Clay County Commission
Dan Haglund
A couple of movers and shakers laid out the workforce and recruitment progress as well as the four-year game plan for the Clay County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday in Moorhead.
Shannon Full, president and CEO of the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber of Commerce, and Joe Raso, president and CEO of the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corp., presented in tandem for the board, and as representatives of a combined venture called Innovate28.
Innovate28 is a joint partnership between the Chamber and the Economic Development Corporation.
It’s a four-year initiative focusing on three major areas: public policy, workforce and business development.
“As we all know, we are a growing community,” Miller said. “But we need to have intentionality behind that growth as well and this plan dives into that.”
Starting with public policy, Miller listed the goals of the organization’s advocacy leadership, including: $9 million statewide flood hazard mitigation projects, $1.2 million Clay County psychiatric residential treatment facility, and an expansion of the research and development tax credit.
Additional goals include reforms to state environmental permitting processes, reforms to Earned Sick and Safe Time laws, reductions in Paid Family Leave premium and Medical Leave premium from 1.2 percent to 1.1 percent, and the extension of the City of Moorhead’s Tax Increment Financing District.
Miller also touted community convener events this year, including a Tariff Event on April 11 with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar at Moorhead’s Swing Barrel Brewing, and a flood mitigation roundtable with Gov. Tim Walz on April 16.
In the way of policy convenings, 41 business and community leaders traveled in May to Washington D..C. to discuss our regional priorities, meeting with all six regional congressional delegations and administration officials. In March, 34 business and community leaders traveled to St. Paul for “Moorhead Area Day at the Capitol” to discuss Paid Family Medical Leave, flood protection funding, workforce and infrastructure.
In concert with public policy, there is a push with the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) to get all demographics within the community to get more involved.
“Workforce development is really the area focus that we know that if we can do well, our region is going to win,” Raso said. “Right now, we still have over 8,600 jobs being posted by companies across the region.”
Raso outlined the local talent attraction campaign, which includes more than 71,000 users on the LiveInFMArea.com website, 7.7 million marketing “impressions,” more than 20,000 interest forms submitted and at least 8,165 open job positions.
“I’m happy to say that right now we have over 20,000 individuals from around the country who we are keeping track of, and are keeping track of us, learning about what it’s like to live, work and play here,” Raso said.
Raso said his pool of advocates include alumni from local institutions.
He said his group is also helping local companies like Aldevron, American Crystal Sugar, RDO, Cass County Electric and Red River Commodities with direct recruitment assistance. Aside from these specific companies, Raso said the health care industry is in the greatest need of qualified workers.
“Clearly it’s a numbers game,” Miller said. “We don’t have enough people, enough bodies, to fill the positions. So we have to look at both bringing people into the region but also making sure that we are retaining as many students as we possibly can.”
The 2025 year-to-date Career and Awareness and Exploration numbers have included: 36 educators, 27 businesses and more than 3,000 students. The focus of this area is to find the right employment fit for each individual, and to see if “upskilling” might help to fill open positions – both for individuals and companies trying to fill spots.
From its website, Innovate28 is “a transformative initiative that enhances our regional workforce, boosts economic growth, and positions the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo area as a premier destination for business expansion.”
Its objectives are to enhance workforce and economic vitality; position the region for economic growth; amplify advocacy for economic development; and present a unified, collaborative initiative.
