Republican Eagle: $8M woman - Ekblad brings grant money for Minnesota State College Southeast

By John Russett
August 5, 2016

Calli Ekblad began her career with the newly renamed Minnesota State College Southeast right around the same time the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership began. In the 33 years since MJSP’s inception, Ekblad has had her hands on 41 grants for the college, which helped train 7,302 employees and totaled $8,508,495 in grant money.

Grant writing is a process with which Ekblad has become familiar with over her years with the college, now as the business relations director.

"It’s curriculum building, it’s bringing us enrollments," Ekblad said. “Sometimes we offer classes for credit and when we do that, that benefits the college as well.”

The process usually begins by businesses contacting the college about the training they need, she explained, which is followed by nearly three months of preparation, fine-tuning the language and making sure all parties are satisfied.

“It has to be a win-win for both of us,” Ekblad said.

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