Fargo INC! September 2017

september 2017

You Can Scale in North Dakota Justin Walsh Garrett Moon

// SEPTEMBER 2017

COVER STORY

36

You Can Scale in North Dakota: Just Ask CoSchedule A few years ago, they were a small, Bismarck, North Dakota-web company frustrated with the content-marketing process. Today, they can call themselves the No. 1 marketing calendar in the world. Through the thought leadership of cofounders Garrett Moon and Justin Walsh, CoSchedule's reach and influence only continues to grow—they have more than 8,000 customers in more than 100 countries—and they've done it all from right here in North Dakota.

51 Tour of CoSchedule's New Downtown Fargo Office

ADDITIONAL FEATURES 10 Editor's Note

64 Interurban Inspiration Mike Allmendinger

11 Editorial Advisory Board 23 24 26 28

Faces of Fargo Business Unseen's Than Baardson Nordic Needle's Ryan Evelyth Design Direction's Sylvia Lunski

68 My Artificially Intelligent Personal Assistant Betty Gronneberg

70 Emerging Prairie's Intern Experience

#1

31 It Wasn't Always Like This: APT

81

Marisa Jackels

Study Summary: North Dakota Is the No. 1 State for Startups 84

My Two Cents: The Utility of Values Josh Hoper

60 Event Preview: GameChanger Ideas Festival

74

86

The Finer Things for Fall

90

Tech Tips: Microsoft Outlook William Galvin

Business Events Calendar

78 Happy Hooligans Back in the Skies Again Craig Whitney

Visit FargoInc.com for extended content covering Fargo-Moorhead's business community and articles from past issues of Fargo INC!

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SEPTEMBER 2017

EDITOR'S NOTE

5Favorite

Photo by J. Alan Paul Photography

My

CoSchedule Insights

Not in the Cover Story

W

hen we asked CoSchedule Cofounders Garrett Moon and Justin Walsh for some of their tips and tricks for navigating the growth process, we didn't expect to have enough content for a second cover story.

While there won't be a part two, I didn't want to completely omit these five pieces of insight that didn't quite make it into the article:

1

The simplest of tools can be some of the most effective.

When CoSchedule is trying to decide whether to pursue an opportunity or product, they plot out a simple XY graph. At the bottom is a percentage ranging from 0 to 100—the number of people who would use a product or feature if they built it. And on the y axis is the amount of value they'd get from it: a little bit, some or a lot.

"It takes emotion out of the decision and does it very quickly," Walsh explains.

"It helps you just get it to factual and customer-driven information."

2

Hiring mistakes are inevitable, but there are ways to soften the blow.

"If it's your first hire, try to find a way to work with them part-time so you can

Nate@SpotlightMediaFargo.com 10

SEPTEMBER 2017

see if it’s really a good fit," Moon says.

"You don’t know enough about hiring so embrace the slow learning process and just go with it."

3

Silicon Valley office culture is (mostly) a sham.

It's okay to have a nice office. Nay, it's good to have a nice office. But Xboxes, ping pong tables and bean bags? Moon and Walsh can do without that stuff.

"I want people to want to come to work," Walsh says. "But when they're there, I want them to work really hard. I don't want them to come to work thinking they're in college and screwing around like it's a dorm room."

4

There's a dollars-and-cents value in going beyond an interview.

While they don't do it as much anymore, Moon and Walsh would take out some of their early, key hires for what they called "founders dinners."

In addition to the screening calls, postinterview calls, reference checks, and final interviews, they wanted to see how candidates behaved outside of the traditional, structured hiring process.

"It gives you more information to make

NateMickelberg

your decision," Walsh says. "And there were probably a handful of people who we went all the way through our typical process with and who didn't make it because of something that was validated for us. Maybe it was a red flag we had that we wanted to prove or disprove.

"The upside and payback of just spending a little more time in the hiring process with someone is huge—even if it means just making two or three 'saves.'"

5

Get really good at negotiating leases.

In the early days, CoSchedule never signed a lease that didn't have an out after a year or two, even if it meant giving up other creature comforts. If you have to paint your own walls or pay a small penalty for leaving early, so be it.

As always, thanks for reading,

Nate Mickelberg Editor Fargo INC!

