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Main Street Initiative team to visit Minot this week
 Gov. Doug Burgum, and representatives of the Main Street Initiative (MSI) team from the North Dakota Office of the Governor and the North Dakota Department of Commerce will visit Minot on May 6 for a Main Street Visit.
The public are invited and encouraged to attend the visit which will showcase Minot’s distinguished community development efforts and progress as a community. The public portion of the visit will begin after the community tour with a roundtable discussion hosted by Burgum.
“This a great opportunity to see firsthand the advancements Minot has done in smart infrastructure and creating a vibrant community” Commerce Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Commissioner Shawn Kessel said. “After the tour, we will gather to have an open roundtable discussion to listen and hear from both residents and leaders about Minot’s tremendous progress as a community.”
Minot Main Street Visit agenda:
1:45-3:30 p.m. – Roundtable community discussion at Central Campus High School
Located at 215 1st St. SE
 Kevin O’Leary, a strategic investor of Bitzero and, Akbar Shamji the CEO of Bitzero, and other representatives for the cryptocurrency company visited North Dakota to evaluate potential Bitcoin mining investment opportunities.
During the visit, the Bitzero team met with Gov. Doug Burgum, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, Commerce representatives, Chief Information Officer Shawn Riley, and other officials.
“North Dakota has exactly what we need to build sustainable data centers,” said O’Leary, a well-known entrepreneur and a judge on TV’s Shark Tank. “In fact, I know that North Dakota is a great place to do business from my investment in PRx Performance in Fargo, which is one of the most successful companies featured on Shark Tank.”
The state’s abundant natural energy resources and current assets prompted the visit from the cryptocurrency company which anticipates an investment of up to $3 billion, with an established location set-up beginning within the next three to four months.
“We are very excited to have Kevin, Akbar, and other members of Bitzero visit North Dakota,” Commerce Economic Development and Finance Director Josh Teigen said. “Today’s visit is a follow-up from the initial introduction at Bitcoin 2022 where Commerce promoted North Dakota’s capacity to be the top location to produce the cleanest crypto on earth.”
National Travel and Tourism Week celebrates the “Future of Travel”
This week, the U.S. Travel Association National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) 2022 celebrates the “Future of Travel” and the industry’s role in fostering vibrant communities, driving innovation, facilitating recovery, and powering local economies. In Gov. Doug Burgum’s proclamation of North Dakota Travel and Tourism Week, he noted North Dakota’s tourism revenue sustains 2,700 small businesses and diversifies our state’s economy.
As the primary marketing entity that influences North Dakota’s image, our work in tourism promotion not only inspires travel, but enlightens millions and amplifies our state’s ability to attract future residents, businesses, and investments.
Recently released research shows that despite border closures and hurdles that impeded travel from Canada and overseas, 21.71 million visitors came to North Dakota in 2021, up 19% from 2020 and those visitors spent 23.5% more than the previous year, at $2.61 billion. Visitor spending supported small businesses across our state, with expenditures in food and beverage being the leading category at $767 million. Arrival data, sourced from mobile devices and GPS providers, reports 16,725,823 U.S. road trips to North Dakota, a 15.2% increase over 2020. This included increases from every state except one. (Hey, West Virginia, what are you waiting for?)
Tourism and marketing our state, also plays an integral role in talent recruitment. And you can help. We encourage all North Dakotans to share their positive stories – why you choose to explore North Dakota’s legendary landscapes, enjoy local festivals and events this summer, and why you are proud to call North Dakota “home”.
The importance of travel is more evident than ever before as we shift our focus forward. We are now defining a more innovative, inclusive, and globally competitive “Future of Travel” to support jobs, grow our economy, and elevate North Dakota.
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Six North Dakota communities to receive Main Street Initiative Vibrancy Grant funding
Six communities were approved to receive funding from round three of the Main Street Initiative Vibrancy Grant with a total of $8,300 to be awarded.
“Vibrant communities are fundamental in attracting and retaining workforce,” Commerce Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Commissioner Shawn Kessel said. “Since the inception of the Main Street Initiative grant programs, our state has experienced a tremendous growth in communities that are dedicated in enhancing quality of life by utilizing resources to capitalize on their community’s existing strengths and assets.”
