Red River Regional Council News and Events
Josh Klug Named North Dakota Small Business Development Center State Star
Published on March 24, 2010
The North Dakota Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has announced that Josh Klug has been selected as the 2009 State Star of the North Dakota SBDC. Klug was one of 63 recipients across the nation to be honored by the National Association of Small business Development Centers because of his exemplary performance.
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Standard of Living: North Dakotans the Most Satisfied
Published on February 12, 2010 by Gallup.com
On a state-by-state basis, U.S. adults' average satisfaction in 2009 with their own standard of living -- that is, "all the things you can buy and do" -- fell in a fairly narrow range, from 82.3% in North Dakota at the high end to 69% in Nevada at the low end.
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ND Economy Booms as Nation's Plods Along
Published on January 12, 2010 by Associated Press
North Dakota is beginning the decade boasting a sturdy economy, a state government budget surplus, more jobs than takers and its highest population in a decade. ''That's a good thing,'' said Gov. John Hoeven. ''But the biggest concern for our economy moving forward -- and our biggest challenge -- is the drag of the national economy on our economy.''
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ND Aces Economic Stress Test
Published January 11, 2010 by Grand Forks Herald
North Dakota is the least economically stressed state in the country, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of economic conditions in more than 3,100 U.S. counties. The AP's Economic Stress Index calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on a county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. A higher score indicates more economic stress. Under a rough rule of thumb, a county is considered stressed when its score exceeds 11.
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North Dakota: More Than a Fly Over State
Published on December 3, 2009 by Timothy Hay, WSJ Blogs
When one thinks of states with entrepreneurial hotbeds, North Dakota probably doesn’t come to mind. After all, the Peace Garden State is the third least populous state in the U.S. and located in what’s often called “flyover country.”
But the government there is hoping to stir up entrepreneurial activity, recently passing a law that extends a sizable 45% tax credit to angel investors who back homegrown businesses.
Fargo-based law firm Montgomery Goff & Bullis has been tapped to shepherd the project, and is setting up two new angel funds – the Grow Dakota fund, which the state hopes will reach $2 million, and Aurora Angel Fund, which the state aims to cap at $5 million.
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What's North Dakota Doing Right?
Published on August 30, 2009 by Rebecca Reisner, BusinessWeek
North Dakota has been spared the financial indignities that have plagued much of the country. The state finished its
fiscal two-year cycle on June 30, 2009, with a $1 billion budget surplus; at least some of that windfall is likely to go
toward creating more state-government jobs. And homeowners are enjoying lowered property taxes rather than foreclosures.
" No low-documentation loans, or'liar loans', were given out in North Dakota," says Flynn at the University of North Dakota. " No
metro community in North Dakota ever saw any more than 3% to 4% subprime loans."
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Pembina County Job Development Authority to Sponsor Innovate ND Teams in Pembina County
Published on October 14, 2009
The Pembina County Job Development Authority announced that it will be sponsoring Innovate ND teams from Pembina County to encourage entrepreneurship and new business development.
Innovate ND is an annual state-wide initiative designed to help entrepreneurs turn business ideas into viable new North Dakota business ventures. The cost to enroll is $100 per team. For the first 10 entrepreneur teams to enroll from Pembina County, the Pembina County Job Development Authority will sponsor $50 of that enrollment cost.
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Kringtad Ironworks Project
Bernie Kringstad started out 10 years ago as a welding shop south of Hoople doing farm repairs.
The first manufacturing job they tackled was building safety hitches used to pull beet trucks
through muddy fields. Then came a partnership with the University of North Dakota engineering department
to build a prototype for a drone launcher. " That opened doors for bigger projects, " said Kringstad.
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D&K Grocery Store
Small towns often loose their grocery stores when the older generation retires, but not Pembina,
population 650. Kevin and Deanna Hager became business owners at the end of 2005 when they purchased
the store, renaming it D&K Grocery.
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Tarnel
Five years ago Kevin Peters sold utility trailers and his brother, Michael worked with warranties.
They still do today, but in their own company. Their brother Robert brought his manufacturing experience
to the company and each of the brothers contributed two
letters from their names to fabricate the company name: Tarnel.
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Quanbeck using eBay
Can you imagine having access to 125 MILLION customers a day? Several businesses in North Dakota have been taking
advantage of using eBay as an additional marketing tool for their merchandise.
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Harriston-Mayo
Back in the mid-90s, Minto's Harriston Industries and East Grand Forks' Mayo Manufacturing
were part of a major buyout. The two companies, plus three other equipment manufacturers, were
merged into TerraMarc Industries. The advantages of being part of a larger firm were offset by
frustrations with working through layers of management.
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