Grand Forks Economy

[Kab]

15 hours ago, gfhockey said:

Property taxes causing quite the stirr today

 

some are up over 30%

Countdown to hear let’s use the oil money to pay taxes (n eastern North Dakota 

[jdub27]

17 hours ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

tell that to my new property tax bill.

City didn't raise their mill rate. 
Look to the other entities for your complaints.

[UNDBIZ]

Bismarck and Minot both received quite a bit of state $$ for children's science centers.  Guessing Grand Forks is attempting to position itself for similar funding.

[forksandspoons]

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/hoeven-calls-new-grand-forks-skyrange-complex-a-game-changer?fbclid=IwAR2ihHvAHF-nS7Zz3GKTI4hU-52D3UCs-MpAJFYZplIiPmjNTDZHkhVKW1g_aem_AU3W4QZX00uN5iV3HjgzGyvOGs4QjP8WbwdMUYuYwiSYaxXFIIBeyrp-AWjwCb-XI-U
 

Sen. John Hoeven calls new Grand Forks Skyrange complex a 'game-changer'
 

$500 million facility will support 600 jobs in the area 

[Nodak78]

1 hour ago, forksandspoons said:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/hoeven-calls-new-grand-forks-skyrange-complex-a-game-changer?fbclid=IwAR2ihHvAHF-nS7Zz3GKTI4hU-52D3UCs-MpAJFYZplIiPmjNTDZHkhVKW1g_aem_AU3W4QZX00uN5iV3HjgzGyvOGs4QjP8WbwdMUYuYwiSYaxXFIIBeyrp-AWjwCb-XI-U
 

Sen. John Hoeven calls new Grand Forks Skyrange complex a 'game-changer'
 

$500 million facility will support 600 jobs in the area 

This is huge and why the Chinese wanted and finally didn't get their processing plant in GF.  Huge for GFAB and GF.

[Cratter]

11 hours ago, jdub27 said:

City didn't raise their mill rate. 
Look to the other entities for your complaints.

Grand Forks County?

[The Sicatoka]

Now figure out what supporting businesses they'll need and start it and make your money. 

[Bison Dan]

8 hours ago, Cratter said:

Grand Forks County?

All the entities rely on increasing property values for their increases.  No need to increase the mill rate for more money.  Would the world come to an end if the county would reduce their budget 2% for 5 years?

[The Sicatoka]

Normally don't like a Senator's "PR" site, but, exception:
https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/news/news-releases/hoeven-sky-range-is-a-game-changer-for-hypersonic-missile-testing-builds-upon-partnerships-weve-brought-to-the-grand-forks-region 

[The Sicatoka]

2 minutes ago, Bison Dan said:

All the entities rely on increasing property values for their increases.  No need to increase the mill rate for more money.  Would the world come to an end if the county would reduce their budget 2% for 5 years?

Hey Dan, say you're a county snow plow driver. What you doing when you're told your pay will go down for the next five years. Or would you rather they stop doing maintenance on roads and bridges. Fewer sheriff's deputies?

Holding the line on budget is near impossible right now; in my industry things are up 30-60% since 2019. I don't like it but I understand it: 

The county is struggling with inflation just like every business and household. 

NOTE: No politics, just abstract concepts (budget, inflation), are discussed above. 

[The Sicatoka]

https://news.yahoo.com/sen-john-hoeven-calls-grand-003600964.html 

Hypersonic missiles.
Makes you wonder if having General Armacost (USAF, Ret) at the helm of UND didn't aid the Senators and UND and Grand Forks.

And the "National Security Corridor" update to Harrington Hall makes way more sense now. 
https://blogs.und.edu/campus-renewal/2023/07/harrington-hall/ 

[Bison Dan]

1 hour ago, The Sicatoka said:

Hey Dan, say you're a county snow plow driver. What you doing when you're told your pay will go down for the next five years. Or would you rather they stop doing maintenance on roads and bridges. Fewer sheriff's deputies?

Holding the line on budget is near impossible right now; in my industry things are up 30-60% since 2019. I don't like it but I understand it: 

The county is struggling with inflation just like every business and household. 

NOTE: No politics, just abstract concepts (budget, inflation), are discussed above. 

I don't agree with you at all.  So you're telling me there's not 2% waste in every department within the county.  The county can't keep raising taxes 10% or more every year.  The department heads need to prioritize.  

[The Sicatoka]

20 minutes ago, Bison Dan said:

I don't agree with you at all.  So you're telling me there's not 2% waste in every department within the county.  The county can't keep raising taxes 10% or more every year.  The department heads need to prioritize.  

Is there waste? Indubitably.

Unfortunately right now cutting every iota of waste will still be overcome by increasing prices for material and labor. 

