A Targeted Strategy for Business Attraction

A Targeted Strategy for Business Attraction

In 2022, GFMEDC completed a strategic planning process that reaffirmed a proactive approach to business attraction—focusing resources on three targeted industries with strong alignment to the region’s strengths: AgTech, Bioscience and Medical Devices, and Autonomous Systems and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS). 

These sectors reflect the Fargo Moorhead region’s competitive advantages, workforce capabilities, and long-term economic goals. By concentrating efforts in industries where the region is positioned to lead, this strategy supports economic diversification, resilience, and the creation of high-quality jobs. As highlighted in the Results section of this report, targeted sector attraction is delivering a measurable impact. 

Across each focus area, GFMEDC works in close partnership with regional and statewide stakeholders to build visibility, strengthen ecosystems, and convert relationships into real investment.

In Bioscience, GFMEDC convenes an annual Bioscience Summit that brings national industry leaders to the region—creating connections that can translate into future business expansion and location decisions. 

In AgTech, GFMEDC represents the region at national forums such as the World AgriTech Innovation Summit while supporting locally led events like the Cultivate Conference, organized by our partners at Grand Farm. These efforts have helped attract and retain innovative companies, including MyAgData and aerialPLOT, which have chosen to grow in the Fargo Moorhead region. 

Within Autonomous Systems, GFMEDC collaborates closely with higher education partners, the North Dakota Department of Commerce, and the venture capital community to support emerging companies. This coordinated approach helps firms such as Aigen access the capital, partnerships, and resources needed to establish and scale operations in the region. 

 

Advancing Bioscience Through Collaboration

The Third Annual Bioscience Summit showcased Fargo Moorhead’s growing momentum as an emerging hub for bioscience innovation, talent development, and commercialization.

The Third Annual Bioscience Summit in October 2025 brought together industry leaders, academic innovators, students, and economic development partners to advance the Fargo Moorhead region’s growing bioscience ecosystem. 

Co-hosted by the GFMEDC, Aldevron, BioND, and the North Dakota Department of Commerce, the two-day event attracted 230 attendees from eleven states and internationally, underscoring the region’s increasing visibility in the bioscience and medical device sectors.

Despite its distance from traditional biotech hubs, the Fargo Moorhead region continues to gain momentum as a center for bioscience innovation. The Summit accelerated this growth by highlighting industry expansion opportunities, fostering collaboration between academia and business, and emphasizing workforce development and talent pipelines. A dedicated Career Exploration event engaged more than 90 high school students, connecting them directly with bioscience employers and regional postsecondary institutions. 

Sessions also focused on investment, facilities, and commercialization, helping advance ideas from research to market-ready products. Key themes included the importance of talent development, emerging work in advanced therapeutics and medical devices, cross-sector applications spanning healthcare and agriculture, and the strength of the region’s collaborative ecosystem. 

The 2025 Bioscience Summit reinforced the Fargo Moorhead area’s position as an emerging bioscience hub—demonstrating how a coordinated regional ecosystem can compete, innovate, and grow in highly technical industries.

 

 

Strengthening Fargo Moorhead’s AgTech Ecosystem 

Building relationships and visibility through strategic national engagement 

In October 2025, the GFMEDC participated in a partner-trip hosted by Grand Farm in St. Louis. For our organization, the trip was more than a networking excursion.   

The Grand Farm partner trip to St. Louis was a strategic investment in strengthening the Fargo Moorhead region’s AgTech ecosystem and advancing opportunities for innovation, partnership, and future investment. Hosted in one of the nation’s leading AgTech hubs, the trip connected growers, startups, researchers, corporates, and economic development leaders—providing valuable insight and visibility for the region. 

For GFMEDC, the visit reinforced Fargo Moorhead’s role as a nationally relevant AgTech leader. The trip created opportunities to showcase the region’s assets—including the Grand Farm Innovation Campus, a growing startup ecosystem, strong university partnerships, and a supportive business environment—while learning from established innovation models in St. Louis. Engagements with research institutions, global agribusinesses, and technology companies also generated tangible leads that GFMEDC is now pursuing for potential relocation, expansion, and partnership opportunities. Equally important, the relationship-driven nature of the trip strengthened credibility and trust, positioning Fargo-Moorhead as a compelling place to locate, scale, and collaborate. These connections support long-term goals related to capital attraction, workforce development, and ecosystem growth, while underscoring the importance of continued investment in Grand Farm and the broader AgTech infrastructure. 

