Today is a great day to do business in Moorhead
As much as the cities value their unique identities, what’s good for Fargo is good for Moorhead, and vice versa is the sentiment that Charley Johnson, President and CEO of the Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau, emphasized.
As a Minnesota native and a resident of Moorhead, Johnson stated that Minnesota has always been on his radar, and as a Concordia College graduate, his Moorhead roots only deepened. Johnson currently serves on the Moorhead Economic Development Authority (EDA). The mission of the EDA is to promote and assist the industrial and commercial development and redevelopment in the city of Moorhead. At a recent “Let’s Talk Business” breakfast, Johnson reminded the Moorhead Business Association members that Moorhead is at the threshold of strong economic growth.
The Fargo-Moorhead area just keeps on growing! As hotels are considered an important economic component to any community, the growth of the area’s lodging industry supports his optimism. Johnson stated that the current 4,883 available rooms will increase to 5,200 by the end of this year, and will reach 5,400 rooms by the spring of 2015. The impact to our communities is more than just job creation and additional tax revenue. Breaking these records is further proof that our area has arrived as a destination. These are not just “heads on beds,” but they will also generate more opportunities for our business communities to connect with this increased traffic. The money spent by guests, employees, and suppliers has a broad impact. It stimulates spending, creates new jobs, generates new business in almost all other sectors, and helps individual businesses, attendees, and the city as a whole to thrive.
With that said, Johnson emphasized that an important key to hosting conventions is a local connection. Fortunately, many Moorhead locals have many professional connections to national and regional organizations and many conventions and events are booked because of this local relationship. “Help us to open the door; the CVB can do the heavy lifting.”