LinkedIn.com/In/NateMickelberg

Fargo INC!'s

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD We at Fargo INC! want to make sure our content is unbiased, accurate, and reflects the views and opinions of the FM business community. That's why we meet regularly with our six-member editorial board to discuss area business issues and trends and ensure that we are living up to our stated values.

CRAIG WHITNEY

ANNA HANSON

President & CEO FMWF Chamber of Commerce

Moorhead Business Association Liaison

GREG TEHVEN

PAT TRAYNOR

Executive Director & Cofounder Emerging Prairie

JOHN MACHACEK

SVP, Finance & Entrepreneurial Development Greater Fargo/Moorhead Economic Development Corporation (GFMEDC)

President & CEO Dakota Medical Foundation (DMF)

CINDY GRAFFEO

Executive Director Moorhead Economic Development Authority (EDA)

Special Adviser GWEN HOBERG

Chair, Communications Committee Moorhead Business Assocation (MBA)

September 2017 Volume 2 Issue 9

Fargo INC! is published 12 times a year and is available at area businesses and online at FargoInc.com

Publisher Mike Dragosavich

CREATIVE

Editorial Director Andrew Jason Editor Nate Mickelberg Editorial Intern Kara Jeffers Graphic Designers Sarah Geiger, Matt Anderson Photography J. Alan Paul Photography, Hillary Ehlen, Paul Flessland

Contributors Marisa Jackels, Mike Allmendinger, Betty

Gronneberg, Craig Whitney, Josh Hoper and William Galvin

Copy Editors Erica Rapp, Andrew Jason Content Strategist Sam Herder Social Media Kara Jeffers Web Editor Samantha Stark Web/Digital Coordinator Huong Tran

Advertising

Sales Manager Layne Hanson

Senior Sales Executives Steven French, Wendy Baukol Marketing & Sales Paul Hoefer, Jenny Johnson, Scott Rorvig Client Relations Manager Jenny Johnson Sales Administrative Assistant Pam Mjoness Office Assistant Emily Peterson Administrative Tatiana Hasbargen Sales & Operations Interns Nick Hackl, Kyle Gliva, Ruth Olson, Anushree Kesurvala

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Delivery Hal Ecker, Nolan Kaml, Tom Wegner, Kent Hagen, Thomas White, Mitch Rapp

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Old House, New Times Old houses have their secrets, but everyone knows that old houses change over time. Historic homes are constantly being picked up and moved, torn down or remodeled beyond recognition. However, we've found a few hidden gems in Fargo that have not been changed by time but have changed with the times. See how their current owners are giving new life to these historic homes with five remarkable restorations.

The Avengers The Bison football team is back and so are the hopes for another national championship.

Seniors Nick DeLuca, Nate Tanguay and Tre Dempsey spearhead a Bison defense that already has fans across Bison Nation whispering that this group could be the best-ever version of "Code Green" at NDSU.

Do It All Downtown Does Downtown Fargo truly offer everything one might need in life? Whether you're an empty-nester looking to downsize, a family of five, a young professional or a college student, downtown is for anyone and everyone. With the help of a dedicated group of downtown diehards and business owners, Fargo Monthly took a look at how it's possible to live your life in Downtown Fargo without ever really needing to leave.

Faces of

FARGO BUSINESS We like to think of the Fargo business community as a giant puzzle and the people who comprise it as the different but equally essential pieces. Take one person, one company, or one industry away, and the picture becomes incomplete. Faces of Fargo Business is our chance to piece that puzzle together each month and celebrate the countless people who make this such a great place to work.

FARGOINC.COM

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THAN BAARDSON Cofounder & Executive Director

Unseen

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Faces of

Fargo Business

"

W

e just had a threeyear-old rescued in the Philippines. He was dropped over a fence with a note on his back that said, 'We can't take care of this little boy anymore.' And he was found wandering the street, crying by himself."

As Than Baardson tells the story of this young boy, he says it's hard not to imagine one of his own kids in the middle of that Philippine road.

"If you have a child around that age," says Baardson, cofounder and executive director of Unseen, a Fargo-based nonprofit that works around the world to fight human trafficking and its root causes, "then you know the absolute helplessness of a three-yearold put in a situation like that."

