The Greater Fargo Moorhead EDC overviews the economic landscape of Fargo Moorhead, reviews our projects and initiatives from 2014 and highlights a few of our 2015 projects.
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. 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
11. 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
20. VPP Goals
Attract, Develop & Retain Talent
Ensure Water Security & Management
Expand Research Capacity & Relevancy
21. Accelerate Entrepreneurial Activity & Output
Invest in Critical Infrastructure & Capital
Improvement
Improve Perceptions of the Valley
VPP Goals
22. A Cass Clay
Economic Strategic Plan
Attract Talent
Expand & Increase Awareness of Technical
Training, Higher Education & STEM Education
Advance Advocacy Agenda & Communicate
Economic Impact
23. Leverage industry base and NDSU Research
& Tech Park
- business retention, expansion
and startup
Region’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
A Cass Clay
Economic Strategic Plan
38. JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
Average Monthly Rent $752
Monthly Daycare, 1 Child $550-$625
7
39. JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
Average Debt at Graduation
$28,000+
Minnesota $30,894
South Dakota $25,750
40. JobsJo
How can we fill those Jobs?!?
$26,000 Debt
10-Year Loan, 4.5%
Monthly Payment $269
7
41. $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
70. you should be here… (June 2011)
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
71. "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…
73. 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…
75. 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%).
We are honored and excited that the EDC has chosen us to share our story here today
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
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
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
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
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
Husker Ag in Phillipsburg, KS
$1.3 million project that got the steel fabrication going and needed more space
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
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
Liberty Middle School – 340 tons of structural steel
Tuffy’s dog food processing plant – provided the walkway which was 12 feet tall
Talk about each project on this screen
Talk about each project on this screen
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
Our definition
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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
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…
- 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