The Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation (GFMEDC) has hired Joey Ness as Vice President of Business Development. Ness will support business development efforts alongside Ryan Aasheim, Chief Business Development Officer.

Ness will oversee the core Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) activities of the GFMEDC. This work is critical to understanding the changing dynamics of the regional economy and allows the EDC to strengthen relationships and better serve the growth and expansion of more than 400 primary-sector companies that drive the regional economy in Cass and Clay Counties.

The Greater Fargo Moorhead economy has grown by more than 180% since 2001, and the labor force has grown by 39%, three times the national average. From 2019 to 2022, the GFMEDC successfully supported 99 projects, creating 2,142 jobs, utilized 3.5 million square feet of space and injected $901.6 million in capital investment into the region. In that time, the GFMEDC staff has not added a single new employee to its team.

“As we pursue targeted sector strategies around AgTech, Bioscience and Autonomous Systems, we continue to work to deliver responsive, data-driven service to the growing list of primary-sector companies driving our regional economy. Adding Ness to our team will support our proactive approach as we work to capitalize on new opportunities and support continued economic growth and diversification. Ness is a great fit for the team, and we are extremely excited to have him on board,” said Joe Raso, President & CEO, GFMEDC.

Prior to joining the GFMEDC, Ness served as the policy and communications manager to the First Lady of North Dakota, Kathryn Burgum, supporting the Recovery Reinvented initiative aimed at ending the stigma surrounding addiction throughout North Dakota. He is an alumnus of Concordia College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies and Political Science. Joey is also an alumnus of the FMWF Chamber Leadership program and spends his free time coaching the Fargo North High School and Concordia College speech teams.

The GFMEDC worked with Sagency, a Fargo-based executive search, strategy and coaching firm, to lead the recruitment effort.

The GFMEDC is a non-profit, investor driven public-private partnership working to support economic growth through programs that support primary-sector business attraction, retention and growth along with workforce development and attraction within Cass County, ND and Clay County, Minn.