News

Welcome to the Main Street ND Update, a newsletter inspiring ideas and action around the Main Street Initiative.

Dakota Specialty Milling recently celebrated an expansion ceremony at the value-added agriculture company’s operations. The Fargo-headquartered company, which opened its first mill on 12th Avenue North in 1969, is expanding operations at a total cost of over $15 million. The expansion, which included new equipment, renovations and a land purchase, will allow the company to add up to 30 new jobs in the future. 

Grand Sky, the first and only fully operational civil unmanned aerial systems (UAS)-focused research and development park in the U.S., recently announced tenant General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. will significantly expand the company’s presence on the property. General Atomics leased space will be expanded from its current 5.5 acres to 20 acres, all located along Grand Sky’s coveted “beachfront,” which provides immediate access to Grand Forks Air Force Base’s 12,351-foot runway.

When Nick Ybarra tells the story of his first ride on the Maah Daah Hey Trail, his eyes twinkle as he describes rattling across the ridge that is Devil’s Pass. He recalls the experience as “feeling like I had found something I’d been looking for but didn’t know I needed my entire life.” At 18 years old, Nick was struck by the beauty of the terrain, especially near Devil’s Pass. He defines the area as “this incredibly beautiful landscape that just opens up and you have this almost Grand Canyon view of the Badlands.” That experience, and the passion it inspired, has never left.

Construction for an ethanol plant that will turn hundreds of thousands of tons of beet waste into fuel in Grand Forks is officially underway.