Collaboration
26 Leaders
Red River Valley
North Dakota and Minnesota
Economic Stats
$87 Million
Border States Electric
100,000 SF
Workforce
Unemployment Rate
3.4%
Open Jobs
6,700
(Cass & Clay)
Igniting Activity
183 BRE Visits
60+ Projects
Initiatives
Activities
Board Of Directors
At-Large Directors
James Burgum
Rich Goldsbury
Bryce Johnson
Kelby Krabbenhoft
Todd Kumm
Denise Magness
Bill Marcil, Jr.
Martin Purdy
Teresa Warne
Denise Kolpack
Delton Steele
Executive Committee
Tammy Miller, Chair
Jeffry Volk, Chair-elect
Randy Gerhold, Treasurer
Judd Graham, Secretary
Tom Budan
Grant Weyland
Chad Peterson
Brad Schlossman
Marshal Albright
Agency Directors
Dr. Dean Bresciani
Kevin Campbell
Dr. William Craft
Timothy J. Mahoney, M.D.
Rich Mattern
Brad Morris
Rick Steen
Dr. Anne Blackhurst
Del Rae Williams
Community Directors
Dr. Jeffrey Schatz
Dr. Lynne A. Kovash
Dr. David Flowers
Honorary Directors
Dr. Peggy Kennedy
Dr. John Richman
Bernie Sinner, Chair
First State Bank of North Dakota
James Burgum, Vice Chair
Arthur Ventures
Greg Mastrud, Secretary
First International Bank & Trust
F. John Williams, Treasurer Fredrikson &
Bryon, P.A.
Chuck Hoge
NDSU Research & Tech Park
Chad Sapa
Cass County Electric Cooperative
Shelly Kegley
Bell State Bank & Trust
Growth Initiative Fund Board
Adrienne Olson, Chair
John Deere Electronic Solutions
Charley Johnson
FM Convention & Visitors Bureau
Laura McDaniel
North Dakota State University
Denise Kolpack
Blue Cross Blue Shield of ND
Doug Melby
Heartland Trust Company
Kimberly Wold Janke
Flint Communications
Krista Mund
FM Homebuilders Association
Spider Johnk
Spider & Company
Marketing Committee
Donna Seltveit
American Crystal Sugar
Jill Rotert
American Crystal Sugar
Carey Fry
Job Service ND
G.L. Tuck
MState
Heather Schimke
Caterpillar Reman Drivetrain
Janie Hulett
NDSCS
Manufacturing Workforce Committee
John Friend
O’Day Tank and Steel
Julie Rostberg
Job Service ND
Patty Kline
NDSCS
Ryan Erkenbrack
Trail King Industries
Andrew Henjum
Fargo Schools
Steve Johnson
NDSCS
Steve Retzer
MN DEED
Carla McGarry
Caterpillar Reman Drivetrain
Judd Graham
Wells Fargo Bank
Kevin Biffert
Fargo
Tina Amerman
Bobcat
Brad Barth
NDSCS
Jill Berg
Spherion Staffing
Dr. Anne Blackhurst
MSUM
Karen Carlson
Concordia College
David Dietz
Preference Personnel
Dr. David Flowers
West Fargo Schools
Sara Johnson
Concordia
Katie Kuker
John Deere Electronic Solutions
Denise Magness
Warner & Company
Workforce Committee
Sharon Miller
Arctic IT
Mary Mohs
U.S. Bank
Jill Wilkey
NDSU
Bryce Johnson
HBA
Dr. Lynne Kovash
Moorhead Area Schools
Dr. Jeffrey Schatz
Fargo Schools
Dr. David Flowers
West Fargo Schools
Missy Eideness
Moorhead Area Public Schools
Rob Kaspari
West Fargo Public Schools
Dan Markert
Moorhead Area Public Schools
Molly Bestge
West Fargo School District
Jodell Teiken
Fargo Public Schools
Dr. Bob Grosz
Fargo Public Schools
Sher Thomsen
United Way of Cass Clay
Kristina Hein
United Way of Cass Clay
Allen Burgad
West Fargo Public Schools
Shannon Dahlberg
Glyndon Felton Elementary
Denise Jonas
Virtual Center Partners: Fargo, Northern Cass, West Fargo
Education That Works
THANK YOU
OUTGOING
BOARD MEMBERS
Ann McConn
GIF Board
2014
Darrell Vanyo
Board of Directors
2008-2014
Executive Committee
2013-2014
Tom Dawson
Board of Directors
2006-2014
Executive Committee
2013-2014
Brad Schlossman
Chair
2012-2014
