Newsletter and Economic Indicators Sponsored by

BioScience Summit

Grab your ticket for the jam-packed, two-day event!

The BioScience Summit is coming up fast! If you don’t have your tickets yet, go grab them.

If you haven’t decided whether to attend, here are five reasons to join us for the Summit in September:

1. Learn about the growth of the BioScience Industry in North Dakota and ways to take advantage of that growth
2. Hear how higher education is developing the future workforce in bioscience — And we’ve added a career experience networking event to connect companies and students in high school and higher education!! 
3. Learn about commercializing medical device innovations
4. Take advantage of great networking opportunities
5.  Enjoy great food!

Educating to Elevate Perceptions of FM to Site Selectors (the folks who help companies decide where to locate or expand)

The Greater Fargo-Moorhead area, and upper Midwest region in general, has long been challenged by a lack of national awareness for the strengths, opportunities, and capabilities we have to offer the rest of the world. Our organization works hard to educate and promote our region to overcome those challenges. 

Recognizing that public perception doesn’t always align with reality, the GFMEDC recently invited four global site selection consultants to visit the greater Fargo-Moorhead community in July 22-24 as part of the inaugural FM area Site Selector Familiarization (FAM) Tour.

The purpose of FAM Tours like this is to raise awareness and educate national leaders on the assets and capabilities of our region. With a better understanding and appreciation for the opportunities in our community, these global site selection consultants (who have access to extensive networks and business relationships) are in a better position to amplify our voice and advocate for, and direct, business and investment opportunities to our market.

As part of a follow up summary, our consultants shared some of the following observations from their three-day visit.  

• Impressive AgTech Ecosystem and Innovation Hub
• Lower than national average labor costs for technical positions
• Cool companies (such as Aldevron, Microsoft, Marvin Windows, Packet Digital, John Deere Electronic Solutions and others)
• Extensive infrastructure investment (Red River Diversion) will open several site opportunities which have been hindered by flooding potential

Challenges

• Lack of non-stop air services to coastal air hubs
• Escalating housing costs
• Perceptions – such as ‘remote’ geographic location and climate perceptions doesn’t reflect reality but hard to change perceptions

Opportunities

• Region is relatively insulated from natural disasters (no hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.)
• Proximity to Minneapolis with lower costs
• Opportunities for stronger north-south linkages in the Red River Valley and road / rail corridor from Winnipeg to Fargo and south

City of West Fargo Contributes Funds Ensuring the Continuation of the GIF Loan Fund

The City of West Fargo recently approved to contribute $650,000 to the Growth Initiative Fund (GIF), supporting the continuation of the revolving loan fund.

The GFMEDC-managed GIF is one of our many vital business support tools. This revolving loan fund primarily acts as a “Community” buydown partner with the Bank of North Dakota on the PACE and Flex PACE loan programs. The buydown programs help unlock additional matching state grant funding to provide low-interest financing for primary sector companies, encouraging and enabling significant capital investments into their business.

The GIF was mostly funded by Cass County, City of Fargo and City of West Fargo, primarily between 1994-2001, helping provide primary sector financing for the past 30 years. However, due to a trend of an increase in both the number of loans and size of loans, the current fund amount was no longer large enough to adequately “revolve” and consistently maintain available funds for new loans. Pursuing additional funds has been a key priority for GFMEDC.

"The PACE and Flex PACE program with BND is an amazing financing mechanism to help companies take the leap to inject significant capital investments, but the program can’t exist without the community participation. Our primary sector economy has experienced so much growth over the past 5+ years, that our GIF is nearing the point of running out of available funds for new projects, “ says GFMEDC Chief Innovation Officer and GIF Administrator John Machacek. “The City of West Fargo’s $650,000 contribution to the GIF is so timely, to stretch out our ability to finance more business expansions a bit further, and in the meantime, not stifle the ability for our region’s primary sector growth.”

To date, the GIF has approved loans totaling $20.4 million, which have enabled access to almost $36 million in matching state grants to help Cass County primary sector companies expand.

Automation Tax Credit Opened August 15

Increasingly, companies across North Dakota have begun to address workforce constraints through innovation and automation. This is particularly important to areas like the Greater Fargo Metro, where the unemployment rate sits at 2.5% as of June 2024 and labor participation remains high at 70.2%.

If you have made investments into automated equipment or machinery or are considering it -- we're here to help you access programs that can help make this happen, realize cost savings, and have extra capital to reinvest back into your business.

• A business is allowed an income tax credit for the purchase or capital lease of machinery and equipment to automate a manufacturing process in North Dakota. The credit is equal to up to 15 percent of the cost of the machinery and equipment. For a capital lease, the credit would be equal to up to 15 percent of the fair market value of the machinery and equipment at the inception of the lease.
• There is $3,000,000 per year set aside for this program, so if total requests exceed this amount, approvals will be prorated for all claimants.
• $500,000 will be designated for first-time claimants for manufacturing machinery and equipment for the purpose of automating manufacturing processes.

Primary-Sector Certification

As one of the main requirements for accessing the Automation Tax Credit, primary-sector certification in North Dakota opens the door to a bevy of state and local incentives for businesses. If you are still considering an investment in automated equipment in 2024, but are not sure if you are primary-sector -- this is an important first step.

Primary-sector businesses are defined by two primary avenues - they add value to a good, product, process or service and the sales generate new wealth for the state and region.

"Primary sector business" could include an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or association certified by the department of commerce division of economic development and finance.

“New wealth” means revenues generated by a business in this state through the sale of products or services to:

1. Customers outside of this state; or

2. Customers in this state if the products or services were previously unavailable or difficult to obtain from a business in this state.

Previously suggested guidelines have suggested that companies have 75% of their sales be from outside of the state, or $500,000 in out-of-state sales.

You Just Have to Look

Check out our brand identity video created to support talent attraction campaign sells the region's quality of life.

Download and share it!