The 2015 Fargo Moorhead magazine is available!

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GFMEDC Smart Brief

Fargo Moorhead MSA has an unemployment rate of 2.1% (not seasonally adjusted) compared to the U.S. unemployment rate of 4.9%. To see the GFMEDC's latest economic indicators, please check out the following link.

October Economic Indicators

President's Report - A response to a hot topic - refugee resettlement

There is a hot topic in our region. The EDC's support of refugee resettlement was recently highlighted in an editorial cartoon and a letter to the editor. The Greater Fargo Moorhead EDC supports refugee resettlement efforts that adequately support and integrate refugees during the resettlement process.

I enjoyed the recent presentation by Jessica Thomasson of Lutheran Social Services at the Chamber's Eggs & Issues regarding LSS's refugee resettlement program.

Thomasson talked about the difference between a refugee and immigrant. Someone who immigrates into the United States does so by their choice, to better their life or to be with family. A refugee is someone who has left their country due to conflict, threat of life or religious persecution.

Refugees may spend years in a refugee resettlement camp. Once they are selected for relocation to the United States, the process takes another 18-24 months. They are vetted so many ways and background checks are done twice by the State Department and the Bureau of Immigration.

Once a location is chosen by national refugee resettlement organizations, LSS receives a 3-14 day notice that a new family will be heading toward Fargo.

Last year, about 540 people were relocated to Fargo, about 40% children. Our school systems have a mandate to educate every student in their districts so how can we as a community support their efforts to educate every student.

The bottom line is whether it's immigration or refugee relocation, they are new people looking for opportunity here in the United States! They are no different from any other refugees or immigrants who have come to the US for the last 200 plus years.

With that said, there have to be proper processes and procedures to make sure the numbers are correct and that school systems, other social and municipal services are financially supported at correct levels.

With collaboration and open sourced sharing and communication these issues can be resolved, and we can make the refugee relocation a success.

Smart Connections FM Welcome Party celebrates newcomers, connects them to resources

Roughly 200 people pinned where they're from on a map, put on Fargo tattoos, listened to music, chatted and learned more about the FM Community.

The Smart Connections FM Welcome Party focused on people new or relatively new to the community. The event was designed to create an avenue for people to connect with information and resources in the region.

The EDC made it a party with a band, food and Gigi's Ice Lollies (gourmet popsicles).

Local volunteer hosts greeted attendees. All the hosts moved here themselves and could help attendees make connections. Information tables were available with resources on volunteering, continuing education, housing as well as things to do around town.

The kid-friendly event allowed people to meet each other, learn about FM resources and feel a bit more connected.

One survey respondent said "This event was well organized, I cannot think of another city that would offer something like this to new residents. Thank you!"

And the number one question we were asked?

"When's the next one?"

We'll take that as an endorsement!

Move video released

You can find a lot of action in Fargo Moorhead. Check out our latest video that highlights a few of the unique ways we "move" in our community.

SmartMove Summit on Healthcare

Breaking down silos and moving ideas to action. That was the goal of a four-hour long summit on healthcare. The Summit focused largely on the nursing shortage and included 47 leaders in education (both K-12 and higher education) and industry.

The group talked about the need for customer service in

healthcare. One participant emphasized the importance of conversations to uncover correct symptoms "customer service becomes a safety factor with patients".

The main takeaways and action items from the meeting were an increased focus on marketing the region for nursing and health professions as well as an increased focus on retention and talent development within the healthcare field.

If you are interested and have not signed up for a committee to address healthcare and education needs, please contact the GFMEDC at 364-1900.

SmartMove Summit on Technology

The GFMEDC recently held its second annual SmartMove Summit on Technology formerly the IT Summit.

A few groups reported results including FM Tech Connect, Partners in the Classroom, ProFusion and NDSU regarding Intellectual Property changes.

Meeting once per month, FM Tech Connect is primarily made up of recruiters and marketing professionals in IT as well as education and the EDC. The group has accomplished several initiatives including creating tactics to recruit technology professionals to the market. The group is also working on initiatives to grow interest in the technology professions.

NDSU reported several changes to the structure of their intellectual property most notably for their senior design projects. Previously NDSU owned the IP but the university has since given the rights of the IP to the student. The student can then keep the IP and try to patent it, turn the IP over to the partnering company or turn the IP over to NDSU. NDSU also noted changes in contracts for work with industry.

The summit finished with new objectives. FM Tech Connect will continue to build on recruiting ideas developed this past year. University reps will look into their messaging to recruit new students to the area. Finally, a third group will look at creating marketing support materials to educate students on the opportunities in the technology field.

