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 Commerce at the 2022 Main Street ND Summit
Commerce staff provided their assistance and participated in several areas throughout the entire duration of the Main Street ND Summit.
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The 2022 Main Street ND Summit was held last week on Oct. 24-26 at the Bismarck Event Center. The summit kicked-off early in Mandan for the pre-summit event, Main Street Monday in Mandan. The event in Mandan included a special case study with the summit keynote speakers from Think3D. After the the case study, summit goers gathered for a reception social which was followed by a self-guided tour of businesses in Mandan that stayed open late to provide everyone a chance to have an authentic experience of the town's restaurants, shops, services and nightlife.
Nearly 1,000 people attended the summit which featured a variety of engaging breakout sessions and world-renowned keynote speakers that provided resources, insights, and inspiration for this year's theme: "Inspiring Community Driven-Workforce".
Major announcements for workforce and community development, and awards related to the Main Street Initiative were woven in throughout the duration of the summit. These included:
Here is what some summit attendees shared about their experience at the summit:
- Overall, it was a great experience. A lot of resources available to tap for helpful information. As always, members of Commerce were FANTASTIC!!! It is always a pleasure visiting and growing those relationships.
- I loved the little figurines on the tables and the cards made by students! Those little touches mean a lot! I appreciate the exhibitors had topic-related services or products. Brilliant to have the exhibitors between the presentation halls. Miss Shannon is fantastic! The keynotes and each of the breakouts I attended were very good. I definitely felt like the summit was worth my time and I plan to encourage several others to attend next year.
- This conference was very insightful on ways to improve a community and gain buy in from businesses, leaders, and students.
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Commerce announced today that a total of $1,804,803 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for fiscal year 2021 were awarded to 12 North Dakota Communities.
The CDBG program provides financial assistance to eligible units of local governments in the form of grants for public facilities, public services, housing rehabilitation, and economic development projects.
FY2021 CDBG award recipients:
- The City of Epping was awarded $151,326 to rehabilitate the senior hall and make it American Disability Act (ADA) accessible.
- The City of Velva was awarded $332,809 to rehabilitate the city’s lift station.
- Rolette County was awarded $75,000 to rehabilitate the public health district building.
- The City of Rocklake was awarded $119,417 for the city’s water tower project.
- The City of Rolla was awarded $75,000 for an emergency siren and alarm system project.
- The City of Fordville was awarded $116,653 to work on the city’s sidewalks and make them ADA accessible.
- The City of Manvel was awarded $290,548 to rehabilitate the city’s lift station with a new valve vault.
- The City of Medina was awarded $115,000 for the city’s water project.
- The City of Coleharbor was awarded $86,678 for a water storage and pump house project to include a meter replacement.
- The City of Steele was awarded $75,000 for a multi-family housing rehabilitation project.
- The City of Carson was awarded $75,000 for a multi-family housing rehabilitation project, and $75,000 for lagoon repairs.
- Bowman County was awarded $128,000 for a multi-family housing rehabilitation project.
 For more information about the visit contact Main Street Community Development Liaison Emma Cook at (701) 226-6091 or ecook@nd.gov.
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CDBG-CV application extension
Commerce Community Services will be accepting preapplications for the Community Development Block Grant Cares Act funding (CDBG-CV) through Nov. 30.
The Substantial Amendment dated 08/19/2022 to the CDBG-CV clarifies CDBG-CV Funding Levels for eligible activities and eligible project activities.
A total of $6,380,334 is available to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. Of the total amount, a minimum of $2,345,392 will be expended in non-entitlement areas, and up to $4,034,942 can be expended in entitlement areas of the state.
The entire CDBG-CV allocation will be used for public facilities projects, including HVAC upgrades and other facility-based projects that support social distancing or the ability to serve individuals impacted by COVID-19.
All applications must meet the national objective being addressed by the proposed improvements for each community facility as required by CDBG regulations (24 CFR 570.483).
Any questions or requests for additional follow-up can be directed to Community Services Deputy Director/Federal Program Lead Rikki Roehrich at (701) 328-2687 or rroehrich@nd.gov or CDBG/ESG Program Specialist Keylee Engelhard at (701) 328-4559 or kmengelhard@nd.gov.
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Gov. Doug Burgum and members of Commerce participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Grand Farm Innovation Facility near Casselton, highlighting how the new home of Grand Farm will foster innovation in autonomous agriculture technology.
“North Dakota continues to be an innovative leader in ag technology. Today’s groundbreaking marks a milestone for Grand Farm’s private-public partnership, which will have a significant impact on our region and the acceleration of innovation in autonomous agriculture,” Burgum said. “Every major step in proving the Grand Farm concept and commercializing this technology keeps North Dakota on the cutting edge of autonomous agriculture and increases the potential for this technology to improve productivity for farmers and help address our state’s workforce challenge through automation. We’re grateful for all of the private and public partners who continue to drive this important initiative.”
