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Augsburg Local

Augsburg Local logo

Augsburg Local is a campaign to leverage Augsburg’s purchasing power to support local businesses.

Purchasing at Augsburg takes two forms:

  • Individual – purchasing done by Augsburg faculty, staff, and students often in close proximity to campus.
  • Institutional – the goods and services that Augsburg purchases through contracts with various vendors and suppliers throughout the region.

The Augsburg Local campaign connects locally-owned, Black/Indigenous/People of Color (BIPOC)-owned, and Femmes/Trans/Womxn (FTW)-owned businesses to the economic benefits generated by both types of purchasing.

In addition to purchasing, Augsburg’s investment portfolio represents another opportunity for leveraging the institution’s economic resources to strengthen the health and vitality of our community. The Augsburg Local campaign will work to shift a portion of Augsburg’s investment portfolio to community-minded banks and financial institutions that yield economic benefit to underserved communities.

Page DIRECTORY

Local Business Partner Profiles

Local Catering Guide

Augsburg Local Interactive Google Map

Local Sourcing with Augsburg Dining Services

Follow us on Instagram

Why is local purchasing important for Augsburg?

What do we mean by “local”?

How does Augsburg Local work?


Local Business Partner Profiles

Read more about our official Augsburg Local partners, all within walking-distance of Augsburg’s campus.


Local Catering Guide

The Augsburg Local team is thrilled to share our new Catering Guide!  Our aim with this project is to encourage the use of local- and BIPOC-owned caterers for smaller on-campus events*. This is a living document and we welcome your comments and suggestions for other caterers to add to the guide; please email wolfx@augsburg.edu or augsburglocal@augsburg.edu.
*Please note that according to Augsburg’s policies, outside caterers may only be hired for Augsburg events of fewer than 25 people. Events with 25 or more people must be catered through Dining Services. All caterers used for on-campus events must be licensed and insured.

Augsburg Local Interactive Google Map

Every Augsburg Local Business Partner is within one mile of the Augsburg Campus! Want to see for yourself? Check out our Augsburg Local Google Map to see just how close together we all are in the Cedar-Riverside, Seward, and Phillips neighborhoods. You can use this tool to plan a well-rounded outing of food, drinks, activities, and shopping, all while supporting small businesses in our community.


Local Sourcing with Augsburg Dining Services

Augsburg Local is excited to announce that dining services has begun sourcing their tofu from MinnTofu! MinnTofu is a local Minnesota startup that is focused on producing locally farmed and environmentally sustainable plant based foods. The soy beans that are used in the MinnTofu are all locally sourced from a farmer in St. Peter, MN. For more information about the product and for delicious recipes visit the MinnTofu website.


Follow our Campaign on Instagram

Our stories include a variety of BIPOC- and FTW-owned businesses you can support in the Twin Cities. In the coming weeks, we will be highlighting our official Augsburg Local Business Partners, all within walking distance of the Augsburg campus.

east african dishes from Dilla's Ethopian Restaurant


Why is local purchasing important?

Community has and always will be at the heart of the Augsburg experience. Augsburg University educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. The strength of this powerful experience is supported by an engaged community that is committed to intentional diversity in its life and work.

The Augsburg Local campaign is directly related to two institutional commitments that are at the heart of Augsburg’s commitment to community: environmental sustainability and Augsburg’s role as an anchor institution.

Environmental Sustainability

Augsburg is committed to improving the environmental impact of the university and is dedicated to meeting the goals laid out in our climate commitments and other initiatives.

Using the Wellness Sustainability Model shown above, Augsburg University strives to demonstrate that climate, economic, social justice and health issues are all deeply connected and ignite one another. The Augsburg Local campaign deepens our community values and advances sustainability commitments in a variety of ways. Supporting the local economy strengthens our community’s overall wellbeing, giving businesses the support they need so that they can support their employees and the people they serve. The environment gives us our economy, our society, and contributes significantly to our physical and mental wellness. Buying Local reduces packaging, processing, and transportation waste which helps ameliorate the already suffering environment on which we depend.

Image and model credit: Bemidji State University Sustainability

The neighborhoods that will be a particular focus of Augsburg Local – Cedar-Riverside, Seward, and Phillips – have been designated as Green Zones by the City of Minneapolis.  These are areas disproportionately affected by the cumulative negative effects of environmental pollution as well as social, political, and economic vulnerability.

Role as an Anchor Institution

As an anchor institution, Augsburg is committed to contributing to the health, safety, and vitality of the community of which we are a part.  We mobilize institutional resources in ways that build strong, mutually beneficial community partnerships and respond to community needs and opportunities.  Augsburg Local, by leveraging Augsburg’s economic resources in the form of purchasing and investment dollars, builds a stronger, more sustainable local economy in a variety of ways. Local purchasing builds community wealth. Dollars spent at local businesses are more likely to stay in the community. Local businesses hire local residents.  Finally, local businesses contribute to the uniqueness and vibrancy of our neighborhoods.

Local and small businesses, particularly BIPOC and FTW owned, in the Twin Cities and across the Midwest have been hit disproportionately economically by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and the civil uprisings.  Augsburg Local represents a concerted, focused effort to support these businesses at a time when the need for investment in these businesses is particularly urgent.

What we mean by “local”

Local purchasing can be defined in a myriad of ways, whether by a geographic radius, economic partnerships, and/or social relationships.  Augsburg Local identifies “local” by considering a set of priorities aligned with the Wellness Model for Sustainability.  These priorities not only help to advance sustainability at Augsburg University, but can help advance sustainability efforts among partner businesses.

Economic

  • Size of business: # of employees, profit margin for sector, # of stores/franchises owned (supporting the infrastructure of a local economy in Cedar-Riverside, Seward, and Phillips)
  • Type of business: B Corps, Cooperative, Employee-owned, Union-friendly, nonprofit
  • Treatment of employees at all levels (pay, hiring practices, etc.)
  • Connection & investment in the local economy (are they also invested in local?)

Social

  • BIPOC-owned, FTW-owned
  • Engagement, support, & reputation among BIPOC & FTW communities (in Minneapolis)
  • Reputation in & relationship to community and in the sector
  • Relationship (depth, length, etc.) to Augsburg students, staff, faculty, & institution or the possibility of a partnership

Wellness

  • Physical & mental health benefits to the purchaser (specifically in a pandemic- responsiveness to Covid-19 safety precautions)
  • Price of items/service for the purchaser
  • Quantity of, quality of, & access to (speed of) item/service for the purchaser

Environmental

  • Definition of local: geography, individual vs. institutional purchase, item/service purchase
  • Commitment to environmental sustainability
  • Product-use, packaging & waste disposal operations
  • Types of investments

How does Augsburg Local work?

Partner

Augsburg Local partners with neighborhood business associations and small business support organizations. We support their efforts to drive business to stores and restaurants located in neighborhood commercial corridors like Cedar Avenue and Franklin Avenue.

Promote

Augsburg Local informs members of the Augsburg community about local businesses. We amplify their stories, highlight goods and services that they have available, and share information about discounts and promotions.

Procure

Augsburg Local identifies local vendors that provide goods and services used by the University.  We work to add these vendors to the University’s supply chain by identifying and addressing barriers that may be standing in the way.