Thank you
Wolftree Magazine
Programs & Initiatives
VPP Goals
Attract, Develop & Retain Talent
Ensure Water Security & Management
Expand Research Capacity & Relevancy
Accelerate Entrepreneurial Activity & Output
Invest in Critical Infrastructure & Capital
Improvement
Improve Perceptions of the Valley
VPP Goals
A Cass Clay
Economic Strategic Plan
Attract Talent
Expand & Increase Awareness of Technical
Training, Higher Education & STEM Education
Advance Advocacy Agenda & Communicate
Economic Impact
Leverage industry base and NDSU Research
& Tech Park
- business retention, expansion
and startup
Region’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
A Cass Clay
Economic Strategic Plan
Workforce Study
Labor Market Profile
Industry & Workforce Alignment
Sector Councils
Regional Economy Reflects
Strength in Diversity
Oil and Agriculture Sectors down
Economy Stable and Growing
Three-Legged Stool
Business
Development
Three-Legged Stool
Workforce
Business
Development
Three-Legged Stool
Entrepreneurism
Workforce
Business
Development
Education that Works
3 Goals
4 C’s
614 Teachers,
Students & Administrators
Workforce Collaborative
JobsJo
March Jobs in North Dakota
23,500
March Jobs in Cass & Clay Counties
6,710
JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?6,427
JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
Educate Them!42
7
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
Sell Them!
7
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
Educate Them!42
7
$14 Hourly = $29,180 Year
$2432 Gross per Month
$1918 Net Per Month2
7
JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
Average Monthly Rent $752
7
JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
Average Monthly Rent $752
Monthly Daycare, 1 Child $550-$625
7
JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
Average Debt at Graduation
$28,000+
Minnesota $30,894
South Dakota $25,750
JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
$26,000 Debt
10-Year Loan, 4.5%
Monthly Payment $269
7
$14 Per Hour Monthly Net = $1,918
Minus Average Rent - $752
Minus Utilities - $75
Minus School Loan Payment - $269
Phone, Car Expense, Insurance Groceries, etc: $822
Child Care (One Child) - $550
New Total $272
Workforce Collaborative
Manufacturing Tours
170 Students 4 Companies
Changing Perceptions
CARGILL, WEST FARGO
EMPLOYEES = 1 SQUARE FOOTAGE = 600 SQ FT
EMPLOYEES = 2 SQUARE FOOTAGE = 5000 SQ FT
EMPLOYEES = 3-30 SQUARE FOOTAGE = 14,000 SQ FT
LOCAL PROJECTS
LOCAL PROJECTS
NATIONAL PROJECTS
NATIONAL PROJECTS
EMPLOYEES = 32 SQUARE FOOTAGE = 45,900 SQ FT
Primary Sector
Business
Expanding
Business Income
Tax Exemption
ND Automation
Income Tax
Credit
Training
$1,000,000
Igniting Innovation
1MC
Startup Weekend
TedXFargo
Cultivate.You
Fargo Startup
House
Startup Drinks
“Everyone has oceans to fly, if they have the heart
to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do
dreams know of boundaries?” - Amelia Earhart
Inspiring and enabling people to live out their dreams.
An experiment… Crema Cafe (October 2009)
30 members, 30 on a waiting list…
...
8 weeks later - St. Paul (January 2010)
you should be here… (June 2011)
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
"We're trying to tell a story about the creation of small businesses," Schmidt said.
"So when we looked around, we couldn't find anything like this."