Burgum announced in February that the North Dakota Department of Commerce had selected Grand Farm, which is led by Emerging Prairie, for a $10 million matching grant to advance autonomous agriculture technology in North Dakota. Federal funds for the matching grant were included in Burgum’s Accelerate ND plan in September 2021 and approved by the 67th Legislative Assembly during its special session last November.
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 Wardner honored for community service and legislative support
Terri Thiel, director of the Dickinson Convention & Visitors Bureau, along with Tourism and Marketing Director Sara Otte Coleman, presented State Senator Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, with an award recognizing his community service and legislative efforts to help the tourism sector; and public commentary centered on public library concerns.
“We've worked together for many years, from our time at the chamber and CVB as directors and through many years at the North Dakota legislative sessions, and you've been our champion for travel and tourism,” Thiel said. “For all that time, you've sponsored numerous builds to help create, promote and sustain public and private attractions, recreation, historical sites and events.”
Wardner, who announced his retirement last year after 30 years in the legislature, thanked them for the recognition.
 Get your travel brochures in the hands of visitors – sign up for the Rest Area Brochure Distribution Program today
The North Dakota Department of Commerce and the North Dakota Department of Transportation have collaborated to place travel information in 15 rest areas along major traffic corridors across the state. Commerce has also partnered with the State Historical Society of North Dakota to place travel brochures in two staffed historic site visitor centers.
North Dakota visitor information areas provide a one-stop, physical location from which travelers can connect to attractions, events, and businesses by allowing them to collect information about tourism opportunities and services in the state. Additional time spent exploring a community creates increased tourism economic impact through additional visitor expenditures, expanding length of stay/lodging, and higher visitation to attractions and businesses.
Partners may sign up annually and are allowed to select the location(s) of the rest areas and visitor centers in which they would like to distribute their materials. Registration is now open and the deadline is Jan. 13, 2023. You can access the Rest Area Partnership Agreement form here, or contact Mike Jensen at 701-328-2509 or mjjensen@nd.gov.
More H-2Bs: a big win for the travel industry
The U.S. Travel Association’s Industry Insider newsletter reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will make an additional 65,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for FY23. This move marks the largest-ever supplemental visa increase and will serve as a lifeline for the travel industry ahead of the peak travel season and will also enable businesses to adequately prepare for a surge in demand.
Q3 Industry Dashboard stats available
North Dakota Tourism monitors visitation activity affecting the state's travel industry and the Industry Dashboard is designed to be a quick read of key indicators showing trends on monthly hotel occupancy, auto inbound traffic from Canada and visitation to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. A copy of the Q3 Industry Report will be available soon.
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 The State of the American Traveler: Survey Findings webinar
Join in the next The State of the American Traveler: Trends and Sentiment Update for the Travel Industry webinar on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 10 a.m. (CST) to learn the top trends in travelers’ media consumption, understand what economic pressures are doing for the near and long-term outlook for travel, and hear from a panel of experts on making travel more accessible and welcoming.
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 The State of the American Traveler: Destination Management Edition webinar
The Sustainable Travel & Destination Management Edition shares the latest research and global best practices on sustainability, responsible travel and destination management issues, challenges and opportunities on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. (CST). Custom research explores how U.S. travelers see the impact of tourism on destinations and their local communities as well as how the travel experience could be made more sustainable.
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Come learn about AmeriCorps!
Commerce and the State Commission on National and Community Service is announcing a series of information workshops for the upcoming 2023-24 AmeriCorps grant. There is no fee for this learning opportunity, but pre-registration is encouraged by e-mailing Program Officer Ryan Volk at rdvolk@nd.gov or calling (701) 328-6048.
The State of North Dakota is awarded funding each year for AmeriCorps and is excited to fund new projects. The workshops will focus on the AmeriCorps funding and information on other opportunities that the AmeriCorps agency has to offer.
Eligible participants include public or private nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, government entities within states or territories, Indian Tribes, and consortia of the aforementioned.
The workshops will be held at the following dates, times, and locations:
- Wednesday, Nov. 30, Fargo - Job Service office building at 1350 32 St S from 1-4 p.m. CST.
- Thursday, Dec. 1, Grand Forks - Job Service office building at 1501 28 Ave S from 9 a.m. to noon CST.
- Tuesday, Dec. 6, Minot - Job Service office building at 3416 N Broadway from 1 to 4 p.m. CST.
- Wednesday, Dec. 7, Williston - Job Service office building at 422 1st Ave from 1 to 4 p.m. CST.
- Thursday, Dec. 8, Dickinson - Job Service office building at 66 Osborn Dr from 9:30 a.m. to noon MST.
- Monday, Dec. 12, Bismarck - North Dakota Department of Commerce office building at 1600 E Century Ave, Ste 6 from 1 to 4 p.m. CST.
- Tuesday, Dec. 13, virtual on Microsoft Teams 9 a.m. to noon CST.
For more information on the National and Community Service AmeriCorps Program you can contact Program Officer Ryan Volk at (701) 328-6048 or via e-mail at rdvolk@nd.gov.
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