Business leaders from across North Dakota met June 18-20 in Jamestown at the Quality Inn for the spring Economic Development Association of North Dakota (EDND) conference. This year's theme was "Growing."
The conference highlighted the growth within the business community and the state. The conference began June 18 at the Quality Inn with a welcome from: Jamestown/ Stutsman Development Corporation Chief Executive Officer Connie Ova, Mayor Clarice Liechty and Stutsman County Commissioner Mark Klose. The welcomes were followed by presentations from the Department of Commerce's Economic Development and Finance Division, North Dakota Tourism Division and the NDSU Extension Service's Rural Leadership North Dakota.
The conference continued June 19 with a presentation from Roger Ceynowa of Sen. Byron Dorgan's office, about the feasibility of immigration. Work force development strategies were discussed further as the North Dakota Workforce Development Council presented information about the North Dakota Talent Initiative.
Industry information was presented as a panel composed of Mark Watne of North Dakota Farmers Union's Carbon Credit Program, Jim Erickson of Goodrich Cargo Systems, Department of Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle and Al Christianson of Great River Energy.
Following lunch, Dr. D.C. Coston of NDSU presented information about the Grow 21 Initiative. Tours of the community followed the presentation which took participants through Goodrich Cargo Systems and DuraTech Industries.
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The conference continued on June 19 with a welcome from Sen. Terry Wanzek and additional presentations. The morning concluded with an EDND business meeting. All were invited to stay for a session about "Economic Gardening" sponsored by the Small Business Development Center.
Major sponsors of the three-day event were Otter Tail, Unison Bank, Montana-Dakota Utilities, Cargill Malt, Goodrich Cargo Systems, Small Business Development Center and JSDC with Workforce Training and Buffalo City Tourism Foundation sponsoring breaks during the conference.