A total of 14 applications were received from communities and regions across North Dakota. The following six applications are recommended to receive grant funding:
- Bowman County Development Corporation: $1,500 for the community’s Main Street Garden.
- City of Grafton: $800 for the local art club to paint fire hydrants.
- Hazen Chamber of Commerce: $1,500 for the Music in the Park project.
- Fargo Downtown Partnership: $1,500 for mugs to be used at the Coffee and Cocoa Crawl.
- City of Horace: $1,500 to provide benches for Music in the Park.
- City of Wahpeton: $1,500 to revamp an existing lot to become Keeble Commons for public space.
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North Dakota 2022 Annual Action Plan is now available for public comment
The 2022 Annual Action Plan for the application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships, National Housing Trust Fund and Emergency Solutions Grants programs is available online and open for comments until June 2.
Written comments, submitted to dcs@nd.gov or P.O. Box 2057, Bismarck, North Dakota 58502-2057, must be received by the close of business at 5pm central time on June 2.
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Applications for the Technical Skills Training Grant are open until July 7
The Technical Skills Training Grant program aims to offset the cost for program providers and employers in their effort to support the development of highly trained skilled workers to meet the demands of our labor market.
For this year’s cycles, the grant program is now offering Track A and B options to expand the grant’s impact.
The Track B option is in addition to the original parameters from previous cycles. This option is designed for companies wishing to provide internal upskilling opportunities for their existing staff to promote movement and advancement throughout the organization, create more comprehensive onboarding and new worker training programs, and/or provide safety training for employees.
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 Address your region’s most demanding workforce challenges through collaboration. Incorporate your workforce ideas in a larger project by working with an eligible organization in your region to submit an application.
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2022 Travel Industry Conference and Governor's Travel and Tourism Awards
 The Visit Greater Grand Forks Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), in conjunction with the Destination Marketing Association of North Dakota (DMAND) and the North Dakota Department of Commerce Tourism and Marketing Division hosted the 2022 North Dakota Travel Industry Conference in Grand Forks, April 25-27, at the Alerus Center.
The conference attracted more than 200 travel professionals, and included continuing education, renowned speakers, trainers, best practices and peer-to-peer networking on industry trends, marketing, and business topics.
Highlights of the 2022 event:
- U.S. Travel Association President Roger Dow provided national travel and tourism updates and Commerce Tourism and Marketing Director Sara Otte Coleman reported on record-breaking statistics in many areas of North Dakota tourism in 2021.
- North Dakota’s first Olympic Gold Medalists, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando provided their historic hockey careers and how they continue to impact so many lives off the ice.
- Founder and CEO of talent-attraction firm RoleCall Winona Dimeo-Ediger used her insights and experience to discuss the common threads of great places.
- Comedian Shannan Paul discussed “Cultural Sensitivity for the Accidentally Insensitive” used humor, personal anecdotes and real-world situations to enlighten the audience on how to not walk blindly into awkward interactions.
- President of Slatin Group Peter Slatin presented on the importance of accessibility in tourism and how destinations can be more accessible to everyone.
- Breakout sessions covered outdoor recreation, talent attraction, global tourism, destination development, social media marketing, Native American tourism and community-driven storytelling.
DMAND President Julie Obrigewitsch, and Commerce Tourism and Marketing Director Sara Otte Coleman closed out the conference by presenting the Governor’s Travel and Tourism Awards to:
- Sakakawea Award for a Behind-the-Scenes Tourism Employee: Joel Walters, Dickinson Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB)
- Telegraph Award for Marketing Technology: Greater Grand Forks CVB, FORKS: Five in Five Campaign
- Heritage Award for a Front-line Tourism Employee: Al Michels, Scenic Theater, Lisbon
- Flint Firestarter Award for a Tourism Development Project: Broadway Square, Downtown Fargo
- Trailblazer Award for Tourism Innovation: North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance
- The Wade Westin Award for Marketing: Luke Schafer, ND Country Fest, New Salem
- Legend Award for Travel & Tourism Industry Leadership: Charley Johnson, Fargo-Moorhead CVB
For more information on the 2022 Governor’s Travel and Tourism award winners go to https://belegendary.link/2022GovTravelAwardWinners.
