Valspar Foundation Provides $65,000 to Support Minneapolis Mill District

Via a July 9 News Release from Valspar:

MINNEAPOLIS – July 9, 2015– To commemorate the return of Valspar Corporation’s headquarters to the historic Mill District area in Minneapolis, the Valspar Foundation today announced $65,000 in grants to five non-profit organizations: MacPhail Center for Music, Mill City Museum, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, the Mill City Farmers Market and the Guthrie Theater. 

 Posing with the replica “big check” were: Laura Roller, Minnesota Historical Society / Mill City Museum (far left); Jeff Rathermel, Minnesota Center for Book Arts; Emily Dehn, Guthrie Theater; Gary Hendrickson, Chairman and CEO, Valspar; Laura Halcrow, MacPhail Center for Music; and Brenda Langton, Mill City Farmers Market.

“As Minneapolis is Valspar’s global headquarters community, we are pleased to support the Mill District neighborhood and the organizations that help make this a vibrant community,” said Gary E. Hendrickson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Valspar. “These organizations contribute to our local and regional culture in many ways and help make Minneapolis a great place to live and work.”

The Valspar Foundation grants will help fund the non-profit organizations’ ongoing programs and enable more people to enjoy their activities and offerings.

· MacPhail Center for Music: One of the nation’s largest community music schools, MacPhail provides music education to more than 13,000 students of all backgrounds and abilities with the mission of transforming lives and communities.

· Mill City Museum: Once the world’s largest flour mill, the museum helps visitors learn about the intertwined histories of the flour industry, the Mississippi River and the city of Minneapolis.

· Minnesota Center for Book Arts: The Center’s mission is to lead the advancement of the book as an evolving art form, achieved through programs that support creators, learners and admirers.

· Mill City Farmers Market: Located in the Mill City Museum, the Market inspires and nurtures a healthy community by building a local, sustainable and organic food economy in a vibrant, educational marketplace.

· Guthrie Theater: Founded in 1963, the Guthrie is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training, presenting both classical literature and new work from diverse cultures.

Valspar’s headquarters were moved back to the Mill District neighborhood in January 2015 after an extensive historic renovation was completed of its building at 1101 South 3^rd Street in Minneapolis. The building, built in the early 1900s, is part of a four-building campus and serves as a global hub for product development and performance testing to support customers around the world.

Above, Kim Welch, president of the Valspar Foundation, giving opening remarks to the audience of about 120 employees and guests in the Valspar Headquarters. Below, Gary Hendrickson, Valspar Chairman and CEO, addresses the audience.

(L to R) Jennifer Halcrow (MacPhail), Amanda Kaler (Minnesota Center for Book Arts), Jeff Rathermel (Minnesota Center for Book Arts).

Jennifer Halcrow gives an overview of MacPhail.

Linda Roller provides a description of the Mill City Museum.

Brenda Langton describes the Mill City Farmers Market. 

Emily Dehn explains all that the Guthrie Theater has to offer.

Valspar: If it matters, we’re on it.®
Valspar is a global leader in the coatings industry providing customers with innovative, high-quality products and value-added services.  Our 10,500 employees worldwide deliver advanced coatings solutions with best-in-class appearance, performance, protection and sustainability to customers in more than 100 countries. Valspar offers a broad range of superior coatings products for the consumer market, and highly-engineered solutions for the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets. Founded in 1806, Valspar is headquartered in Minneapolis. Valspar’s reported net sales in fiscal 2014 were $4.5 billion and its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:VAL). For more information, visit http://www.valspar.com/and follow @valsparCo on Twitter.

Comments

[Tom Clarke]

Hi

Thanks for the great story about Valspar's continued large investment and presence in the Mill District. What a wonderful corporate citizen role model for our city, bringing well paid jobs, tax base and historic preservation to the city. Congratulations and thanks.

I would only hope that another large corporate entity just up and across the Mississippi River, GRACO, would take a lesson and improve its bullying corporate behavior towards the Mpls Park and Recreation Board. GRACO is failing to follow through on its agreement to provide an easement on its property along the river for the future riverside trail. Instead GRACO leaders are blackmailing the Park Board to get special development rights to park property nearby at the newly acquired Scherer Brothers site/Hall Island park. This recent unethical corporate activity tarnishes GRACO's long history as an important industry along the river in Northeast Minneapolis. GRACO leaders could learn some lessons from Valspar executives.

Oh... and by the way, I hope the project to repair and restore the structure supports of the former North Star Blankets lighted sign (reported in Mill City Times) will include repainting with beloved Valspar world famous coatings-- "If it matters, we're on it"!!!!

Thanks and congrats to Valspar Chairman and CEO Gary Hendrickson.