75 Years of History
75 Years of History
-
1946
1946 Formed as a committee for industrial development, the Fargo Industrial Development Corporation (FIDC) included 35 members. The Corporation’s main objective was to facilitate development for the City of Fargo and its contiguous territory. The Corporation started the industrial park between the Great Northern Tracks on the north and the Northern Pacific tracks on the south extending westward from the slough to the city limits - called the Shattuck plan.
Our Beginning
1947
1947 FIDC purchased many parcels of land. Buying the land helped speed up the city’s growth of land development and infrastructure.
-
1951
1951 The FIDC started discussing marketing to recruit businesses to the area including media advertising and pursuing defense or war contracts. One of the first ads approved ran in the Wall Street Journal (roughly 1953).
-
1960
Late 1960’s The FIDC partnered with Chamber on an urban renewal plan in downtown Fargo.
1965
In 1965, the corporation made its first purchase in over a decade. A building was bought in order to lease the facilities to the Dim-Co Company. Due to changes in the dollar value from 1946, they needed to amend the Articles of Incorporation to allow for indebtedness as authorized by the Board of Directors.
-
1971
1971, FIDC received its first investment ($25,000) from Cass County.
1971
1971 FIDC changed its name to Fargo-Cass County Industrial Development Corporation (F-CCID).
1973
1973 F-CCID built its first spec building.
1975
1975 F-CCID participated in Phase II of the industrial park providing 50% of the cost of the project. Phase III and Phase IV occurred in 1977.
-
1993
1993 The Growth Initiative Fund (GIF) was established. A few years later, community funding was provided by Cass County, ND, West Fargo and Fargo.
1994
1994 F-CCEDC and Job Service and State ED and Finance authority initiated a “Come Back to ND” program to encourage skilled individuals to move back to ND.
1998
1998 – F-CCEDC and its labor recruitment council created a new job-listings website called Careerlinknorth.
1999
1999 or 2000 – Skills and Technology Training Center has grand opening. It was managed and marketed by the F-CCEDC and funded with public and private investments. This effort was a collaboration between NDSU and NDSCS.
1999
1999 F-CCEDC supported the “pivotal first year of NDSU’s development of a technology and research park” (the NDSU Research & Tech Park).
-
2005
2005 The organization merged with Clay County and changed its name to the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation (GFMEDC).
2006
2006 – GFMEDC began pursuing a strategic planning initiative to prepare the community for the jobs of the future. A growth plan was created.
-
2012
2012 – GFMEDC Adds Entrepreneurial Development as a focus area.
2013
2013- Bill Marcil Sr. Invited the GFMEDC and the Greater Grand Forks EDC to partner to create the Valley Prosperity Partnership (VPP) to support the legislative and business initiatives of a large swath of the Red River Valley.
2014
2014 – The GFMEDC supported Emerging Prairie since its inception in 2012 first with staff time and resources, including collaborating on the first Startup Weekend in 2013, and our organization began providing financial support in 2014.
2014
2014 – GFMEDC helped with seed funding to form CoCo, a coworking space which later became the Prairie Den.
2019
2019 – The GFMEDC and Chamber joined forced to form the initiative Fueling Our Future (FOF). FOF was formed to focus on “big rock” issues that each organization couldn’t tackle on its own. Three areas of focus include: people, place and prosperity.
-
2021