Overall, the trip served as a catalyst—expanding networks, elevating the region’s profile, and reinforcing Fargo Moorhead’s place at the intersection of agriculture, technology, and economic growth. 

Diversifying the Economy Through Extreme-Weather Innovation 

GFMEDC continually engages our regional ecosystem—working closely with partners and applying a data-driven approach—to identify opportunities that strengthen and diversify the Fargo Moorhead economy. 

Over the past several years, our team has been in active conversation with local primary-sector leader Elinor Coatings about positioning the region as a destination for companies focused on building, testing, and validating materials and technologies designed for extreme weather environments. 

The Northern Plains is defined by its vast, wind-swept landscapes and some of the most dramatic climate conditions in North America. Winter temperatures routinely drop below –30°F, while summer heat can exceed 100°F. These extremes, paired with a highly skilled workforce, create a natural, real-world laboratory for durability testing and advanced materials development across multiple industries. Equally important, the region’s communities offer a culture of collaboration, innovation, and resilience. 

Through a recurring Extreme Weather Summit and the launch of the Aurora Center for Extreme Weather Materials, GFMEDC is partnering to cultivate a distinctive and emerging industry cluster—one that leverages our climate as a competitive advantage. 

The Fargo Moorhead region, anchored by the Aurora Center for Extreme Weather Materials, is uniquely positioned to lead advancements in extreme weather solutions. With its unparalleled climate extremes—from Arctic cold to intense summer heat—this region offers an ideal environment for developing and testing advanced materials and technologies. By focusing on performance, application, maintenance, and readiness, Aurora is ensuring that UAS, ground vehicles, vessels, military equipment, and other critical assets remain mission-ready in the harshest conditions.

—Holly Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO, Elinor Coatings & Aurora

Long-Term Collaboration that Drives Economic Growth

Strong economies are built over time through shared vision, sustained collaboration, and a willingness to invest early in people and ideas. The following editorial, written by Greg Tehven of Emerging Prairie, reflects on more than a decade of partnership and progress in building Fargo Moorhead’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. It highlights how alignment among founders, community leaders, and organizations like GFMEDC helped transform an idea into a nationally recognized model—demonstrating the long-term economic impact that comes from investing in innovation and collaboration.

Forum Editorial – Greg Tehven
September 2025 

This past week, Emerging Prairie welcomed Brad Feld to Fargo, one of the most influential voices in entrepreneurship today. Often called the GOAT of startup communities, Brad has shaped how ecosystems grow across the country. 

When his book “Startup Communities” was released in 2012, it sparked something here. Entrepreneurs, leaders of traditional organizations, and others in our community picked it up. A small group of us gathered that year, including Jim Gartin from the Greater Fargo Moorhead EDC, Dr. Sue Mathison from Catalyst Medical Center, Jake Joraanstad from Bushel, Miguel Danielson from Danielson Legal, and Andy Christensen from Arthur Ventures. 

At the time, few cities our size were even thinking about cultivating startup ecosystems. Yet we believed Fargo could be different. Inspired by Brad’s vision, we committed to creating a Fargo “thesis,” a 10-year effort to support, elevate, and champion founders and entrepreneurs. 

What started as a handful of people around a table has grown into what is now Emerging Prairie, with national recognition and a lasting impact on our region’s economy. The Greater Fargo Moorhead EDC stepped up with meaningful seed capital, allowing us to hire our first full-time staff. The Fargo Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau supported our events, encouraging more people to visit. The NDSU Research and Technology Park contributed time and talent, ensuring our rooms were full and the coffee was flowing. 

And as Brad advised, the entrepreneurs led. We started a blog to tell the stories of innovators. We launched events like Hackathons, Startup Weekend, 1 Million Cups, TEDxFargo, and more. 

Over the last 13 years, some things have worked and others haven’t. Through it all, we’ve built a strong sense of purpose, connection, and results. 

I am deeply grateful to the EDC for their partnership, which has created measurable returns with stronger companies, new businesses relocating here, and continued growth in our primary sectors. I am thankful for Charley Johnson and the CVB, whose efforts have attracted countless visitors, many of whom now proudly call Fargo and our region home. And I am inspired by the entrepreneurs who keep building, creating, and making an impact. 

As Brad spoke at StartupBREW, I committed to continuing this journey for another 10 years. Looking ahead, I am filled with optimism and hope. Together, we can keep supporting the people who make our region thrive. 

Greg Tehven is the cofounder and CEO of Emerging Prairie and curator of TEDxFargo.