Latest news with #GrandForksRegionEconomicDevelopmentCorporation
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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."
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In Oslo, Minnesota, owner of Jamieson's on Main reflects on COVID-19 shutdown
Mar. 17—OSLO, Minn. — It's been five years since Corey Jamieson held his bar's yearly St. Patrick's Day party hours earlier than planned, doling out Irish stew and green beer before his and so many other businesses shut down as the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped the region. This year, he held his yearly party on Friday, March 15, and looked back on how Jamieson's on Main in Oslo has recovered from the pandemic. "It was close to the point where we almost had to close because we couldn't afford to keep it open," he said. "Just because we had to close didn't mean the bills didn't keep coming." The COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, catching the nation off guard. Different states had different rules and regulations; some offered more freedom to keep the economy afloat, while others went stricter to slow the spread of illness. Jamieson said he wasn't a fan of the restrictions Minnesota faced in comparison to North Dakota. It was tough to shut down while North Dakota bars — just across the Red River — were able to stay open. He had one word to describe what the pandemic was like for him and his bar. "Terrible," he said. Jamieson's on Main shut down on March 17, 2020, expecting to be closed for 10 days. On that day, Jamieson spoke of his worries that the closure would negatively affect his small business. Those 10 days stretched to 75. When he reopened for on-sale alcohol with other bars and restaurants — ordered as customers sat outside — he had concerns about how weather could impact the tentative return to business. A year after the shutdown, things were building back up, but were still stymied by restrictions like having to close at 11 p.m. Now, Jamieson said things are mostly back to normal, though he has seen a change in how often people are taking food to go — especially pizza. "There will be strangers in here saying, 'we heard you've got really good pizza,'" he said. Businesses struggled on the North Dakota side of the Red River, too. Keith Lund, president and CEO of the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation, recalled supply chain issues and how businesses reacted. Some manufacturers changed to making things related to the pandemic, such as COVID barriers. For example, Red River Biorefinery began churning out hand sanitizer, as did Red Pine Distillery . However, the companies rapidly pivoted back once their supply chain issues were resolved and they could reliably return to making regular products. Then-Mayor Mike Brown assembled a group of local leaders to talk with businesses and nonprofits, and how to react to specific challenges. "Grand Forks and North Dakota did what they could," Lund said. "The city of Grand Forks did a good job. You can't solve every challenge." Barry Wilfahrt, president and CEO of the East Grand Forks-Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber was always in contact with businesses in the area, answering questions and keeping people updated about restrictions and regulations as news came in. Though Wilfarht said everything has come back to where things were before the pandemic, it was a slow recovery. Every sector was affected differently, he said, though he believes hospitality had it the worst. Uncertainty was the biggest challenge, and the chamber never took a day off, he said. "Many weekends and long days," Wilfarth said, were taken up answering calls and text messages, updating the chamber's website with the latest information. It required a fast learning curve, figuring out how to talk through digital meetings and adjusting to the different rules for each state. Chamber members weathered it, he said. In Oslo, Jamieson, his wife and their employees were also weathering the pandemic. Employees helped out where they could. The bar served to-go food and off-sale alcohol, and Jamieson and his wife had jobs outside the bar. Things are 100% better now, he said. Looking back on his younger years, he recalled his family talking of the Spanish flu and its impacts. He didn't think he'd experience something like it. But then COVID came along. "I hope it never happens again in my lifetime," Jamieson said.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In Oslo, Minnesota, owner of Jamieson's on Main reflects on COVID-19 shutdown
Mar. 17—OSLO, Minn. — It's been five years since Corey Jamieson held his bar's yearly St. Patrick's Day party hours earlier than planned, doling out Irish stew and green beer before his and so many other businesses shut down as the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped the region. This year, he held his yearly party on Friday, March 15, and looked back on how Jamieson's on Main in Oslo has recovered from the pandemic. "It was close to the point where we almost had to close because we couldn't afford to keep it open," he said. "Just because we had to close didn't mean the bills didn't keep coming." The COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, catching the nation off guard. Different states had different rules and regulations; some offered more freedom to keep the economy afloat, while others went stricter to slow the spread of illness. Jamieson said he wasn't a fan of the restrictions Minnesota faced in comparison to North Dakota. It was tough to shut down while North Dakota bars — just across the Red River — were able to stay open. He had one word to describe what the pandemic was like for him and his bar. "Terrible," he said. Jamieson's on Main shut down on March 17, 2020, expecting to be closed for 10 days. On that day, Jamieson spoke of his worries that the closure would negatively affect his small business. Those 10 days stretched to 75. When he reopened for on-sale alcohol with other bars and restaurants — ordered as customers sat outside — he had concerns about how weather could impact the tentative return to business. A year after the shutdown, things were building back up, but were still stymied by restrictions like having to close at 11 p.m. Now, Jamieson said things are mostly back to normal, though he has seen a change in how often people are taking food to go — especially pizza. "There will be strangers in here saying, 'we heard you've got really good pizza,'" he said. Businesses struggled on the North Dakota side of the Red River, too. Keith Lund, president and CEO of the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation, recalled supply chain issues and how businesses reacted. Some manufacturers changed to making things related to the pandemic, such as COVID barriers. For example, Red River Biorefinery began churning out hand sanitizer, as did Red Pine Distillery . However, the companies rapidly pivoted back once their supply chain issues were resolved and they could reliably return to making regular products. Then-Mayor Mike Brown assembled a group of local leaders to talk with businesses and nonprofits, and how to react to specific challenges. "Grand Forks and North Dakota did what they could," Lund said. "The city of Grand Forks did a good job. You can't solve every challenge." Barry Wilfahrt, president and CEO of the East Grand Forks-Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber was always in contact with businesses in the area, answering questions and keeping people updated about restrictions and regulations as news came in. Though Wilfarht said everything has come back to where things were before the pandemic, it was a slow recovery. Every sector was affected differently, he said, though he believes hospitality had it the worst. Uncertainty was the biggest challenge, and the chamber never took a day off, he said. "Many weekends and long days," Wilfarth said, were taken up answering calls and text messages, updating the chamber's website with the latest information. It required a fast learning curve, figuring out how to talk through digital meetings and adjusting to the different rules for each state. Chamber members weathered it, he said. In Oslo, Jamieson, his wife and their employees were also weathering the pandemic. Employees helped out where they could. The bar served to-go food and off-sale alcohol, and Jamieson and his wife had jobs outside the bar. Things are 100% better now, he said. Looking back on his younger years, he recalled his family talking of the Spanish flu and its impacts. He didn't think he'd experience something like it. But then COVID came along. "I hope it never happens again in my lifetime," Jamieson said.
