Community Involvement

Bill & Teri were honored as Outstanding Philanthropists by the Minnesota chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Dave Lee of WCCO radio surprised Bill by awarding him the first ever Good Neighbor Lifetime Achievement Award. POPP Communications has been sponsoring the WCCO Good Neighbor award for over 20 years. Click here to listen to the Audio recorded at the 2018 Minnesota State Fair.

Bill received induction as a Hall of Fame Laureate by Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest.  Junior Achievement’s goal is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.

To honor his service to his community, Bill received the Titans of Technology Award as a Community Hero from Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

U.S. Representative Erik Paulsen commended Bill and Teri Popp for their service on behalf of military families, and Bill and Teri’s work in building the Military Family Tribute in the Congressional Record on June 23, 2015 during the 114th Congress, 1st Session, Issue: Vol. 161, No. 101.

The building of the Military Family Tribute at the Minnesota State Capital Grounds was completed in 2015. The dedication ceremony took place on June 13th. Many government and military leaders spoke at the event to show their thanks and support to military families. Bill Popp was the visionary, founder, chair, and volunteer for the Military Family Tribute.

The Popp Chronic Care Center was completed and opened to the public on August 16, 2015. The Bill and Teri Popp Chronic Care Center enables faster processing and care for all patients who go to the Carl Platou Emergency Center.

Bill was selected for The TCB 100 list – a list of ‘The Leaders Every Exec Should Know.’ The Twin Cities Business Magazine explained their process for selecting candidates for the list in the following statement:

“While many of them lead major organizations and are influential for other reasons, they are not listed here for that reason alone. Rather, they’re included because of how they have overcome—or are facing, with courage, creativity and gusto—major challenges, while using their influence to help grow Minnesota’s economy, and support and even boost its social and cultural attributes.”.

Bill was honored with the Commander’s Award for Public Service.

Elton John AIDS Foundation, White Tie and Tiara Ball: Bill and Teri Popp attended this event at Elton John’s home in Old Windsor, Berkshire in England with Bill and Tani Austin of the Starkey Hearing Foundation in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Bill was selected as one of The (Real) Power 50 of 2013 by the Minnesota Business Magazine. The (Real) Power 50 is described as a group of, “remarkable players in the Minnesota business community with a knack for getting things done – and being helpful along the way.”

Bill was nominated by Founder and President of Media Logic Group Paul Douglas. Douglas had the following kind words to say about Bill in the May 2013 edition of Minnesota Business: “Bill Popp is a local entrepreneur who has carved out a unique and lucrative company by providing voice, data, and Internet services to mostly small and midsize business across the Upper Midwest. His company, POPP, has been able to consistently add value in the complex and rapidly evolving world of telecommunications, providing the right mix of technology, services, and customer service. Popp was able to scale a successful business without venture capital, and his vision and tenacity has kept him a few steps ahead of would-be competitors.

In addition to Bill’s business acumen, I admire his willingness to give back to our local community. His philanthropic work in Minnesota has been exemplary. Scores of local charities have benefited, and Popp actively supports our military as founder and chairman of the Minnesota Military Family Foundation, providing a financial lifeline for hundreds of military families trying to make ends meet. Bill Popp has been a dear friend and mentor, showing me how to grow as a person as well as an entrepreneur.”

The Popp’s sponsored the building of the Popp Chronic Care Center as part of the Carl Platou Emergency Care Center. The Popp Chronic Care Center enables faster processing and care for all patients who go to the emergency center.

Starkey Hearing Foundation: Bill and Teri sponsored and traveled to complete Hearing Missions in Xi’an and Chengdu, China, Bill and Teri Popp along with Bill and Tani Austin, Glen and Becky Taylor, NBA Cares, and more distributed over 12,000 hearing instruments. This was China’s first government partnership with a foreign charity!

The State of Minnesota approved the design to build the Military Family Tribute at the State Capitol Grounds in St. Paul. The Military Family Tribute will forever stand as a personal thank you to each spouse, significant other, child, parent, grandparent, sibling and any other person a soldier defines as family who provides the true foundation of support to our military personnel. This will be the first ever tribute directed at saying thank you to military families.

Starkey Hearing Foundation: Bill and Teri sponsored hearing aid missions to Arusha/Moshi, Dodoma, and Dar Es Saalam, Tanzania where Bill and Teri Popp along with the Starkey Hearing Foundation team distributed over 4,000 hearing instruments.

Bill was made an honorary Admiral of the Minnesota Naval Militia. He was awarded by Governor Pawlenty and the Minnesota Adjutant General Major Larry Shellito for founding and chairing the Minnesota Military Family Foundation.

Roseanne Roseannadanna Golf Benefit – Golf Chair

Bill Popp is the Founder and Chairman of the Military Family Tribute.

Bill and Teri Popp sponsored two hearing aid missions to Vietnam and Egypt. Bill and Teri along with the Starkey Hearing Foundation team distributed over 4,000 hearing instruments in Vietnam and 3,000 hearing instruments in Egypt.

Bill and Teri were honored with the Service Above Self Award.

Bill was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Bill was honored at the  20^th Anniversary Celebration for his continued support of this organization.

Bill was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus.

The Rotary Club of Minneapolis Leadership Academy: Inside the Leaders’ Circle – Speaker

Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal Power Breakfast: Born in a Recession – Panelist

Bill and Teri Popp were honored with the Starkey Hearing Foundation’s “So the World May Hear” Humanitarian Award in 2008.

CBS Radio and Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal: Fall Business Breakfast – Panelist.

Bill and Teri Popp were honored with the Scoutmaster of Philanthropy Award by the Boy Scouts of America, Northern Star Council.

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) honored POPP Communications as the Corporate Partner of the Year in 2007.

Bill was honored with the Community Service Award

Bill was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award.