In 2015, Elon Musk predicted that the streets would be filled with autonomous vehicles by 2018. In 2018 it was predicted that AI would take over the careers of radiologists. And yet, yesterday, I saw my radiologist neighbor driving his car to work ā¦go figure.
The saying, āThe future is already here, it just isnāt evenly distributedā has a lot of truth to it, even though it may not be happening in your backyard (and depending on the situation, that could be good or bad). For example, I would love to have Waymo cars in the Fargo region as a way for individuals without vehicles to get to jobs in the north Fargo industrial park (location of Amazon, Digi-Key, Marvin, etc.). Public transportation is getting harder for communities to address, both in terms of equipment and the drivers needed to support the system. The future of autonomous cars is being lived out on the West Coast right now, and perhaps one day it will be here to help address our workforce needs.
Speaking of workforce and the future, the GFMEDC recently hosted a very successful summit on workforce-related data and our key industry sectors. If you attended or were invited, youāve received post-summit information on the themes and actionable programming the GFMEDC is doing related to our workforce needs, as well as links to the keynote address by Josh Wright from Lightcast, the world's leading firm in labor market analytics. If you did not receive our post-summit information, please let me know, and we can get it to you.
On the downside, Wright shared future workforce stats that indicate it will become increasingly challenging for our country and companies to get the skilled talent they need to be competitive. And when I say āfutureā, I mean starting as soon as the next 12-18 months for many markets around the country. Lightcast reports that these demographic and societal challenges are likely to last into the mid-2030s. The positive news for our region is that a good number of the variables (younger population, attraction of people, birth rates, increasing high school graduation numbers, etc.) are bucking national trendsā¦but only for a period of time.
The seminal message from the summit was that we do have a competitive advantage at this time, but if we donāt use it to align and act over the next five years, we will likely be living the challenging workforce future others are starting to experience. In some markets around the country, leaders are already seeing the āsky fallingā because they are behind the eight-ball with their workforce situation. For those who attended the Workforce Summit on June 5th, it was clear no one came away thinking it was a Chicken Little story. The time to act is now, and we at the GFMEDC are excited to be part of the team acting.
Joe
Manufacturing Roundtable Connects Companies to the Region's Resources
From new legislation affecting local business to organizations helping manufacturers with supply chain challenges, more than 20 regional manufacturers joined us in early May to learn more about connections and support for a range of challenges and opportunities.
This roundtable exemplified the everyday impact of our Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) Program, which is dedicated to empowering primary-sector companies. By facilitating strategic connections and providing tailored resources, our BRE Program enables businesses to accelerate growth, overcome obstacles, and maximize new opportunities throughout the region.
Through this event, we highlighted some of the organizations we connect companies with on a regular basis ā including the Minn-Dak Manufacturers Association, FMWF Chamber, ND Job Service, Impact Dakota, the Bank of North Dakota, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
GFMEDC Workforce Breakfast Brings Together the Area's Partners to Share Information on Regional Tools
In early May, GFMEDC convened its second workforce-focused breakfast, bringing together employers to explore practical solutions for attracting talent to our region.
Recognizing the unique challenges in promoting Fargo Moorhead as a relocation destination (yes, we acknowledge winter!), our intent was to equip HR professionals with actionable insights and comprehensive support. Through collaboration with valued partnersāJob Service North Dakota, Rural MN CEP, Golden Path Solutions, the FMWF Chamber, and the North Dakota Department of Commerceāwe highlighted the array of resources available through GFMEDC and its network to empower recruitment conversations and expand our talent pipeline.
Beyond outlining accessible workforce solutions, we also introduced state-level programs designed to amplify recruitment efforts, highlighted our active talent attraction initiatives and shared the most recent enhancements to our signature Company Culture Program.
If you would like to know more about these workforce tools, please plan to join us at our next event on August 5, 2025. Contact Tifanie Gelinske, tgelinske@gfmedc.com for more information.
New Innovate28 Website Launched
Representing Innovate28, GFMEDC is proud to unveil our newly launched website. Discover a comprehensive overview of the initiative and explore our regularly refreshed progress dashboard, offering transparent insights into how our organizations are advancing key objectives.
Innovate28 is a collaborative economic development initiative led by the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation. Innovate28 drives workforce, business and regional growth across the greater Fargo-Moorhead area.
As part of their second annual Chipp Con, local tech startup Chipp is partnering to host Fargo AI Fest in downtown Fargo on July 21st from 4-8 p.m. to celebrate innovators, builders, and entrepreneurs. Enjoy some Blackbird pizza while you meet investors and builders working in AI and beyond, learn from their AI panel on what is next in tech or jam to tunes from their AI DJ competition.
Day two (July 22) of Chipp Con is the āAI In Businessā portion where they welcome everyone to come learn how to use AI and to build your first agents and connect with other AI enthusiasts! This event will be held at Grand Farm Innovation Campus. āEvery business is sitting on a gold-mine of knowledge. When businesses train AI on their insights, they can do better work faster. We are excited to be building a solution to do just that at Chipp.ai and will help people learn to get started at Chipp Con July 21-22 in Fargo.ā said Scott Meyer, Co-Founder, Chipp.
Also at Grand Farm Innovation Campus on July 22, Grand Farm is hosting āElevate: An AI In Agriculture Summitā, which explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping agricultureāfrom predictive analytics and automation to building more accessible, secure, and interoperable data systems.
In partnership with Neurogether Ventures, The Hive and the Grand Forks Regional EDC, GFMEDC is cosponsoring the HEALING 2025 Pitch Competition.
The event is open to ideation phase, early-stage, and growth-stage companies, research teams, and healthcare entrepreneurs focusing on innovations within North Dakota and Minnesota.
Finalists pitch on Sat August 30th in Grand Forks.
GFMEDC Hosted "Collaborate to Innovate" Event as part of AgTech Week
Along with ND Department of Commerce, NDSU and UND, our organization hosted and was the main sponsor for the university/industry and ecosystem information event as part of AgTech Week called āCollaborate to Innovate.ā
The event provided information on tools, programs, resources, and partnership opportunities that companies and entrepreneurs should know about and how to work with and leverage higher education institutions to solve problems and achieve goals.
BioScience Summit 2025 - Grab your early bird tickets!
Secure your spot at the 3rd Annual BioScience Summit, taking place October 15ā16 at the Avalon Events Center in Fargo, ND.
Highlights of this year summit include:
Trends in Biotech
Workforce Solutions
Access to Capital ā Funding the Biotech innovations
BioScience ā Career Exploration Event
Stay tuned for speaker announcements and full agenda.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Please reach out to Ryan Aasheim, raasheim@fmedc.com.
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