Red River Regional Council News and Events
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.
[read more]
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."
[read more]
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.
[read more]
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.
[read more]
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.
[read more]
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.
[read more]
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.
[read more]