[HoopsFan03]

1 hour ago, The Sicatoka said:

Is there waste? Indubitably.

Unfortunately right now cutting every iota of waste will still be overcome by increasing prices for material and labor. 

But wouldn't it be much worse to not cut any waste AND have the price increases? Cutting waste and running as lean as possible during inflationary periods like this is a heck of a lot better than doing nothing AND still having the price increases. 

[The Sicatoka]

Do we know the budgets were not reviewed.
If they weren't I'd say y'all need to take action at the ballot box. 

It's no small task either.
I've annually gone through and questioned a budget book that's grown to $150M over the last decade. 
Best thing you can have is a CFO that has miserly tendencies.  

[nodakvindy]

4 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

https://news.yahoo.com/sen-john-hoeven-calls-grand-003600964.html 

Hypersonic missiles.
Makes you wonder if having General Armacost (USAF, Ret) at the helm of UND didn't aid the Senators and UND and Grand Forks.

And the "National Security Corridor" update to Harrington Hall makes way more sense now. 
https://blogs.und.edu/campus-renewal/2023/07/harrington-hall/ 

Hopefully we will also be building some industrial base around civilian applications for these technologies as well.  Defense contracting is a lucrative but fickle industry, would be great to have some economic diversification (ag drones, emergency management, etc.)

[The Sicatoka]

6 minutes ago, nodakvindy said:

... building some industrial base around civilian applications for these technologies ... economic diversification (ag drones, emergency management, etc.)

And the choir says "Amen! Preach!" 

[Frozen4sioux]

On 8/31/2023 at 6:41 AM, The Sicatoka said:

Now figure out what supporting businesses they'll need and start it and make your money. 

Figure a quality roadhouse with peelers on the regular would do well.

Not sure how to get a small business loan on quality sniffer' row addition would be to current establishment thou.....

[SIOUXFAN97]

On 8/31/2023 at 6:53 AM, The Sicatoka said:

Hey Dan, say you're a county snow plow driver. What you doing when you're told your pay will go down for the next five years. Or would you rather they stop doing maintenance on roads and bridges. Fewer sheriff's deputies?

Holding the line on budget is near impossible right now; in my industry things are up 30-60% since 2019. I don't like it but I understand it: 

The county is struggling with inflation just like every business and household. 

NOTE: No politics, just abstract concepts (budget, inflation), are discussed above. 

question.....let's say that county snow plow driver is 50 years old and make 70k......would he starve or become homeless if his pay went DOWN to 60k?...does he deserve a job for life with pay increases every year for life.

would a 21 year college dropout be able and willing to be a county snow plow driver for 45k?

[Kab]

I look at school employees

back in the 6os each teacher had maybe 25 students

there weren’t teachers aides, teachers watched over recess, lunch time also

now there are para professionals that do most of these type of things, I believe, I really don’t know what a para professional job duties are

also more administrative jobs, all this with the advent of computers.

are these positions because of government regulations?

I see this in county positions also 

taxes need to go up to cover these costs

Will AI start to do these jobs?  If so I doubt costs would go down 

Health care is the same, so many regulations, this costly 

all this is MHO

[Nodak78]

47 minutes ago, Kab said:

I look at school employees

back in the 6os each teacher had maybe 25 students

there weren’t teachers aides, teachers watched over recess, lunch time also

now there are para professionals that do most of these type of things, I believe, I really don’t know what a para professional job duties are

also more administrative jobs, all this with the advent of computers.

are these positions because of government regulations?

I see this in county positions also 

taxes need to go up to cover these costs

Will AI start to do these jobs?  If so I doubt costs would go down 

Health care is the same, so many regulations, this costly 

all this is MHO

Most regulations are not needed.  Big waste of money and used for control.

[nodak651]

Anyone following the war in Ukraine closely?  In addition to traditional military drones, it's crazy to see how large of an impact relatively cheap fpv drones and DJI drones are having on the battlefields.  It will be interesting to see how this affects the drone industry in Grand Forks, but my biggest takeaway is that development of anti drone and drone detection technology for tiny consumer-sized drones drones will be vital in the coming years.  I could see every single armored vehicle in the US Army being outfitted with some type of anti drone technology, for example.  Given the size of the drone industry in Grand Forks, I assume there has been activity and growth in this area of the market, but it isn't something that we really hear about that often.  Are there any companies that are specifically working on anti drone technology in GF yet, and how much research is UND doing on this type of stuff?

