Moorhead Clay County Commission
Dan Haglund
One wonders if Derrick LaPoint had imagined seven years ago when he took the job that Moorhead would undertake so many gargantuan economic projects as we’re seeing.
The Downtown Moorhead Inc. president and CEO has been integral in a complete redevelopment of 16 acres downtown into a half-billion-dollar hub with retail, housing for 1,000 residents, a new library and community center, and parking structures come to mind first.
The $120+ million underpass at 11th Street is nothing to scoff at either. Nor is the new $142 million Moorhead High School. And did we mention the White Earth Nation casino planned for east of town in a few years? Hundreds of jobs coming from there as well.
But the real big fish, which seemingly keeps getting bigger, continues its slow but measured plan to fruition.
The future DG Fuels plant south of the interstate now comes with a price tag of $7 billion, $2 billion more than initially planned last year.
LaPoint revealed the jaw-dropping number before the Clay County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday morning at their regular meeting in Moorhead.
The DG Fuels plant plan in the works for that same area of Moorhead came last October with the announcement of a $5 billion manufacturing facility which will produce roughly 193 million gallons of low-carbon aviation fuel (SAF) using agricultural and wood waste per year as feedstock, according to the DG Fuels website.
And with a gigantic production plant will come hundreds of good jobs, the company touts.
The project, according to LaPoint, has been upgraded to a $7 billion project by the fuel company CEO.
LaPoint said this project is still in progression. He recently attended a statewide meeting with the SAF industry as a focus, with Gov. Tim Walz and DG Fuels CEO Michael Darcy in attendance.
“There’s large infrastructure involved with this project,” LaPoint said. “There’s a lot hanging on the federal credits that this group would receive. I’m happy to report when we went out to (Washington) DC, the (U.S.) House had omitted some of those things, but the (U.S.) Senate put that back in, so we have a path to see some forward progress.”
LaPoint said the next step is through a Department of Energy application in securing the land for the plant, which is a 550-acre plot adjacent to the Moorhead Airport.
“We’ll be looking at this with some due diligence in the next six to 12 months,” LaPoint said.
He said partnering with the state of Minnesota, Clay County and many other entities will be of utmost importance in the coming years.
“Now the chairman (Darcy) mentioned a $7 billion project,” LaPoint said. “So it’s increased by $2 billion in just the last year.”
“Twenty twenty-four was a really, really strong year for Clay County and specifically Moorhead,” LaPoint said. “We saw record (building) permit years. The value for our commercial industrial was the highest it’s ever been in Moorhead.”
LaPoint said this year has been a little slower, yet still a very good year for economic and population growth.
He cites economic uncertainty from developers that the “investor confidence to do new projects has been a little tight.”
LaPoint said the development side for investors has just taken a bit more of a pause than last year.
“We are working continually with folks on what we can do from an incentive standpoint,” LaPoint said. “We do feel very confident that 2026 will be a very strong year again, I think it’s just that this year that we’re seeing that little bit of a step back. It’s just that newer projects are taking a little bit more time to put together.”
LaPoint went on a highlight a few key areas of growth, including the MCCARA Industrial Park and the ongoing and massive infrastructure plan with the multibillion-dollar D.G Fuels plant.
The MCCARA Industrial Park is located just off Interstate-94 at 34th Street South, with companies such as Pactiv (manufactures recycled molded paper products), Drywall Supply Inc., Sprenger Midwest, D. & M Industries, Rigels, Inc., and RDO Equipment, one of the region’s largest John Deere dealerships..
LaPoint said there have been a good amount of land sales in the MCCARA Industrial Park.
He also explained that there has been a change from Property Resource Group representing City of Moorhead land sales for the past five years, to now Goldmark Commercial, (as of July 1) which was chosen out of five companies vying for the position through a “Request for Proposal” (RFP.).
“What I appreciate about Goldmark and the way they presented is that they do a great job at marketing,” LaPoint said. “They’re going to be putting together some branding videos” that focus on Clay County and Moorhead. He said the marketing videos can bolster the city’s marketability and attractiveness for future economic ventures.
Commissioner Jenny Mongeau, Dist. 3, expressed her gratitude to LaPoint after his report.
“Derrick is a phenomenal champion for not only downtown Moorhead but all of Clay County,” Mongeau said. “He elevated a lot of our concerns also in his time at the (state) Capitol.”