We are more than seven months into a four-year journey and partnership with the FMWF Chamber that we call Innovate28, and if your organization hasn’t joined in on this impactful work, we’d love for you to consider doing so.
As the two leading business development organization in our region, we are working to better align the core work we do to support the priority needs of our companies - Workforce Development, Public Policy, and Business Development.
Significant progress is already being made on all fronts, and if you want to keep tabs of this work, simply save www.Innovate28FM.com in your web browser to follow our progress. Of course, we’d love for you to be a part of this important work, joining more than 140 private and public organizations in this exciting work. We hold two Investor Briefings annually and provide numerous communications throughout the year on our progress.
And, if you want to meet face-to-face to learn more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at jraso@fmedc.com or 701.306.7121 anytime.
In the meantime, if you want to listen to a podcast on the initiative, just click on the link below.
Insights from the Regional Data & Analytics Workforce Summit 2025
In an era where the demand for skilled labor is reaching unprecedented heights, the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation (GFMEDC) is taking proactive steps to address the looming workforce challenges. The Regional Data & Analytics Summit 2025, hosted by GFMEDC and powered by industry insights from Lightcast (a leading labor market data firm), provided a platform for leaders across government, education, and the private sector to converge and strategize on the future of talent development. The summit underscored the urgency of addressing workforce shortages and aligning education with industry needs to ensure sustainable economic growth.
The Workforce Challenge: A National and Regional Perspective
The summit highlighted critical findings from Lightcast, projecting a national shortfall of 6 million workers by 2032. This daunting figure is compounded by the fact that while the Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates 6.4 million new workers by 2033, only 2.6 million are expected to be of prime working age. The Fargo region is no exception, facing significant shortages in key sectors such as healthcare, bioscience, and manufacturing.
One of the stark revelations from the summit was the misalignment between educational outcomes and job market needs. Despite a 69% growth in college graduates since 2019, 68% of job openings require non-degreed skills, creating a mismatch that must be addressed to bridge the talent gap.
On Thursday, August 28th, join us while we chat with leaders at Lightcast, a leading data and analytics firm, about our efforts to support talent attraction.
The webinar is an extension of our work on the June 5th Workforce Data & Analytics Summit which focused on the increasing challenge of workforce.
The podcast will cover:
How our region is framing regional workforce challenges with regional labor market insights and Lightcast’s “The Rising Storm” research to highlight national demographic and societal challenges.
An inside look at our recent regional data and analytics summit and how we teamed up with Lightcast to build industry profiles for the event in order to drive workforce results.
What Regional leaders are doing to capitalize on their competitive advantages over other markets.
Growth Initiative Fund Approves Six Loans as Part of $8.3M in Primary-Sector Expansions
The Growth Initiative Fund approved six loans over the first two quarters of 2025. The total capital investments made by these projects equal approximately $8.33 million, with an estimated creation of 23 new jobs and utilization of 25,000 square feet of space.
All of the loans were in conjunction with Bank of North Dakota’s PACE/Flex PACE program, which provides lowered interest rates to assist expanding companies.
The GIF loan approvals totaled $372,000 and provide the opportunity for these primary-sector companies to access approximately $900,000 in additional state interest-buydown grant funds.
Bridging the State: GFMEDC visits western North Dakota communities and leaders
In a state as vast and diverse as North Dakota, economic development doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It requires collaboration, shared vision, and—most importantly—strong relationships. During the last week of July, the GFMEDC’s President & CEO, Joe Raso and Chief Business Development Officer, Ryan Aasheim, took to the highways, traveling to Bismarck/Mandan, Medora, Williston, and Dickinson to meet with area economic development, higher education, and community leaders.
The trip’s purpose was twofold: to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing western communities and to understand how we can better strategically align around key priorities and efforts to continue moving North Dakota forward.
The visit began with participation in the Second Annual North Dakota Governor’s Cup in Bismarck where participants from across the state and beyond celebrate North Dakota’s strong business climate, community spirit, and its wonderful quality of life. This event provided an opportunity for the GFMEDC to connect with statewide partners, elected leaders, and other economic developers and community leaders to share insights on efforts, priorities, opportunities and challenges impacting the FM area. The Governors’ Cup raises funds for the ND Career Builders Scholarship & Loan Repayment Program — helping qualified workers build their futures right here in North Dakota. Proceeds from the Governors’ Cup go directly toward this mission, supporting the state’s efforts to grow, attract, and retain talent.
The Autonomous Nation 2025 conference will bring together global leaders in ag autonomy to explore the latest advances in automated systems, with a special focus on the applicability in agriculture.
Happening on September 11 at the Grand Farm Innovation Campus, the event serves as a platform to showcase new technologies, foster collaboration, and support the transition from research to real-world use. The conference focuses on some of the most pressing challenges in agriculture, including workforce shortages and technology gaps.
Through live tech demos, keynote sessions, and focused networking, attendees will have the chance to connect with peers and experts who are actively working to advance autonomous solutions across the ag industry.
Forbes: Fargo, North Dakota, Is A New AI Hub In The Midwest Tech Boom
We tend to think of American tech as being isolated in places out in sunny California, like Irvine, Palo Alto and around the San Fernando Valley, but there’s a lot happening further east, on the prairie.
Take Fargo, North Dakota, where entrepreneurs are building some of the most interesting new AI use cases and applications, with less fanfare than, say, what Apple and Microsoft did in the oughts.
Actually, it seems that Microsoft is involved in the tech ecosystem of the Midwestern region, but there’s also a groundswell of local businesses innovating, nonprofits and trade groups participating, and local government chipping in.
Chipp regarded as the “Canva for AI,” has raised a $2M seed at an $11M valuation led by Homegrown Capital, with participation from Founderville VC, gener8tor 1889, M25, Rex Salisbury of Cambrian Ventures and Jutta Steiner, co-founder of Parity Technologies and former Chief Security at Ethereum Foundation.
Chipp enables any employee to build and deploy a branded, company-trained AI agent in under a minute—making AI accessible and actionable across entire organizations. Since launching in August 2023, the company has grown rapidly, with over 13,000 users creating more than 100,000 AI agents. Annual recurring revenue has surpassed $400,000, with customers across healthcare, finance, education, consulting and marketing.
Forbes: Solar-Powered Rovers Begin Their Earth Mission With Weeds
Local AgTech company, Aigen, was recently recently highlighted in Forbes. The article focuses on the company's innovative approach to farming.
"In North Dakota, Lee and Aigen have partnered with Grand Farm, a collaborative network working together to solve problems in agriculture using applied technology. Aigen has participated in Grand Farm’s field plot program on their 590 acre Innovation Campus just west of Fargo. The relationship also goes beyond the field – Grand Farm has helped Aigen build relationships with North Dakota State University researchers and access funding through state-supported initiatives. The partnership has helped Aigen go from idea to impact."
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