November 2011…
2010 St. Paul 2011 Downtown
2013 Uptown 2014 Fargo
Featured in:
Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Dwell, Twin Cities Business, Forbes, Forum,
Fargo Monthly, MN Monthly, INC., USA Today, Financial Times of London,
Finance & Commerce, GigaOm, GOOD
members
A community of mobile
workers, startups, and
corporate nomads.
locations Minneapolis, St.
Paul and Fargo
years old
By the Numbers…
MidwestChat
Why Fargo?
Startup Survey
• Not just independents - Only 15.9% of respondents had no employees. The remainder
had one or more employees, with the majority (61.4%) having 3 or more employees.
• Anticipating growth - More than half of the respondents (56.8%) anticipate growth in
excess of 100% in 2015, with nearly one third (29.5%) predicting growth of 200% or
more.
• Challenges to growth - Nearly half of respondents identified “sales” as their greatest
challenge, while 31.8% cited “funding” and 27.3% cited “business development.” Only
20.5% of respondents see “recruiting talent” as their greatest need.
• A smorgasbord of funding - Friends and family funding is the most common (20.5%)
source of funding for respondents. Other sources, include Seed financing (18.2%),
crowdfunding (9.1%) and traditional bank lending (9.1%).
DEMO DAY
You can Help
2015 Strategic Goals
1. Implement Cass Clay Strategic Plan
2. Implement Workforce Study
3. Continue VPP Priorities
Thank You
Investors
Community Partners
Ignite
Help us Build the Workforce

Annual meeting 2015,widescreen final v 2

Editor's Notes

  • #45 We are honored and excited that the EDC has chosen us to share our story here today
  • #46 My story begins on a farm outside of Edmore, ND Grew up the son of a steel erector who used to drive me around and say “Hey, look, I built this!” Decided that I wanted to go into Construction Management
  • #47 Graduated from NDSU with a Construction Management degree Dad called and asked Mid America if they were hiring and I worked there for 11 years Went to work for my dad’s company Dakota Erectors in April of 2004
  • #48 First job completed with Dakota Erectors was the Cargill Deodorizer building which took 6 months to build I realized this job was taking me to the Western part of the state and I didn’t want to travel
  • #49 I’ve always loved Fargo because it is a growing community and has a lot of opportunity I wanted to contribute to the community that I live in Who wouldn’t want to live here? In order to stay near Fargo, I decided to start bidding out fabrication of steel while still working for my dad
  • #50 Just like every entrepreneur, I started in the basement of my house in Reile’s Acres with a computer, desk & printer Ethanol boom was beginning and we were awarded our first ethanol project
  • #51 Husker Ag in Phillipsburg, KS $1.3 million project that got the steel fabrication going and needed more space
  • #52 Rented a small space in Fargo where I could control our product and the fabrication Hired 1 employee There was no bathroom Due to the number of ethanol projects being awarded, I knew I needed a bigger shop after 6 months
  • #53 I purchased a 14,000 square foot building in Fargo, formed Integrity Steel Supply, LLC and hired 3 employees We take raw steel and fabricate it to the customer’s request – we make things such as stairs, rails, commercial buildings, schools, process plants, anchor bolts, lintels, etc. Some of the projects that we have done are
  • #54 Liberty Middle School – 340 tons of structural steel
  • #55 Tuffy’s dog food processing plant – provided the walkway which was 12 feet tall
  • #56 Talk about each project on this screen
  • #57 Talk about each project on this screen
  • #58 In order to be more efficient and have everything done under one roof, we built new facility and moved into the building in September of 2014 In order to continue to grow our organization, we utilized some available grants through the EDC which Tiffany will tell you about
  • #59 Mark from the EDC drove by the new facility being built and tracked down who was building it Mark stopped by the Fargo office to talk to Tim and let him know about the available funding Mark left Tim with a big stack of papers to begin the process of applying for the funding Tim was busy running his company and didn’t have time to work on the paperwork…that’s where I came in
  • #60 We started by applying to be a primary sector business as that is required in order to be eligible for the other funding Once we were approved as a primary sector business, we applied for the ND Automation Income Tax Credit to assist with the cost of the machinery that we had purchased to increase our efficiency in our facility We then applied and were granted a business income tax exemption for five years in ND We have also utilized the Workforce 20/20 training grant program which has allowed us to offer training to our employees on the new machinery along with many other topics Thanks to the EDC, we were given approximately
  • #61 In grants and tax credits Pause and hope the audience claps I would suggest that every business owner takes the time and effort to reach out to the EDC
  • #62 To look into what programs are available in Fargo Moorhead I know the application process can be very overwhelming and intimidating, but the EDC is here to help Thanks to Mark and the EDC, Integrity Steel Supply has been able to continue to grow our company due to money saved I would like to thank Mark for all of his guidance and I would like to thank the EDC for investing in Integrity Steel Supply Tim come up and thank Mark, the EDC & Tiffany
  • #63 I’m fortunate to be able to drive my kids around today and say “Hey, look over there, Integrity Steel provided that steel”. Thank you.
