External Partnerships
Partnership Development Office
What We Do
NRRI partners with business and industry across the broad range of our research and applied science expertises. We help companies advance products and de-risk technologies by testing feasibility at bench and pilot scales. The Partnership Development (PD) team at NRRI helps maximize the impact NRRI can make by fostering collaborative partnerships, helping partners navigate how to work with the University, finding commercial pathways for intellectual property, all while keeping researchers focused on what they do best: science.
Impact
One measure of the importance of partnerships at NRRI is to look at the sheer volume of contacts and opportunities maintained in our database. We are currently managing over 800 business and industry contacts at over 400 companies, that in 2025 alone, approached NRRI to propose working together on nearly 200 new proposals.
One of the best ways to describe the impact NRRI and PD can have on our business partners is to speak about one of our projects. See Research Focus in the left menu for more information.
External Affairs Office
What We Do
The External Affairs Office advances NRRI’s mission by aligning the Institute’s applied research with the communities, partners, and public systems it serves. We lead NRRI’s public engagement, legislative engagement, strategic communications, and cross-sector coordination—ensuring that research is informed by stakeholder perspectives, understood by decision-makers, and positioned to deliver real-world impact.
Our work focuses on integration and alignment. We support researchers in engaging external partners, help leadership navigate complex policy and funding environments, and translate technical work into clear, accessible narratives about public value. Across all activities, External Affairs emphasizes transparency, trust, and place-based engagement—recognizing that applied research succeeds only when it is developed in relationship with the people and regions it affects.
How We Work
External Affairs designs and leads engagement processes that bring together communities, Tribal Nations, industry, labor, utilities, environmental organizations, and government agencies around shared challenges. This includes convening forums and summits, coordinating advisory and engagement bodies, supporting legislative and agency briefings, and managing NRRI’s outward-facing communications and media presence.
In FY25, a significant portion of this work centered on the Midwest Industrial Transformation Initiative (MITI). External Affairs led MITI’s coordination, communications, and engagement activities, including the development and dissemination of MITI Memos, the design and facilitation of MITI community engagement events, and the support of large-scale convenings such as the Geologic Hydrogen Summit. Through this work, External Affairs helped connect NRRI’s technical capabilities with industry partners, community leaders, Tribal governments, and policymakers—while ensuring that dialogue around industrial transformation remained transparent, inclusive, and grounded in regional realities.
While MITI represents a major focus, External Affairs’ role extends beyond any single initiative. The office supports engagement and communications across NRRI’s full research portfolio, helping position the Institute as a trusted, neutral source of applied expertise across natural resources, energy, materials, and ecosystem resilience.
Impact
In FY25, External Affairs expanded NRRI’s external engagement while deepening the quality and consistency of those interactions. We hosted open houses and facility tours at NRRI’s Duluth, Coleraine, and Crosby sites, welcoming legislators, agency staff, community members, industry partners, educators, and the public to experience applied research firsthand.
We led and supported a broad range of meetings, forums, town halls, and conferences, including MITI Forums, technical workshops, community engagement sessions, and the Geologic Hydrogen Summit. These convenings advanced shared understanding of emerging technologies, infrastructure needs, environmental considerations, and community impacts—while reinforcing NRRI’s role as a credible convener in complex, systems-level conversations.
External Affairs also strengthened NRRI’s public and legislative presence through targeted briefings, statewide outreach, earned media, digital engagement, and public presentations. Using data-informed communications tools, we increased awareness of NRRI’s research impacts, amplified researcher expertise, and demonstrated the value of public investment in applied research that supports Minnesota’s economy, environment, and communities.
Looking Ahead
The Midwest Industrial Transformation Initiative has emerged as one of the most visible expressions of NRRI’s applied, place-based approach to research and engagement. Building on the coordination and engagement led by External Affairs in FY25, MITI is now positioned as a featured initiative within the Institute—integrating research, partnerships, and policy alignment to support next-generation industrial transformation.