FARGO —The cities of Fargo and West Fargo have pledged $400,000 each toward Fueling Our Future, an initiative spearheaded by the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corp.
According to information the organizations provided Fargo city officials, a major aim of Fueling Our Future is to help create 12,000 new jobs — 7,000 of which would be new, primary jobs — in its first four years.
The $800,000 provided by Fargo and West Fargo over four years would be pooled with about $4 million from private investors.
A board made up of private and public investors will oversee the initiative and decide projects to be funded, though specifics on how dollars would be dispensed have not been spelled out in detail.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Fargo City Commission voted 3-2 on Monday, May 20, to participate in the project, with commissioners Tony Gehrig and John Strand voting no, and commissioners Dave Piepkorn, Tim Mahoney and Tony Grindberg voting yes.
Strand had offered a motion to give $100,000 to the initiative for one year, after which the initiative would be reviewed, but the motion failed. Gehrig said he could offer support to the initiative, but he didn't want to give any money.
Organizers told Fargo officials Monday that goals of Fueling Our Future include keeping workforce talent in the region; prosperity; and community assets/quality of life.
Agencies organizing Fueling Our Future plan to talk about the initiative at a news conference set for Wednesday morning, May 22, at Sanford Medical Center, 5225 23rd Ave. S., Fargo
Reporter Barry Amundson contributed to this story.
