Altru Health System honored with Grand Forks EDC's Klaus Thiessen Impact Award
Mar. 27—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation on Thursday honored Altru Health System with its Klaus Thiessen Impact Award.
The health care provider received the award at the outset of the EDC's annual meeting in front of approximately 275 people at the Alerus Center ballroom.
"We really felt they had risen to the top with the new hospital and all their contributions to the community," EDC CEO and President Keith Lund told the Herald.
Altru's crowning achievement this year has been its brand-new $500 million hospital in Grand Forks. The health care provider is also in the process of acquiring CHI St. Alexius Health hospital in Devils Lake.
Altru CEO Todd Forkel, President Josh Deere and the Altru Foundation's Chief Partnership and Philanthropy Officer Kristi Hall-Jiran were on hand to receive the award, named for the EDC's retired longtime CEO.
Forkel told Lund the provider was "humbled and really grateful" to receive the award, and thanked Altru's many employees for their work.
"We really look at it as a privilege to be able to not only serve Grand Forks, but the greater Grand Forks area," Forkel said.
Altru moved out of its 52-year-old home and into its new facility next door in January. Lund presented the Altru executives with a painting by Eric Castle, depicting generations of Grand Forks hospitals, with the latest addition towering over the other two.
Prompted by Lund, Deere said the new hospital made Grand Forks into a medical destination and was a tool for bringing more workers to Grand Forks.
"We have a huge recruiting tool right now," Deere said. "We have the most state-of-the-art hospital in the Midwest."
Thursday's event also served as an opportunity for Lund and Director of Workforce Development Becca Cruger to highlight growth and success in Grand Forks.
Highlights included Belgian potato processor Agristo's plans to open a $450 million plant in Grand Forks, the temporary bed-down of the 28th Bomb Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base (Lund: "If you think that isn't economic development, ask any hotel owner in Grand Forks") and UND's third-largest class of all time.
"That is your future workforce," Cruger said as a picture of the class of 2028 flashed onscreen.
Discussing Grand Forks Public Schools' soon-to-open Career Impact Academy, Hall-Jiran reminded Lund of his fundraising request that helped bring the career and technical education center to fruition.
"I remember that phone call, Keith," Hall-Jiran told Lund. "You did a great job of asking for a million dollars."
EDC primary sector businesses continued to report 10-year increases in employment, average salary and payroll.
Payroll from EDC client businesses added $645 million to the region, Lund said, plus another $216 million in company spending, adding up to a regional combined impact of $861 million for the region.
The theme of Thursday's event was "Plant and Prosper," in reference to Grand Forks' origins as an agricultural community.
"We would not be here as a community, in the fashion we're in, without the agricultural community that supports Grand Forks," EDC Board Chair Shawn Gaddie said.
In an acknowledgment of the theme, Gaddie presented past chair John Oncken with a painting of a tractor in a field, rendered in the style of Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night."
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