- Mobile Recon Systems is officially part of the Grand Forks UAS ecosystem. Their September 24 open house and ribbon cutting marks the establishment of our region’s first drone designer and manufacturer.
- The Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS) has selected Volansi’s VOLY C10 aircraft for Site Acceptance Testing for North Dakota’s statewide beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) network. This aircraft will help NPUASTS set the standard requirements for any aircraft seeking to fly on the network. Read their press release here.
- The University of North Dakota hosted a virtual Wake Up to UND, their annual breakfast that celebrates and informs the community of the partnership between the University and the city. The theme was New Faces, New Places featuring UND President Andy Armacost and Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski.
- Gen. James Dickinson, the new commander of the U.S. Space Command, came to UND on Tuesday, September 15 to examine the possibility of North Dakota’s participation in the University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) program under the U.S. Space Force. Read more about his visit here.
- The Start Up Grand Forks program has been successful over the 3-year pilot and was made permanent on Tuesday, September 8. This shows a commitment by the City of Grand Forks to remain open for business.
- The Jobs Development Authority (JDA) approved two new loans for business expansion in the Grand Forks region: Tacho Man LLC received a loan to outfit a van and trailer in order to operate his food truck year round, and Thunder Ray’s Auto Repair will use their funding to set up shop on North Washington Street.
- EDC member company Acme Tools also used a loan from the JDA for expanding their e-commerce distribution center. Construction on their 40,000-square-foot addition wrapped up a few weeks ago, and is now operational. The new space allows for more products to be sold online, and they project a 20% growth in sales each year for the next five years. They also plan to hire as many as 25 full-time employees to handle the increase in sales.
- The North Dakota Department of Commerce released numbers on the Economic Resiliency Grant program, and there are new COVID relief programs available as well:
• C-RUN – Businesses can apply for COVID-19 Response Unmet Needs (C-RUN) loans with the application period closing on October 15.
• CPR II – The Bank of North Dakota has rolled out a new COVID-19 PACE Recovery II (CPR II) program that assists North Dakota businesses impacted by the pandemic. Applications will be available on their website on October 1, 2020.
- Evolve Grand Forks, a nonprofit organization with a mission to support a culture of entrepreneurship in the Greater Grand Forks community (which includes operating The 701 Coworking Space), welcomed their new executive director. Meet Maggie Smith.
- Congratulations to several of our member companies on being honored as one of the 50 Best Places to Work in the region by Prairie Business Magazine! The list includes AE2S, Alerus, Border States Electric, Construction Engineers, EAPC, Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), First Community Credit Union, First International Bank & Trust, Gate City Bank, Houston Engineering, JLG, Steffes, True North Equipment, and Widseth.