Construction is expected to start in late August on a new Hooters restaurant and bar in south Fargo.
The new site is about two blocks south of Famous Dave's Barbeque on 45th Street.
Hooters of Fargo will keep its current location at 1649 38th St. S., just south of West Acres Shopping Center, until the new facility is finished.
The new Hooters will offer a full bar, unlike the current restaurant, which only serves beer. It will also have plasma TVs and a larger porch outside.
The new facility is a prototype for the company, said Ben Flieth, Hooters of Fargo manager.
ADVERTISEMENT
The new location, which is near baseball fields and the new hockey arena, is better suited for the restaurant, Flieth said.
"We're completely excited, the employees, all of us," he said. "We're just waiting for it to break ground now."
The Winery closing today in Fargo
Fargo's first wine bar, The Winery, 1404 33rd St. S., will close today.
"I think I was kind of unique in the marketplace," said owner Terry Borchardt, who opened the smoke-free wine bar and eatery in March 2006. "Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's not."
A lack of operating capital may have also attributed to having to close the business, he said.
"I've really enjoyed this, and want to thank the patrons that have been here," Borchardt said.
'Green' community to use GEM cars
ADVERTISEMENT
An 8,500-acre planned community in Florida plans to use electric vehicles built in Fargo as part of its "green" environmentally friendly focus.
Schroeder-Manatee Ranch is working with GEM (Global Electric Motorcars) to incorporate use of the company's electric vehicles in Lakewood Ranch, a planned master community near Sarasota.
It will be designated a GEM-friendly community by incorporating electric vehicles into its infrastructure.
To receive the GEM-friendly designation, Lakewood Ranch will include electric-vehicle-only lanes, parking places and charging stations.
"Lakewood Ranch is an important example of how people want to live and work in planned communities," said Valerie Weber-Hamann, GEM business development manager. "GEM vehicles are a perfect fit for Lakewood Ranch."
N.D. wages up 4.4% per year since 1998
Average North Dakota job compensation rose to $37,635 in 2005, up an average of 4.4 percent annually since 1998, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Employee compensation consists of wage and salary disbursement, employer contributions to employee pensions, and insurance funds and government social insurance.
ADVERTISEMENT
North Dakota employer contributions have grown 7.1 percent annually since 1998, while wages and salaries grew 5.1 percent annually.
Nationally, job compensation grew an average of 4.1 percent per year between 1998 and 2005, reaching $49,775.
Three other states had lower 2005 job compensation averages than North Dakota: Mississippi, $37,349; Montana, $37,019; and South Dakota, $36,123.
Connecticut had the highest at $63,279, followed by New York with $62,069 and Massachusetts with $59,642.
"This is the first time that overall compensation figures have been released by the BEA," said Richard Rathge, State Data Center director.
What's intriguing, he said, is that states ranking lowest in average wage and salary disbursement are among the highest in terms of the proportion that employers contribute to total compensation.
North Dakota ranks 12th-highest in the proportion that employers contribute to total compensation with 20.8 percent, while Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts rank in the bottom six states at less than 18.2 percent, Rathge said.
Readers can reach Business Editor Craig McEwen at (701) 241-5502 and business reporter Tracy Frank at (701) 241-5526