EDC creates "Why Fargo Moorhead" toolkit

The EDC is happy to present our newest resource: a Why Fargo Moorhead page on our website with resources to help you market the Fargo Moorhead metro to a prospective employee.

Requested by the FM Tech Connect group*, the toolkit is a webpage linking to other pages within our EDC site that contain all the collateral materials and information you'd need to sell FM or to make an informed decision about living and working in the region.

We added some pictures to help give folks an idea what it's like here, and we'll keep adding information and links to provide a rich resource for those looking for information.

Feel free to check out our Why Fargo Moorhead page and let us know what you think and what else we should add to the page.

*The FM Tech Connect group was formed from the IT Summit (now called Smart Move Summits) that the Greater Fargo Moorhead EDC held in November 2014.

Workforce study committees kick into action

From affordable housing to attracting talent, four Workforce Study committees have begun tackling a broad range of topics related to solving our regional workforce challenges. The groups formed based on the results of the Fargo Moorhead Workforce Study released in June 2015.

The four committees, Attract, Cultivate, Build and Innovate, each have more than 40 volunteer members and will focus on specific challenges.

Cultivate

Strengthen the pipeline of local talent to support employers in the region.

Attract

Enhance and coordinate efforts to bring new talent to the region.

Build

Develop a framework for financial self-sufficiency and upward mobility for workers in basic-skill job.

Innovate

Encourage the development of innovative solutions to address the region's workforce-related challenges.

Initial meetings focused on the study's strategic framework and priority projects outlined by TIP Strategies Group, the consultant group hired to do the study.

The committees are being facilitated by Praxis Strategy Group. According to Delore Zimmerman, President & CEO of Praxis Strategy Group, the first round of committee meetings have demonstrated that there is widespread interest in providing meaningful solutions to the workforce challenges in the FM region.

"There is universal agreement among the participants that there is no single "silver bullet" solution. Instead, a multi-faceted approach involving multiple stakeholders working together is going to be essential in the short and long-term horizon," said Zimmerman.

*Steering committee member organizations: FM Area Foundation, Fargo Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber, Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corp. and United Way of Cass Clay.

Hour of Code - We need your help!

Calling all volunteers! We need your help. In partnership with NDSU and John Deere Electronic Solutions, the GFMEDC is recruiting volunteers to assist with Hour of Code. The local effort is part of a national event tha

t is designed to expose students to coding. For one hour the week of December 7th - 13th, students can participate in a fun, easy coding activity. Hour of Code is part of Computer Science Education Week.

For your part, you can volunteer with the activity, speak in a classroom or give a company tour.

Please forward this information on to employees and coworkers so we can get an hour of code into every classroom in the metro area.

For more information or to sign up, go to NDSU's College of Engineering page and look for computer science week or follow this link.

According to Code.org, there are currently about 592,000 open computing jobs nationwide and last year only 38,175 computer science students graduated into the workforce.

For more interesting stats and information on the national movement, go to www.code.org.

The EDC is looking for a few good "Partners in the Classroom" (formerly Speakers Bureau)

In case you missed it, check out our GFMEDC Annual Meeting Video on YouTube

GFMEDC Annual Report

Our annual report is available. Please request hard copies or check it out online.

If you would like to glance at our Annual Meeting Slides, click here.

A spotlight on our strategic plan...

Here at the GFMEDC, we recently took a little time to review challenges and opportunities within the regional economic landscape. We developed a five-year strategic plan that provides a framework for five new priorities. You can see the complete plan on our website under What We Do.

GFMEDC Strategic Plan

Priority 1: Facilitate the Attraction of Talent to the Region

Priority 2: Encourage the Expansion and Increase the Awareness of Technical Training, Higher Education, STEM Education and Associated Career Opportunities

Priority 3: Advance an Advocacy Agenda and Communicate Economic Impact

Priority 4: Leverage Existing and Emerging Regional Industry Base and NDSU Research and

Technology Park resources for Business Retention, Expansion and Start-up

Priority 5:

Continue the Development of the Region's Entrepreneurial Eco-System

Do you have news to share?

If you have news items you would like included in an upcoming newsletter, please send the ideas or articles to Lisa Gulland-Nelson at lgnelson@gfmedc.com. Thank you!

The mission of the GFMEDC is to grow and diversify the economy in Cass County, ND and Clay County, Minn. through the attraction, retention and expansion of primary-sector employers.

A primary-sector company is one that brings new wealth into the community through the sale of its goods and services outside the trade area. This new wealth circulates and supports all other sectors of the local economy, thus making the primary sector the principle driver of economic growth.

Thank you for your continued support of the Greater Fargo Moorhead EDC and economic development. We look forward to your feedback.