1. Career Impact Academy
After almost a year of preparatory work, 70 days of fundraising, and months of waiting, we are thrilled to announce the Career Impact Acacemy has received $10 million in matching funds from the North Dakota State Board for Career and Technical Education. The allocation was approved during a special meeting held on March 14. A huge thank you to all of our state leaders and community partners who made this happen.
2. Fufeng USA
The City Council approved the 20-year PILOT program for Fufeng USA on March 7. The property tax exemption program is an economic development incentive that allows the City to defer near-term taxes to be able to secure important projects in exchange for collecting significantly higher taxes in the future. Fufeng USA will pay the following taxes:
Years 1-10: $927,850/year
Years 11-20: $1,742,125/year
Years 20+: $5,813,500/year
- Fufeng USA COO Eric Chutorash sat down with the Grand Forks Herald for a Q&A about the project. Here is a transcript for the first half of the conversation. The whole forum is available to watch here.
- Mayor Bochenksi has also participated in several interviews. You can catch two of them on Grand Forks Best Source and Ladies of Another View.
- The City has created a Fufeng USA page with links to videos and documents relating to various topics discussed at city council meetings. The videos are cued up for when particular conversations begin about the issue at hand.
3. Fenworks
EDC member company Fenworks, an esports learning provider, has seen exceptional growth this last year. They held their inaugural Fenworks State Tournament this last weekend where they had 144 students participate.
4. Drone Biz
Drone Biz, the AUVSI quarterly networking event for UAS professionals, held its first gathering of the year at Botlink in Fargo. North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley spoke and highlighted the years of effort the state of North Dakota has put into growing the UAS industry.
5. GNDC Round Table
The Greater North Dakota Chamber held a CEO roundtable on March 23. The meeting was focused on the Bio Association of North Dakota’s efforts to support the growth of bio companies. Keith Lund, EDC President & CEO, moderated a panel on workforce retention featuring Tom Kenville (ISight Drone Services), Marlene Miller (Altru Health System), and Brady Skaff (Minnkota Power Cooperative).
6. Valley Prosperity Partnership
The Valley Prosperity Partnership (VPP) announced leadership changes to its executive committee, including adding Jonathan Holth as vice co-chair. Holth currently serves as the EDC board chair. The VPP is a membership organization led by some of the region’s top business and higher education leaders, joined by economic development partners. They work to advance strategic economic development opportunities for the Red River Valley region of North Dakota and Minnesota, and for the entire State of North Dakota.
7. Find the Good Life
North Dakota is launching the latest iteration of its “Find the Good Life” workforce marketing campaign as pressure mounts to combat workforce shortages across our state and nation. Becca Cruger, EDC director of workforce development, was featured in the Grand Forks Herald’s article for her work with Greater Grand Forks: Way Cooler Than You Think! and the success we’ve seen with that initiative.
8. InternGF
InternGF awarded nine companies almost $23,000 in funding for the second application cycle of 2022. Now in its fifth year, the program is designed to increase the number of local internships by aiding employers’ workforce recruitment and retention efforts by introducing UND students to career and entrepreneurial opportunities in the greater Grand Forks region.
- Air Seeder Parts LLC – Design Engineer Intern
- Altru Health System – HR Intern
- Downtown Development Association – Community Involvement Intern
- Black Gold Farms – Sales Intern
- Hatch Realty – Business Operations Intern
- Construction Engineers Inc – IT Intern
- SafetySpect Inc – Image Analysis Intern
- 701 Ventures/701 Fund – Venture Analyst Intern
- Fenworks, Inc – Accounting Intern
9. Cruger Promotion
Becca Cruger has been promoted to director of workforce development at the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation (EDC). This move reinforces the critical nature of the EDC workforce development strategy and Cruger’s expanding role at the EDC and throughout the region.
10. New Team Member
Please welcome Ron Alhstrom to the EDC team as our UAS sector developer. Ahlstrom recently retired from the U.S. Airforce after 26 years as an aircraft and logistics supply chain manager. We’re happy to have him aboard!