This past year wasn’t all bad. The EDC looked back at the top 20 happenings in the region in 2020:
- First up, we have some new faces in the office: in August, Stephanie Flyger joined our team as the marketing & communications manager. And in October, we welcomed Bridget West as our operations specialist. We are happy to have them on board!
- Last January, the Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond visited both UND and the Cavalier Air Force Station. Just weeks after the new military branch was established, UND was the first university that the chief chose to visit. We look forward to seeing the collaboration between North Dakota and the U.S. Space Force.
- After many months of hard work, Greater Grand Forks: Way Cooler Than You Think launched an 80-page welcoming & relocation guide in February as a resource for new residents to connect with our region.
- We had great success with many of our workforce pipeline programs. Last February, about 160 students from UND, NCTC, and UMC participated in Career Conversations where students had the opportunity to chat with professionals from a variety of regional employers about their careers. And in November, InternGF had a record number of applicants. The InternGF program is designed to increase the number of local internships, aiding employers’ workforce recruitment and retention efforts by introducing UND students to career and entrepreneurial opportunities in the greater Grand Forks region.
- The word ‘pivot’ came to the forefront of our vocabulary last year as we navigated new market demands, guidelines, and procedures. Two companies successfully pivoted to fulfill a supply need. Both Red River Biorefinery and Red Pine Distillery shifted from making ethanol and spirits, respectively, to producing hand sanitizer.
- Grand Forks welcomed two new leaders in June: Mayor Brandon Bochenski and UND President Andrew Armacost. The pair have proven they’re willing to tackle tough problems, and we are happy to partner with them in continuing our mission of expanding economic opportunity for the Grand Forks region.
- The Jobs Development Authority approved funding to create a downtown tech hub in the city-owned Grand Forks Herald building. So far, the city has signed four tenants to leases. The tech hub is the latest step to grow the expanding technology sector in the region.
- Northrop Grumman at Grand Sky had a big year: the company onboarded a dozen interns and additional staff to meet expanding workloads, they opened a 35,000-square-foot hangar to house new unmanned aerial systems, and they successfully held 70 hours of flight tests for their new drone—the Firebird.
- This summer we added two new directors to our board: City of Grand Forks ND Mayor Brandon Bochenski and Meghan Compton, executive vice president and chief clinic operations officer at Altru Health System.
- The University of North Dakota announced overall enrollment was slightly up over last year, something that seemed unachievable in the middle of a pandemic. We are proud of UND and all the work they have done this past year.
- Mobile Recon Systems officially joined the Grand Forks UAS ecosystem. Their open house and ribbon-cutting in September marked the establishment of our region’s first drone designer and manufacturer.
- The StartUp Grand Forks program was successful over the 3-year pilot and was made permanent in September. This shows a commitment by the City of Grand Forks to remain open for business and to help budding entrepreneurs.
- Our skies are open for business. The 14th annual UAS Summit & Expo took place virtually in October and that’s when the Northern Plains UAS Test Site announced VantisUAS, the nation’s first statewide UAS beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) network.
- Nodak Electric Cooperative officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in October for the first level 3 charging station in Grand Forks for electric vehicles (EV). The station is located in the parking lot of Wendy’s on 32nd Avenue South, and is completely powered by wind energy.
- Acme Tools was recognized as the 2020 Klaus Thiessen Impact Award recipient for making a positive impact on economic growth and prosperity in the region. They have 10 retail stores located in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa, a direct mail catalog division, and an Internet sales division. Last year, Acme Tools used a loan from the Jobs Development Authority to double the size of their e-commerce distribution center which was completed in September 2020.
- The Grand Forks region is the Land of Opes & Dreams, and now you can share that message on your clothing! The Greater Grand Forks: Way Cooler Than You Think! initiative launched the Cooler store in December.
- The United States Air Force awarded four contracts under its Agility Prime initiative to the University of North Dakota and the Northern Plains UAS Test Site. The goal is to develop small, agile, and low-cost unmanned aerial systems— “flying cars” for both military and civilian use.
- Philadelphia Macaroni Company acquired pasta company A. Zerega’s Sons Inc., making it the largest privately-owned pasta company in North America. The Grand Forks facility is considered the company’s “flagship property”.
- EDC member True North Equipment purchased the former Wells Concrete Building and established a center to receive, assemble, and refurbish farm equipment. True North leadership says this may be the only facility of its kind in the industry.
- Grand Forks-based SkySkopes was named the top US drone service provider in the country by market analyst Drone Industry Insights.