Prairie News

REPORT: ETHANOL PIPELINE WOULD CREATE NEARLY 80,000 JOBS

A proposed ethanol pipeline would create nearly 80,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs nationwide, according to a report from the LECG consulting firm. Sioux Falls-based POET and Magellan Midstream Partners have formed a joint venture to assess the feasibility of a 1,800-mile ethanol pipeline that would extend from Davison County, SD, to Linden, NJ. The pipeline would connect Midwestern ethanol production plants with distribution outlets in the northeastern U.S. Pending the result of the feasibility study, the pipeline could become operational by as early as 2014. The pipeline would create a number of temporary jobs, including more than 50,000 construction jobs as it is built. It would also provide another 1,000 permanent jobs after construction is complete.

ALERUS ACQUIRES RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE GROUP

Grand Forks, ND-based Alerus Financial has acquired Residential Mortgage Group of Minnetonka, MN. Residential Mortgage Group has 55 employees, including 26 loan originators, and generated about $720 million in first and second mortgages in 2009. Residential Mortgage Group has developed and maintained a customer network of approximately 34,000. Alerus Financial has made recent efforts to grow its regional presence through the acquisition of the Twin Cities-based deposits of BankFirst and the Minnetonka, Oakdale and Maplewood branches of Prosperan Bank in the Twin Cities area. Alerus Financial now employs approximately 200 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

BIO-TECH COMPANY OPENS LAB IN SIOUX FALLS

Omega Quant Analytics has moved into a laboratory in the South Dakota Technology Business Center in Sioux Falls. Bill Harris, the president and CEO of Omega Biostatus, LLC, founded subsidiary OmegaQuant to test his research. Harris and colleague Clemens von Schacky, a cardiology researcher in Munich, Germany, proposed in 2004 that the Omega-3 Index be considered a new risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Von Schacky operates OmegaMetrix, GmbH, a laboratory that offers the same HS-Omega-3 Index test in Europe that OmegaQuant Analytics offers in North America. Harris and his staff hope the Omega-3 Index will become the standardized test worldwide for checking the levels of Omega 3 fatty acids. The Cooper Clinic in Dallas is the first health and wellness center to test the HS-Omega-3 Index for all clients, but other health care facilities are requesting the test from the Sioux Falls lab. Monsanto and pharmaceutical company Glaxo-Smith-Klein have requested the test from the lab.

DELTA RESTORES THIRD DAILY FLIGHT IN ABERDEEN, SD

Community leaders in Aberdeen, SD, started a letter and e-mail writing campaign in an effort to convince Delta Air Lines to restore a third flight from Aberdeen to Minneapolis. South Dakota’s Congressional delegation even got involved in the effort. Daily flights were reduced from three to two in January before Delta announced in early January that it would restore a third daily flight to Aberdeen, beginning on April 6. Aberdeen is served by Mesaba Airlines, a Delta Connection carrier.

FERGUS FALLS, MN, HEALTH CARE GROUPS INTEGRATING

The board of directors of Fergus Falls, MN-based Lake Region Healthcare and Fergus Falls Medical Group have announced that they have reached a formal agreement to proceed with the integration of the two organizations. Talks began last spring when a formal process to evaluate the potential for integration began. The two organizations plan to work with consultants to complete the details in the coming months. The new organization will be named Lake Region Healthcare and the integration is expected to begin on May 1.

STUDY FINDS NORTH DAKOTA PROGRAM HAS $329 MILLION IMPACT ON STATE ECONOMY

A North Dakota State University study found that the North Dakota Centers of Excellence program has turned $19.9 million in funding into an economic impact of $329.4 million through last June. The centers of excellence program had a $115.5 million direct impact, led to the creation of 2,060 jobs and resulted in 17 new or expanded businesses in the state.

MINNESOTA’S ENERGY SMART PROGRAM RECEIVES XCEL FUNDING

Energy Smart, a one-year-old program that helps Minnesota businesses take advantage of rebates and other financial incentives for becoming more energy efficient, will receive funding from Xcel Energy to continue its work for three more years. Energy Smart, which is run through the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s Waste Wise program, started as a pilot program in 2008. Xcel Energy was one of four investor-owned utilities that funded the program in its first year. The additional three years of funding will allow the program to help more businesses that need help navigating energy efficiency incentives such as rebates, low-interest loans and grants.

ULTEIG OPENS NEW OFFICE IN GRAND FORKS, ND

The Fargo-based Ulteig engineering firm has opened an office in Grand Forks, ND. Mike Corcoran, one of Ulteig’s resident aviation experts, will work out of the new office at the Center for Innovation at the University of North Dakota. Corcoran, a Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems Program Manager, will work directly with the UAS industry. Ulteig also has offices in Fargo, Bismarck, Sioux Falls, Detroit Lakes, MN, Minneapolis, Denver and Cedar Rapids, IA.

