DORGAN SAYS RESEARCH CORRIDOR IS CONTINUING TO BUILD HIGH-TECH ECONOMY IN NORTH DAKOTA

Senator cites North Dakota’s high rankings in list of business-friendly cities

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or  Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551

(BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), introducing INC Magazine consultant Joel Kotkin at a Red River Valley Research Corridor Steering Committee meeting Tuesday, said that North Dakota’s high rankings in Kotkin’s Best Cities to Do Business in America list are the latest evidence that the effort to leverage federal dollars to attract high-tech research companies to the state is working.

Dorgan invited Kotkin to the meeting to discuss his magazine’s Annual Rankings of the Best Cities to Do Business in America, which last year placed North Dakota’s three largest cities all within the top third of U.S. cities ranked.

Dorgan said that in the last year, the Research Corridor has continued to grow – citing examples such as the new energy technology training facility at Bismarck State College, the soon-to-open Alien Technology facility in Fargo, and the groundbreaking of a new National Center for Hydrogen Technology at the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) in Grand Forks.

“In the last year, the Research Corridor has continued to expand as our efforts move forward to bring ideas, talent, and capital together to grow a vibrant, high-tech economy for North Dakota,” Dorgan said. “We’re holding this meeting in Bismarck because this city is proof that the Research Corridor is not limited to the Red River Valley. Our entire state has benefited from this initiative, and I will continue to work to secure federal funding that can be leveraged to grow our high-tech sector and create quality jobs right here at home.”

“North Dakota’s economy is making great strides in science and technology, manufacturing and energy – three critical areas to our nation’s productive capacity,” Kotkin said. “Initiatives like the Research Corridor are a catalyst for the kind of grassroots innovation that we are finding put cities at the top of the list in INC’s Best Places to Do Business Rankings. The state’s abundance of educated youth, affordable housing costs and family-friendliness put it in a good position to thrive in the coming years.”

Since Dorgan launched the Research Corridor initiative in 2002, he has directed more than $300 million to high-tech research in North Dakota.

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