Rushford Institute for Nanotechnology (RINTek) is a 5.01(c)3 non-profit company headquartered in Rushford, Minnesota. It was conceived in 2001 and has reached the point of beginning operations. Currently, RINTek has temporary offices in Rushford. It has received funding support from several sources including local banks, the Rushford City EDA (and the State of MN), some foundations, and Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical.

Mission

RINTek's mission is to enable building a culture that embraces and benefits from nanotechnology development by bringing high-technology knowledge and skills to rural America starting in the surrounding Tri-State region. It will do this through various forms of research, educational, and informative efforts.

Key Objectives

RINTek 's key objectives are the following:

1. Establish a regional nanotechnology toxicity research center that will investigate the effects of nanoparticles on living organisms. This is in alignment with the NNI’s first goal of research and fourth goal of societal responsibility and the goals of NIOSH, the National Toxicology Program, the EPA, and several other agency efforts. A regional center coupled to our major medical research corridor in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin will be a major asset to the area.
2. Establish partnerships with post-secondary educational institutions for two purposes.
• Sharing resources to advance the research and educational goals of each partner while maintaining optimum utilization of resources for lower cost; and
• Work together to identify trends and needs related to training and careers as nanotechnology affects changes in traditional industries and creates new ones.

This objective implements NNI’s  third goal: Develop educational resources, a skilled workforce, and the supporting infrastructure and tools to advance nanotechnology.

3. Establish programs with K-12 schools, community organizations, and other organizations in the effort to:
• Raise awareness of the impacts of nanotechnology on jobs, education, health, environment, and industries; and
• Engage youth with science and math and encourage careers in science and engineering to keep our country globally competitive. 

This objective implements NNI’s third and fourth goals.

Value Proposition

RINTek will provide several value-added services to the rural and small-city tri-state region community, members, and partners in these areas:

1. It will provide research and analytical capability to further the understanding of the toxicological effects of nanoparticles. It will provide opportunities for collaboration with other research organizations such as Mayo Clinic, Hormel Institute, Health Sciences Consortium, plus university research programs at Winona State University, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, University of Minnesota, and University of Iowa.
2. It will provide expertise, information, and a mechanism for dialogue with municipalities, community leaders, public and private school educators, and other interested people about the impact of nanotechnology on their jobs, environment, and health. These efforts will enable communities to retain and grow more and better jobs through having such resources.
3. It also will provide a means for engaging youth of all ages with science and nanotechnology from early school age through high school to prepare them for rewarding occupations and avocations to increase America's scientific worker population.
4. It will offer resources and expertise to educational institutions that enable them to keep educational costs lower than if they had to provide all resources internally