North Dakota Tourism had record-breaking year in 2021
Arrivals to the state, monitored with GPS technology, show that U.S. road trips were up 15.2% with increases from 49 states. Tourism Economics reported that visitation to the state rebounded despite the continued pandemic and obstacles for Canadian travelers. Visitors to the state spent $2.61 billion last year, generating $237.9 million in tax revenue for the state and local jurisdictions, according to the data compiled using federal sources like the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Travel reports that North Dakota is currently 4% below 2019 spending levels. The border closure and associated protocols meant 1.22 million fewer personal vehicle and bus passengers from Canada entered the state which resulted in an estimated $132 million in lost spending. Traffic to NDtourism.com increased 25.6%, with a record 2.15 million visits (this, on top of a 56% increase in 2020). Website visits are a top signal of intent-to-travel, and it was encouraging to see 281,712 referrals to partner sites.
The results of 2021’s promotional investments and the North Dakota Tourism’s marketing efforts continue to be seen in these first few months of 2022 and the tourism team is building on this great momentum.
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 2022 Governor’s Photo Contest introduces refreshed categories
In conjunction with National Travel and Tourism Week, Gov. Doug Burgum and the North Dakota Tourism Division, in partnership with AAA of North Dakota and North Dakota Council on the Arts, are kicking off the 2022 North Dakota Governor’s Photo Contest for Travel and Tourism. The contest celebrates the talents of North Dakotans and showcases our state as a destination. All North Dakota photographers are encouraged to submit photos that capture the unique things to see and do in the state. This year the categories have been refreshed to encourage more people-centric imagery and to showcase North Dakota’s active outdoor lifestyle and vibrant communities across the state. Photographers can submit photos to one or more of the following categories: Road Trips, Recreation, Wildlife, Scenery, Festivals and Events, and Vibrant Communities. The contest is open now through Aug. 31, 2022.
The 2020 winning images from the Governor’s Photo Contest for Travel and Tourism will be on display at the James Memorial Arts Center in Williston May 2-27 with an opening reception May 6 from 7-8:30 p.m.
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Join us for the May 2022 Travel Industry Chat
Learn how to Maximize your Search Engine Optimization during the next North Dakota Travel Industry Chat on May 23 from 2-3 p.m. The guest presenter will be Justin Gibbs, director of Strategy & Insights at Miles Partnership. Justin leads the SEO team at Miles and will help to demystify some of the more misunderstood pieces of SEO to empower North Dakota’s tourism industry to take control of their own organic search performance.
The Travel Industry Chat is an online Microsoft Teams event. All presentations are open to anyone in North Dakota’s travel and tourism industry. You are welcome to forward the meeting information to colleagues.
Join on your computer or mobile app: Click here to join the meeting
Join with a video conferencing device: teams@join.nd.gov
Video Conference ID: 119 001 717 6
Alternate VTC instructions
Or call in (audio only) +1 701-328-0950, 625053178# United States
Phone Conference ID: 625 053 178#
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Grand Farm announces ‘permanent home’ near Casselton
Officials and backers of the Fargo-based “Grand Farm” announced on May 3, 2022, that they will build a new “permanent” Innovation Facility, about two miles west of Casselton.
The effort is focused on creating a “neutral” maker space, for attracting research and development projects involving artificial intelligence and autonomous function that researchers believe will help make tomorrow’s farms the most efficient with labor and data-driven information.
On Feb. 14, 2022, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum announced Grand Farm would receive a $10 million matching grant from Commerce.
“It’s an investment that will further accelerate ag innovation, and it’s going to have a transformative impact on the future of North Dakota and our nation’s agriculture,” Burgum said.
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 Governor’s Travel and Tourism Awards
North Dakota Department of Commerce Tourism and Marketing Director Sara Otte Coleman and Destination Marketing Association of North Dakota (DMAND) president Julie Obrigewitsch presented the Governor’s Travel and Tourism Awards during the North Dakota Travel Industry Conference. Two of the recipients were Charley Johnson (left) of the Fargo-Moorhead CVB who was awarded the Legend Award for Travel & Tourism Industry Leadership, and the Wade Westin Award for Marketing was awarded to Luke Schafer (right) co-founder of ND Country Fest in New Salem.
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