  • #65 Good morning & thank you. You might not realize this, but I probably would not be standing here this morning if it was not for you… I will explain later. Raise of hands. What percentage of you consider yourself an entrepreneur? The formal definition
  • #66 Our definition
  • #67 A place to work, meet, learn, and socialize for freelances, independents and small business owners. Much like a health club membership, you gain access to CoCo via membership dues based upon your usage. We take away all the road bumps of being an entrepreneur - including furniture, coffee, internet, meeting rooms.
  • #68 It’s not just cheap space… We provide a tremendous amount of value for our members, and de-risk their business. Included in membership is: Working space (with furniture) Casual and Formal Meeting spaces (with furniture) Coffee Full kitchen with all the plates, glasses, utensils 1 GB wifi Printing You just have to show up and focus your energy on your business: Eliminate the liability of long-term leases Don’t waste time buying furniture Don’t have to build a kitchen We take away all the road bumps of being an entrepreneur - including furniture, coffee, internet, meeting rooms.
  • #71 A call from a mayor “following you, like what you’re doing, want you here in MPLS, what can I do to help?” The Minneapolis Grain Exchange trading floor. The very place that put Minneapolis on the global map - The milling capital of the world. Mayor Rybak, now calls this the Brain Exchange…
  • #74 CoCo is revolutionizing the workplace and is a global thought-leader in enabling the mobile, startup and entrepreneurial lifestyle through a social/working hub. Our members are thinkers, makers and doers.
  • #75 As I travel the country I am asked this question often. I’ll tell you what I tell them… It all started with some early conversations with the Kilbourne group and Emerging Prairie. and TEDx Fargo… Wow, this community is on fire. 5 schools in a small geographic area a robust economy that is enabling entrepreneurs a redeveloped downtown core pride GFMEDC has been a great partner. Starting with Jim’s commitment to get a collaborative space in Fargo back at the MidwestChat years ago, to the financial support, the business introductions, and the ability to convene groups in the area. If it was not for the shear will and determination of the folks we met, we might have missed what was going on here in Fargo.
  • #77 Why is it important to Fargo? you want / need to keep entrepreneurs to build their companies and stay connectivity to those you can invest and support is critical
  • #78 The impact of Entrepreneurism It is the fastest growing part of our economy It is enabling people to do the work of their dreams People can work anywhere on anything, and they want to have an impact while making money People are choosing their coworkers The current and upcoming generations are mobile The future of the workplace will be more collaborative and molecular Retaining the youth will be a critical part of any cities effort in the future - a supported and networked entrepreneurial community is the foundation Continue to embrace it vs. trying to fight it… Cities across the globe are now realizing this… We have received calls from Mayors and civic leaders across the nation asking us to come to their city, or if we would help them create a location of their own. We know what it takes, and not every city has it. Fargo, does and is making progress in building a thriving entrepreneurial culture, but there is work to do…
  • #79 - Don’t check off the box, entrepreneurism is never done Communities form, they are not made… Be a mentor Encourage entrep’s to get active in a community of their peers (not just socially) Be active yourself. Lead by example, and book meetings in our space Become a sponsor - show the entrep. community that you care and this is important for Fargo