Windustry promotes progressive renewable energy solutions and empowers communities to develop wind energy as an environmentally sustainable, community-owned asset. Through member-supported outreach, education and advocacy we work to remove the barriers to broad community ownership of wind energy.

Windustry achieves positive and lasting impacts upon rural communities through its first-stage educational work.  We work with rural landowners, farmers and ranchers, tribes, schools and municipalities, at the early stages of wind energy project development.  We provide comprehensive education and information about the wide range of business models applicable to developing community ownership of wind energy development.  Community Wind has been proven to generate about three-five times the local economic impact that corporate/absentee ownership of wind energy does.  Usually, communities have little idea about the wide range of options available to them when developing a wind energy project.  When Windustry is on-hand to provide our services, educational materials and Community Wind tools, landowners can them make more informed decisions.  If communities do decide to pursue Community Wind, the economic and social impact is profound and long-lasting. 

Windustry has provided detailed, extensive information on development of wind energy projects to farmers, rural landowners, elected officials, utility representatives, community planners, farm management educators, lawyers and bankers since 1995. Windustry was originally developed as a project of the non-profit Sustainable Resources Center based in Minneapolis, funded by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources for two bienniums. In 2001, Windustry became fiscally sponsored by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and has since become an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in 2002. 

• Bush Foundation - $167,400
• US Department of Energy - $100,000
• Energy Foundation - $59,000