UND Grant From 2021: U.S. Department of Homeland Security awards $1 million counter-UAS research contract to UND

Example: https://www.dedrone.com/press/dedrone-and-the-university-of-north-dakota-to-advance-counterdrone-and-airspace-safety-research

Example: https://dronedj.com/2020/07/23/droneshield-wins-us-air-force-contract-to-deploy-anti-drone-tech/

Another: https://www.grandforks.af.mil/News/Article/3382042/grand-forks-team-takes-small-uas-program-to-new-heights/

GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  

The news clip from Ukraine begins with an aerial view of a car, the tires kicking up dust clouds as it speeds down the road. A small white dot hovers above the car, racing to keep up with the erratic driver. Before the viewer can blink, something drops perfectly into the open sunroof and the car explodes. The white dot, now visible as an off-the-shelf commercial drone, was weaponized with a hand grenade. In the high-stakes war in Ukraine low-tech, small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are being used not only for surveillance, but attack.

U.S. Air Force leaders say small drones are now one of the top threats faced in combat environments. The airmen of Grand Forks Air Force Base are meeting this threat through innovation, forward thinking and embodying what it means to be ‘combat ready.’

On March 21, 2023, the 319th Reconnaissance Wing small UAS (sUAS) program became the first in Air Combat Command to employ a sUAS program with operators from multiple units across the wing. 

The inaugural flight was conducted by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Karrar, non-commissioned officer in charge of crash recovery for the 319th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, who represented 18 months of work by the Grand Forks AFB sUAS working group and the beginning of a new era in the wing’s aviation. 

“Doing our homework and having patience have been key while breaking new ground,” said Danielle MacNaughton, airspace manager for the 319th Operations Support Squadron. “Studying the Air Force Manual 11-502 and coordinating with both our major command and the Air Force Special Operations Command to preview our products before final submission has helped speed the process up as much as possible.” 

Together, the working group studied various federal regulations to create and file the concept of operations, letters of authorization and program oversight requirements needed to carve a pathway to a base-wide flying program. 

The program’s intent is to rapidly deploy small commercial drones for threat surveillance and deterrence, and future applications not yet explored.  

“We are always training to defeat future unknown threats; the small UAS flying program offers huge amounts of flexibility to core mission sets,” said Capt. Matthew Crowell, the 319th OSS director of staff and vice chair for the Grand Forks AFB sUAS working group. “For example, the 319th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron is going to use flying as a part of their disaster recovery team in the event of an aircraft crash and the 319th Security Forces Squadron will use it to enhance their force protection.”

Military installations are traditionally no-fly zones for commercial drones, as current Department of Defense regulations prevent anyone from operating small unmanned systems above installations or within military airspace. 

This milestone achievement opens the door to future advancements in sUAS application and technology installations across the Air Force and DoD. The capabilities of small, unmanned aircraft provide improved surveillance capabilities, enhanced situational awareness and the ability to integrate new career specialties to the Air Force’s aviation mission.

“We're asking our airmen to do something incredible here, which is to fly an aerial vehicle in potentially congested airspace while being under air traffic control just like a normal pilot would be,” said Crowell. “There are no current limitations on who can do this. I could take, an airman straight out of basic training or technical school and put them through this training and make them operators. That is multi-capable in the truest sense.”

Producing sUAS certified pilots from multiple career specialties ensures no matter where airmen are in the world, if they encounter a small commercial drone threat, they will know it’s capabilities and how to respond.

“I’m excited to see the airmen’s ideas on how they can enhance their combat capability and new ways to achieve their mission,” said Lt. Col. Chris Warms, the 319th OSS director of operations and chairman of the small UAS working group. “From an operations support perspective, I’m excited to see the interaction between our air traffic controllers and how they will operate with security forces and maintenance. This is going to be a phenomenal baseline going forward.”

[nodak651]

https://www.dedrone.com/white-papers/2023-airspace-security-predictions#section4

[SIOUXFAN97]

Went to West Acres last week for the first time in decades............the difference between WA and the Columbia Mall is crazy.  There were thousands and thousands of people at WA (granted last friday there was no school)......maybe a few boarded up fronts (possibly being reno'd behind there anyways).  The food court was packed...the food options too...subway (they are everywhere)...but cajun grill, asian, mexican, american coffee/bagel thing.  Nail and spa options.  Seating for cottontops to just sit and people watch.  Water feature....fire place.

Parts of WA were/are run down (including the interios of certain stores-jc pennys)....but they got lululemon, sephora, hollister, eddie, ...you name it.

mayor bo HAS to figure out the money laundering scheme at CM....even if it comes down to the city buying the damn thing...something has to change.

btw....fargo is s*76%hole....

[The Sicatoka]

Um .... @SIOUXFAN97, about the people there, you realize Dakota Bowl was Friday. Six of the eight teams were not Fargo. I swear half of Minot was there.