Greetings! With deep gratitude to the MACEDC’s members, staff, and community partners, I am honored to serve as the 2023 Board Chair. Since merging the Minot Chamber of Commerce and Minot Area Development Corporation in 2020, the organization has catapulted forward its mission of advocating, serving, and collaborating with our regional stakeholders. As we turn toward 2023, we are led by our new CEO, Brekka Kramer, and poised to catalyze even more meaningful growth within our business community and local economy.

During 2022, Board Chair Randy Hauck led bold initiatives, including the launch of the Start Up Minot entrepreneurship program and intermodal operations at the Logistics Park of North Dakota, our state’s only “BNSF Certified” location. While significant effort was injected into the Park’s infrastructure for future primary sector growth, MACEDC also supported Minot’s small businesses and downtown community. Through advocacy of smart economic development policies such as Tax Incremental Financing (TIF), Minot is better aligned to compete for investor’s capital, such as EPIC’s redevelopment of the iconic “M” building. Thank you, Randy, for a tremendous year of leadership.

As we set our sights on 2023, momentum will only grow. The completion of our new 5-year Strategic Plan has crystalized our vision, including facilitating deeper collaborations in the areas of workforce and education. Minot has not escaped record labor shortages, and new programs like Dakota College of Bottineau’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) Center in downtown Minot will further diversify Minot’s workforce training. Part and parcel to workforce, we will work toward removing one of the community’s top barriers of growth – childcare. Participating in Governor Burgum’s recent childcare proposals will enable parents to reenter the workforce and improve local affordability, availability, and quality of childcare services.

Looking 14 miles north, the Minot Air Force Base, with an economic impact of over $600 million per year, is a pillar of our community. More importantly, the MAFB is at the heart of our national nuclear strategic deterrence. We are deeply proud of the young men and women who defend our nation’s freedom, and Minot is blessed to host the only base in the United States with two legs of the nuclear triad – long range bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). As the area prepares for the Department of Defense’s largest-ever modernization project, upgrading the Minuteman ICBMs to Sentinel, our team is dedicated to being at the forefront of facilitating the successful completion of the project, which is estimated to have a $3+ billion economic impact on the region.

To say I’m optimistic for MACEDC’s future is an understatement. To say I’m grateful to serve as the 2023 Chair is wholly inadequate. Thank you for your past support and contributions, for we recognize that our success is entirely derived from the strength of our members and partnerships with the City of Minot and Ward County. I look forward to your continued engagement with the Chamber EDC and working together to make Minot a cherished place to work, play, and live.