Forbes

[star2city]

http://www.forbes.com/global/2006/0522/068.html

Forbes article especially talks up job growth with Cirrus Design, LM Glasfiber, EERC, and the School of Aerospace Sciences. All four seem positioned for more growth based on energy and aerospace needs. Looks like there will be even more synergies coming in the Aerospace field with this:

Nekoma vies for UAV center

If the Nekoma project is approved, and UND becomes one of the main players in the rapid growth of UAV technology, there will be a substantial economic impact in Grand Forks and surrounding areas, Marshall said.

Most of the economic impact would be in the form of high-paying jobs and research and development companies relocating to the Red River Valley.

Having additional aerospace and avionics firms in GF, like perhaps Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrup Grumman, and maybe Australia's Aerosonde could really solidify GF's economy.

Aerosonde, an Australian UAV manufacturer operating out of a NASA facility in Virginia, is one of the companies that has expressed interest in coming to North Dakota and working with UND, Marshall said.

Aerosonde's "Laima" became the first UAV to cross the North Atlantic in 1998.

Opportunities to test UAV capabilities in America are very limited, and getting a certificate of authorization to operate UAVs is extremely difficult, Marshall said.

[star2city]

Los Angeles Times: Rodney Dangerfield-like places that are finally getting respect

Casper and Gillette, for instance, are filling up with workers from the rest of the country, as well as immigrants. Using new oil-exploration technology, wildcatters are reopening long-neglected fields in eastern Montana and in the Dakotas.

Since 2000, Wyoming has enjoyed the fastest growth in personal income of any state, according to one recent survey. Such unlikely places as Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico and coal-rich West Virginia are not far behind. The job bases in these states and their region have expanded at rates greater than the national norm.

Alternative energies are driving economic boom times in the eastern edge of the Great Plains, where several new energy-producing projects have been built and many more proposed. In Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D.; Sioux Falls, S.D., and Omaha, the talk is about the growth of manufacturing jobs, rising farm prices