OPTIMISM EXPRESSED AT FARGO-AREA ECONOMIC FORUM

Keynote speaker Sheldon Peterson, the CEO of the National Rural Utility Cooperative Finance Corporation, outlined the factors that led to the current recession during the Regional Economic Outlook Forum held in mid January at the Ramada Plaza Suites & Conference Center in Fargo. The forum, which was sponsored by the Cass County Electric Cooperative, also included a panel of regional experts, including: Rick Clayburgh, president and CEO of the North Dakota Bankers Association; Ross Manson, health care consultant with Eide Bailly of Fargo and Delore Zimmerman, president and CEO of the Grand Forks, ND-based Praxis Strategy Group. Clayburgh noted that despite the recession “in the 12 months between September 2008 and September 2009, North Dakota banks actually increased their lending by 5.3 percent over the same time period in the previous year.” Zimmerman predicted a resurgence in the Fargo-Moorhead region’s economy led by the agriculture, energy, manufacturing, science, technology and innovation sectors.

DIGI-KEY OF THIEF RIVER FALLS, MN, TOPS 2,000 EMPLOYEES

Thief River Falls, MN-based Digi-Key has passed the 2,000 employee mark. The company, which experienced a strong increase in sales in the second half of 2009, employed 2,020 as of January 3 and has added more than 860 jobs in Thief River Falls since 2002.

GREAT RIVER ENERGY’S BISMARCK BUILDING LEED CERTIFIED

An office building in Bismarck inhabited by Great River Energy has been awarded gold level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design core and shell designation from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 30,000-square-foot building that was built in 2008 is the first building in North Dakota to receive gold LEED certification and is the highest-rated LEED certified building in the state.

SOUTH DAKOTA CENTER FOR ENTERPRISE OPPORTUNITY OPENS

The new South Dakota Center for Enterprise Opportunity held a ribbon cutting ceremony at its new facility in Woodburn Hall on the campus of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD. The South Dakota Center for Enterprise Opportunity provides business assistance and training to current and prospective entrepreneurs from start up to expansion to aid economic development in the state. Services are available to all, but a special emphasis is placed on helping women, women veterans, Native Americans, those who are socially or economically disadvantaged and youth entrepreneurs. The program is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

TSP ACQUIRES REED DESIGN ARCHITECTS

Sioux Falls-based TSP has acquired Reed Design Architects of Omaha. TSP is a regional architecture, engineering and construction services firm with locations in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Marshall, MN, Rochester, MN, Minneapolis, Sheridan, WY, Marshalltown, IA, and Omaha. Reed Design Architects was founded in 1997 by Trenton Reed. The firm has provided architectural design services for a broad spectrum of projects. TSP has maintained an office in Omaha since 1996.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA PLANS NURSING PROGRAM

The South Dakota Board of Regents has given the University of South Dakota permission to develop a plan for adding a bachelor-level degree in nursing. University of South Dakota officials will need to have their final plans for the nursing plan officially approved by the state board of regents. If approved, the program will be directed at registered nurses already in the field who have an associate degree from the University of South Dakota or another university. The program would offer bachelor-level general education and advanced nursing courses required of a bachelor degree program. The University of South Dakota’s associate degree in nursing will continue to be offered and will not be changed by adding a bachelor’s degree.

SCHOOL OF MINES RECEIVES $6.9 MILLION IN DEFENSE SPENDING

The Fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that has been signed by President Barack Obama includes $6.9 million in funding for the South Dakota School of Mines for defense research projects. Since 2001, the School of Mines has received more than $80 million in Congressional appropriations for projects and research. The bill included:

— $2.5 million to identify candidate components from specific high sustainment cost items in the Navy and match them with repair technologies being developed at the college.

— $2.4 million for a project to develop strong and lightweight vehicles made with multi utility materials.

— $1 million for a project to help make it possible for the military to acquire energy efficient, intelligent structures with multifunctional materials that can be manufactured affordably.

— $1 million for developing bioconversion technologies of biodiesel, green diesel and biohydrogen generation from lignocellulosic biomass to help the Air Force achieve its target of 18 percent biofuel production of current fuel consumption.

JLG ARCHITECTS TO OPEN OFFICE IN BISMARCK

JLG Architects will open its fifth branch office in Bismarck this summer. Former JLG employee Jeffrey Hysjulien has been hired to spearhead the new office’s opening. JLG Architects currently has offices in Grand Forks, ND, Fargo, Alexandria, MN, and Minneapolis.