Baardson, a Moorhead native and 13-year veteran of the North Dakota Air National Guard, was first exposed to the issue of human trafficking while working on documentary

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Unseen

films with the Air Guard. As he began to understand the scope of the problem—it's currently estimated that worldwide there are more than 30 million people living in slavery of some form and more than 150 million kids living as orphans—he was looking for a way to help.

"What we identified was that there are people who have given their entire existence to rescue as many kids and families as possible," says Baardson, who launched Unseen with his co-founder, Tanya Martineau, in 2011. "They are so good at what they do but are lacking some critical pieces to the equation to help as many people as possible. Essentially, we're here to help great groups be even better."

Through partnerships with 25 human-trafficking-related organizations in 17 different countries, Unseen was involved with nearly 70 projects last year that provided fundraising training and media-marketing assets to nearly 120,000 kids and their families, and

their mission and reach only continue to expand.

"For me, as someone living in the wealthiest country on earth, the reality is that we can play a pretty significant role in this effort, and a lot is expected of us," Baardson says. "It's easy to start feeling helpless and think, 'What can I do? How can I ever intervene in that situation?'

But the incredible gift we've been given at Unseen is that we actually can help in those situations.

"I've walked the streets of New Delhi (India) and seen kids starving to death while standing next to one of the only people who could ever feed them, rescue them or rehabilitate them. And I've seen the people who aren't able to reach those kids because they have no funds. At Unseen, we're able to actually get funds to the people who know exactly where money needs to go, who know exactly how to use it and who know how to do the most damage with it."

If you're interested in hearing directly from one of Unseen's rescue partners, please consider attending "Unseen's Fall Fire" from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 26, at Sanctuary Events Center in Downtown Fargo.

FARGOINC.COM

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Faces of

Fargo Business

RYAN EVELYTH A President & CEO

Nordic Needle

Fargo transplant, Ryan Evelyth started at Nordic Needle more than 10 years ago, thinking she was taking a "relatively simple clerk position" at a knitting shop.

"Those who know of Nordic Needle know there's no such thing as a simple clerk position, though," Evelyth says of the long-standing needlework store in South Fargo. "When I started, store clerks were performing order fulfillment for e-commerce, phone, and mail orders, as well as doing fabric cutting."

The position also required the memorization of nearly 20,000 products in the store—and knowing the differences between them—so that she could assist customers with any project they might want to create.

Not long after starting, Evelyth took over the previously outsourced role of e-commerce-and-database developer and has held that

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Nordic Needle NordicNeedle.com

SEPTEMBER 2017

position for the last two and a half years.

She also took on another, even greater responsibility.

Following Nordic Needle's 40-plus-year legacy of being majority woman-owned, Evelyth purchased the company from its long-time owners in late 2014.

In addition to her duties managing the daily operations of the store, she's also the primary creative director and even occasionally teaches needlework-technique classes.

But despite all of Nordic Needle's successes as a company over the decades— they have more than 50,000 customers in 150 countries— Evelyth makes it clear that it's still the store's cultural roots that are most important to her and Nordic's 17 other team members.

"We see culture and heritage slowly drip away from us

every day," Evelyth says. "With the advent of cheap plastics and readily available, instantgratification goods shipped to our doors in two days from across the world. Our noses are in our phones, where we have pseudo connectivity through social media—while at home or at work many struggle finding meaning in their interactions while making ends meet.

"Needlework is rich in heritage and culture, and that preservation can be achieved through the practice and teaching of those techniques.

I hope that needlework can create meaningful connections to not only our pasts and cultures but to each other, our families and future generations. You can create something beautiful and useful while making heirlooms and memories. It’s a privilege to make available a small semblance of that type of connection and meaning for those who seek and want to practice it."

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SYLVIA LUNSKI Owner & Designer

Design Direction

"

I

feel like my servant's heart was nurtured early on. We may not have had a lot, but if a neighbor needed help or school needed a volunteer, my mom, or all of us, were there with a hotdish, pan of brownies or to lend a hand."

Sylvia Lunski grew up in a farm family, the second of eight kids.

"That's where I learned the value in working hard, having responsibilities and helping others," she says.

The passion Lunski had for working with and helping people has carried over into

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her professional life, with more than 30 years of designindustry experience.

