FARGO — The Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce is reacting to a TV celebrity investor after he compared Moorhead to Cuba .
Sharktank star Kevin O'Leary is directing a $45 million investment from the state into businesses opening up shop in North Dakota. WDAY News sat down with chamber CEO Shannon Full, who said O'Leary's Wonder Fund partnership with the state is overall positive.
But as an organization that works with businesses on both sides of the river, Full said O'Leary's comments are unfortunate. She said when O'Leary said Moorhead looks like Cuba, he's suggesting investors avoid the state.
"It's an unfortunate choice of words, in our opinion," Full explained. "We know that there are tremendous assets to this region on both sides of the Red River."
Full said things like collaborate flood protection, Moorhead High School Career Academy and Grand Farm would not be possible without collaboration.
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"These are all things that we're seeing great benefit for, but it's because of regional collaboration and we need to have that diversity on both sides of the state in order to have that," Full said.
A Montana-based company called LandTrust is already getting a more than $1 million investment from the Wonder Fund for its new Fargo location.
The Trust Project
