their passion for environmental stewardship. We are especially grateful for the dedicated support of Meg Hickey McGuire, Managing Director, Investments, who has served over three and a half years on Great River Greening’s board of directors.
Kowalski’s Markets
Since 2003, Kowalski’s Markets has contributed over $112,000 towards our work, bolstering over 23 years of community-centered restoration. As a longtime partner, their incredible support through programs like the 5¢ Bag Donation Program and Spring Shred Events makes a truly meaningful impact, growing financial support while increasing community awareness. We were excited to recognize their deep commitment by awarding them our 2025 Headwaters Award, recognizing their extraordinary investment in community engagement and conservation. We’re thankful for the role Kowalski’s plays in amplifying and advancing our mission, and for their continued support.
Life Time Foundation
Pledging grant support to our tree planting efforts at schools in Saint Paul, the Life Time Foundation’s mission of “fostering Healthy People, a Healthy Planet, and a Healthy Way of Life” rings true. Our partners have supported creating biodiverse urban canopy at Harding High School and Battle Creek Elementary— two schools impacted disproportionately by the urban heat island effect—adding cooling, shade, and greenery to the school campuses. This spring alone, we planted 900 trees in Battle Creek Elementary’s mini forest and collaborated with Harding’s Earth Club to create a planting plan for 61 trees from 18 different species, which we planted on an unforgettable Arbor Day.
Minnesota Twins and Uponor
Uponor North America, a GF Building Flow Solutions brand and global innovator in sustainable water solutions; and the Minnesota Twins, nationally recognized for their commitment to environmental stewardship, began a bold partnership with Great River Greening in 2025. Together, we created the Healthy Waters Initiative—a multi-year effort to restore critical lands, improve water quality, and build healthier, more resilient communities for generations to come.
Uponor and the Minnesota Twins will jointly invest thousands of dollars over multiple years to support hands-on restoration projects that protect local watersheds and engage community members. We saw their commitment in action last fall, when both groups joined us at Carver Creekside Park for a planting event. Their generous investment allows us to drive large-scale improvements in water quality and community resilience across the state.
Pentair
We were thrilled to be a 2025 recipient of Pentair Foundation’s Water Grants program, contributing $50,000 to our restoration work at Sakatah Wildlife Management Area. This gift has supported our crucial work at this site, where we’ve broken drain tiles to restore wetland hydrology and are replacing invasive plants with native species, creating critical wetland habitat and pollinator prairie. Since 2025, they’ve also engaged 169 interns in volunteering at Great River Greening sites, dedicating time, resources, and hands-on work to our mission. Over 16 years, Pentair and the Pentair Foundation have contributed over $240,000 to our work, funding statewide restoration of wetlands, rivers, forests, and prairies. For their incredible support and visionary leadership, we’re excited to present them with our 2026 Headwaters Award at this year’s reGREEN Minnesota, honoring their transformative partnership and sustained collaboration. We are especially grateful for the leadership of Oriana Raabe, Vice President – Sustainability, a new addition to Great River Greening’s board of directors.
RBC Wealth Management
RBC Wealth Management has been a strong supporter of Great River Greening for 18 years, investing over $173,000 in our conservation work. Their generous funding has provided targeted support to improve water quality in five targeted Minnesota watersheds, and to our tree planting initiative, expanding and strengthening resilient tree canopy in communities that need it most, as well as general support to our community-conservation initiatives. RBC’s impact is great—growing shade, increasing biodiversity, and improving habitat health in watersheds across the state.
Shred Right
Through two years of Spring Shred Events, in partnership with Kowalski’s Markets, Shred Right has truly shown their commitment to utilizing their services to create a more sustainable world. This innovative effort not only raised funds for Great River Greening, it also gave community members a way to securely dispose of documents and ensured they’ll be responsibly recycled into post-consumer products—giving paper waste a second life and a greater purpose. Their generous gifts make a serious impact, from their commitment to supporting conservation and sustainable recycling through #ShredRight4Good to their invaluable support to our Future Stewards program through the Mason Family Foundation.
Target
We were excited to be part of Target Circle’s Guest-Directed Giving Program this spring, where loyalty members used votes earned from shopping to direct charitable grants. Thanks to Target and the awesome support of our digital community, we received 186,544 votes for Great River Greening, resulting in a grant of $10,172.67! Thank you to Target for inviting us to participate and creating a platform for guests to support our mission and make a real impact in their own community.
The Toro Company
The Toro Company’s enthusiasm for the outdoors goes far beyond their manufacturing innovative, high-performance landscaping equipment. Through financial support, in-kind equipment donations, and engaging their staff in volunteer events, the Toro Company has maintained their support of Great River Greening’s mission. They’ve demonstrated this dedication through their multi-year Earth Day partnership with Great River Greening, where they’ve pledged to volunteer with us every Earth Day from 2025 through 2030. We deeply appreciate their passion for environmental stewardship and long-term commitment to investing in hands-on restoration projects.
Xcel Energy
The Xcel Energy Foundation has been a steadfast partner of Greening since our early days. For over 25 years, the Foundation has been a pillar of support, helping us grow from a volunteer led tree planting initiative in Saint Paul into statewide environmental stewardship. We recognized and celebrated their continued funding of Great River Greening programs and active, hands-on participation in environmental restoration with our 2019 Headwaters Award. We are especially grateful for the leadership of Tim Rogers, Xcel Energy Sr. Manager, Siting and Permitting, who has served over four years on Great River Greening’s board of directors.
Many thanks to the generous support of the following additional companies. These partners support Great River Greening through special event sponsorship: Stoel Rives LLP and Fox Rothschild LLP. Thank you to Thomas Braun, Environmental Partner at Stoel Rives, and JT Schuweiler, Partner at Fox Rothschild, both dedicated Great River Greening board members.