"When designing, I pay close attention to the needs and preferences of my clients," Lunski says. "We work together to create beautiful, functional spaces that reflect their personalities and lifestyles perfectly."

Lunski worked for different types of flooring, furniture and cabinet stores over the years before deciding to open her own design business, Design Direction, a dozen years ago.

The business has now grown

Design Direction DesignDirectionFargo.com

SEPTEMBER 2017

from a small consulting firm to having four designers, a complete retail showroom and offers full interior-design services.

"In my current position—as with most small-business owners—I wear many hats and some better than others," Lunski says.

"They range from design and sales marketing to networking to customer service, HR and even driving our forklift, which I'll admit is not my strong suit.

"I work with my clients from the early, conceptual design stages all the way through installation and to completion," Lunski says. "I bring an understanding of the construction process, as well as trusted relationships with local contractors, trade partners and architects."

Along with providing clients with the best possible results, giving back to the community is something Lunski strongly believes in, and she's passionate about helping those less fortunate. This reflects not only in her personal life but also in her business.

"As a company, Design Direction gives financial support to the YWCA, Mathew's Voice Project and Great Plains Food pantry," Lunski says. "Serving others has become a cornerstone value that Design Direction's success has been and will continue to be built on."

Faces of

Fargo Business

FARGOINC.COM

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I

f you're new to Fargo, there's something you should know: It wasn't always like this. We take for granted the bustling city center that Downtown has become— filled with trendy restaurants, farmers markets and charming buildings—but not all that long ago, the landscape was quite different.

APT: A CREATIVE INCUBATOR

When McCal Johnson first moved to Fargo to begin a career in art, she assumed she would head to the big city after graduation.

Marisa Jackels is the lead storyteller at Tellwell, a socialmedia agency in Fargo.

BY Marisa Jackels PHOTOGRAPHY BY Paul Flessland and photos courtesy of APT, The Arts Partnership and Kilbourne Group

“I didn’t feel like Fargo was a place where artists could really flourish,” says the local artist.

“It felt like you started out here and then ran off to the bigger cities where there were more opportunities.”

That was during what would turn out to be a pivotal time for Fargo and a period of transformation that began to take place over

In partnership with our friends at Tellwell and Kilbourne Group, we'll be telling the story of Downtown's transformation in a series focused on the pivotal projects and historic renovations that paved the way for what the area has now become.

the course of Johnson’s years at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

By the time she graduated in 2012 with a degree in fine arts, something about the local arts scene had noticeably changed.

“I remember thinking, 'I can’t move!'" she says. "This place has evolved so much into a city that appreciates its art and its artists."

That growth has only continued as organizations such as the Arts Partnership and the Fargo Moorhead Visual Artists, among

many others, continue to advocate for the arts, illistrating how a thriving arts community equals a thriving city.

Milestones have included: expanding gallery spaces, offering more art classes for the community and downtown programming that engages locals with the vibrant art scene in an interactive way.

Campaigns such as The Arts Partnership’s “Support Local Art” stickers and t-shirts encourage folks to shop local and buy work from local artists. All the

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APT opened in summer 2016.

support helps professional artists like Johnson make a living in FargoMoorhead.

The most recent milestone can be seen in the form of APT, a creative incubator that opened in the summer of 2016.

“APT is a chance for artists to come together and work in individual and shared spaces, a chance for the community to collide with art and a chance to test this idea that artists are stronger when they are together,” says Dayna Del Val, President and CEO of The Arts Partnership.

BUSINESS

WISDOM

The idea for APT was born from the combined vision of The Arts Partnership, a Fargo-based nonprofit that advocates for local artists and art groups, and Fargo commercial-development firm Kilbourne Group.

Kilbourne Group, which is founded on the philosophy that “vibrant downtowns create smart, healthy cities,” maintains that the art and culture of a community are a vital piece of the puzzle.

“To create a unique experience for people, you need to have creativity,” says Kilbourne Group Prseident Mike Allmendinger.

“It’s thinking about things like, ‘What could happen here, in our downtown, that you could not experience anywhere else in the country?'”

Kilbourne Group approached Del Val about creating an arts incubator in January 2016.

