About The DuSu
Welcome to The DuSu, a project of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation.
The DuSu is the one-stop shop for young adults working, living, playing and connecting in the Twin Ports. The Duluth-Superior area has a lot more to offer than just snow, and this site brings it all to you. At The DuSu, you'll find news, entertainment, opportunities for networking and involvement, employment resources, and perhaps even a bit of inspiration to make the most of your life in the region. The site is created by young people, for young people, so kick around the place a bit; you'll find it's highly interactive; your two cents aren't just invited, they're encouraged!
The DuSu Brand Promise
DuSu is being: being here, being happy, being yourself, being together, being young in your mind and heart, being vibrant, being authentic, being where you want to be, doing what you want to do. DuSu is being.
The DuSu Acid Test
How do you know if something (anything from an ad to an experience) is DuSu? Ask yourself this question: Does this make me feel good about being here? If it does, then it’s DuSu.
Why The DuSu?
In 2006, the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation (DSACF) created the Attracting & Retaining Young Adults initiative to determine why young people were leaving the area.
Independent research and census data had shown that Duluth-Superior lagged behind other similar cities in its post-college, under 35 demographic. After conducting 35 key informant interviews – including business leaders, elected officials and young adults who had moved away from this region – the Community Foundation convened a twelve member task force to review the findings and prioritize recommendations to address the lack of young adults in the Twin Ports. A series of key recommendations were created—including The DuSu.
To undertake the development of The DuSu, the Community Foundation brought in 3FIVE Designs and a new advisory board of young adults from Duluth and Superior to ensure the content on the site is created by young adults for young adults. The Community Foundation and the A.H. Zeppa Family Foundation provided essential funding, and with that the project grew legs.
The Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation
The DSACF encourages private giving for the public good. Built by gifts from thousands of individuals and organizations, the Community Foundation is a permanent community endowment serving northern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.
Guided by a 13-member board of volunteer civic leaders, the Community Foundation makes grants to nonprofit organizations and to individuals for scholarships and provides leadership on important community initiatives in northern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. Since its inception in 1983, DSACF has distributed more than $32 million back into the community and currently holds over 280 different funds, each with its own charitable purpose.
The A.H. Zeppa Family Foundation
This foundation was established in 2005, aimed at making a difference locally, regionally, and globally by providing grants to qualifying organizations.
The organization’s missions are: to support the advancement of liberal/progressive principles in human affairs, locally, regionally, and globally; to assist in the prevention and/or reversal of further environmental degradation through the development and implementation of progressive policies relating to population control, sustainability, poverty and hunger, locally, regionally, and globally; and to support the performance and visual arts, locally and regionally.
3FIVE Designs, Inc.
3FIVE is a new player on the scene, striving to achieve a simple and effective goal: to effect positive change in the Duluth community. We have an insatiable desire to change the face of design by employing a fresh, innovative, and unique approach to everything we do. Three years ago, founder Martin Sawinski set out to establish a graphic design business that provided quality design to his clients. Year after year and project after project, our reputation has grown from the exceptional work we produce. Limited to nothing, but offering everything, 3FIVE provides graphic and web design services for individuals and businesses. We help our clients define and refine the image that they present to other businesses, individual clients, and the world. From business cards to billboards, from email to websites, we can design and create solutions to meet our clients' needs.
The 3FIVE team was excited to undertake the creation and maintenance of The DuSu website. The project is a perfect fit for our business, given our desire to contribute to the enhancement of the creative community in the Duluth-Superior area. In pursuit of this lofty objective, our team of professionals is poised to do what they do best: deliver top-notch products and services.
The 3FIVE Team
Martin Sawinski
President
Martin is a 2004 graduate of UMD with degrees in graphic design and studio arts, as well as focused studies in Spanish and photography.
As the founder and Commander-In-Chief of Operations at 3FIVE, Sawinski is known for his outstanding ability to whip up delicious designs for those in need. Skilled in the realm of the computer as well as the business world, 3FIVE’s success relies greatly on Martin’s ability to make the connections and align the pieces required to complete the most daunting of projects.
Jacob LeBeau
Director of Web Development
The code-slinging master of the web. Initially dabbling in cyberspace at the age of 12, Jacob quickly found he had a knack for creating stunning websites. With a mind for technical elements and an eye for the aesthetics, he brings his passion, skill, and insights to 3FIVE in the service of clients of all kinds.
Chad Sikes
Videographer Extraordinaire
Chad Sikes built his business from a desire to change careers.
After spending eleven years in the food service industry, he was ready to take a new direction. He happily seized the opportunity to engage in an occupation that afforded him a rewarding creative outlet.
Now a graduate of Brookhaven College in Addison, TX, in the field of Visual Communications with an emphasis in digital video production, Sikes spearheads Brightline Digital Video Solutions. Brightline has completed marketing productions for The Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, Fitger's Inn, The Mall at Fitger's, and Express Employment Professionals. The company has also provided videography for realtors, property owners, corporate archiving, and weddings.
Lara Wilkinson
Super Scribe
Lara grew up knowing that writing wasn't something she would choose to do, but rather something she had to do-- like breathing, or eating, or thinking.
A long time resident of the Arrowhead region, this vivacious mother of three graduated from UMD with a degree in communication and professional writing. Having found success with freelance work-- including publication in a nationally-circulating magazine--she comes to 3FIVE to seek out exciting stories and wayward punctuation.
Aaron Molina
Photographic Phenom
Aaron Molina was born and raised in Northfield, MN, but made Duluth his home.
He's an active photographer with a personal photoblog at www.moeview.com and is
president of the Duluth Photographers Guild. Aaron was hooked by his art form back in 1989, when he took his first photography class in high school. The rest of his story continues to write itself with frequent glimpses into Molina's world through his omniscient lens.
Aaron brings his passion to The DuSu, gracing the site with images worth far more than a thousand words.
INTERNS
Marketing Mavens
Kayla Urman, CSS - Majors: Advertising, Public Relations
Emily Tremain, UMD - Majors: Marketing, French
Junior Journalists
Lauren Lundeen, UMD - Majors: Accounting, Journalism
Joe Parrella, UMD - Majors: History, Political Science
Billy Wagness, CSS - Major: Communication; Minor: English
SwimCreative, That Little Duck in the Big Pond
AKA TheDuSu.com marketing launch gurus
Okay, we knew you’d ask. Everyone does. We’ll just get this little matter out of the way.
What’s with the name, “SwimCreative”? Well, it all started when we left our cozy, comfortable jobs at those big agencies—with no real plan for what we were going to do next. “Now what?” we asked each other one day as we looked out over Lake Superior’s chilly water. “We don’t even have a name!” After a long silence Patrice said quietly, “Well, at this point, we can either sink or swim.”
And now I ask you, which would you choose?
In 2009, SwimCreative was hired to develop TheDuSu.com brand and oversee creative guerilla marketing tactics for the site’s launch. Leading this effort was SwimCreative owner, Patrice Bradley.
Patrice Bradley, Captain
After calculating the number of years she’d be sitting at traffic lights if she stayed in St. Paul, Patrice bee-lined it for Duluth the day after graduating from the College of St. Catherine. For the past twenty years she has been working in the advertising business—fourteen of those years at H.T. Klatzky and Associates in Duluth. For the last five years, she has owned and operated a small advertising creative cooperative called SwimCreative. As a full-service agency specializing in branding, accounts range from economic development and tourism to health care and everything in-between. Swim hires the most talented folks in the industry and is currently growing. Watch us, it is an exciting time!
(Incidentally, the answer is 2.25 years.)
DuSu: Being here. Being happy.