Bridging the State: GFMEDC visits western North Dakota communities and leaders
By Ryan Aasheim, Chief Business Development Officer, GFMEDC
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.
Over the course of five days, Joe and Ryan visited Bismarck, Mandan, Dickinson, Williston, and Medora and met with key leaders from each of these communities and leaders from larger surrounding areas including Watford City, Bowman, McKenzie County, Stark County, Williams County, and more. In each stop, the message was clear—while eastern and western North Dakota may differ in population size, industry focus, and regional identity, they are united in the desire to create vibrant, resilient communities. It was abundantly clear that we have much more in common than that which would set us apart.
On the return trip home, Joe and Ryan had a chance to tour two key FM area based primary-sector companies. These two visits include a tour of West Fargo based Hebron Brick’s manufacturing facility in Hebron, ND and Signum, an embedded systems company with locations in Fargo and Richardton.
Following the trip, and in keeping with our partnership through Innovate28, Ryan and Joe met with Shannon Full and Cale Dunwoody of the FMWF Chamber to update them on our conversations, especially those with western ND legislators. The Chamber is taking another East Meets West trip later this month and sharing what we heard is certainly going to be helpful in their continued public policy programming and relationship building.
Economic development is, at its core, about people. It’s about creating opportunities, improving quality of life, and planning strategically for tomorrow. This trip reinforced the importance of face-to-face dialogue, of seeing firsthand the impact of local projects and the passion of those making them happen.
For the GFMEDC, the trip was a reminder that while regions may differ, the future of the state depends on unity, cooperation, and continued engagement between east and west. We can’t thank all of our friends and colleagues across western ND for their hospitality and friendliness in hosting us for an amazing week that we won’t soon forget and we are already looking forward to our next visit.