Already, Kilbourne owned a building scheduled for renovation in early 2019—an 11,000-square-foot space that was once used for military training. It was spacious and filled with studio spaces—a perfect place to fill with artists and a way to test out the idea of a creative-arts incubator in Fargo.

Today, there are nearly 30 resident artists in the building, Del Val says, ranging from oil painters to ceramicists to musicians. There are even florists, chefs and fashion designers. In addition, the space has hosted a variety of events such as breakfasts, birthday parties and even a small opera.

"Be authentic and vulnerable. So many beautiful things can grow out of your ability to be open and exposed with others."

KELLY KRENZEL Founder, Hope Blooms FARGOINC.COM

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The 11-000-squarefoot space was once used for military training.

And because the building will be completely renovated in 2019, the artists are free to do what they wish. Erica Tagestad Edwards, a floral artist, and her sister, a painter, decided to give their carpet a makeover by drizzling it with swirls of paint.

Last fall, a team of artists came in and painted the hallway with chalkboard paint, which is now covered in doodles and illustrations, of course.

“My goal is for this building to be on its last leg before we hand the keys over to Kilbourne,” Del Val says with a laugh. “Well-loved— like a good baby blanket.”

APT is certainly feeling loved by artists like Johnson, who come in to work in their studios and get inspiration from other artists.

For some artists, it offers a welcome alternative to working alone in their homes or singular workspaces.

“Working alone secluded in my house . . . it’s lonely,” Johnson says. “Working in a space like this allows me to have community with others and be inspired by

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other artists. And it’s nice to be around people who can come and give you feedback on your work.”

While the building currently holding APT is a temporary testing ground, it's a significant step toward growing and supporting the arts community of Fargo-Moorhead, Del Val says.

“I don't think this community will ever not have an arts incubator of some kind again,” she says.

“This is the beginning of the next phase of Fargo, and we’re going to get to say that we were on the ground level.”

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Read past installments from the "It Wasn't Always Like This" series at KilbourneGroup.com/News

Tellwell WeTellwell.com

You Can Scale In North Dakota Just Ask CoSchedule 36

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A few years ago, they were a small, Bismarck, North Dakota-web company frustrated with the contentmarketing process. Today, they're one of the most popular content-marketing calendars in the world.

Through the thought leadership of cofounders Garrett Moon and Justin Walsh, CoSchedule's reach and influence only continues to grow—they have more than 8,000 customers in more than 100 countries—and they've done it all from right here in North Dakota.

We sat down with them at their brand-new, 14,000-square-foot office in Downtown Fargo to get some actionable advice and warnings for their fellow founders about making that often-difficult leap from "startup" to "growth."

By Nate Mickelberg Photography by J. Alan Paul Photography and Hillary Ehlen and photos courtesy of CoSchedule, Emerging Prairie and Tech.Co

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ADVICE

Practice as partners before you become partners.

Justin Walsh Cofounder, CoSchedule

Justin says...

"We did freelance together, side projects together and passion projects together. We built Chrome extensions, web apps, a number of different things.

"I think the one thing it prepared us to do was work together seamlessly when we eventually did start a company.

"Think about all that crap you figure out about who does what, who knows more about what and who makes decisions about what. That was an ebb and flow that we had already naturally fallen into, and everybody just got to work right away and got busy."

Beware the endless opportunities. It's true with

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development and product, and it’s more generally true in every part of your company.

As a startup, there will always be too much work for you to get done, and the opportunities will be vast. The focus has to be on building products that people actually want to buy.

Garrett Moon Cofounder, CoSchedule

Garrett says...

"Some of our first projects really had nothing to do with business. It was just learning how to work together.

"We'd start a late shift where, at 10 o'clock with the kids in bed and wives

CoSchedule By the Numbers

blog subscribers

asleep, we'd put on a pot of coffee, open up a Skype call, and build software until two or three in the morning, crash, and somehow go to work the next day and barely function."

CoSchedule's Trophy Case "Participant"

Google Demo Day (2015)

"Startup of the Year"

1 Million Thanks (2016)

"Top Five Startup"

Tech.Co's "Startup of the Year" (2016)

"Team Player"

1 Million Thanks (2017)

"IT Champion" TechND (2017)

ADVICE

Sell, sell, sell.

Garrett says...

"I think the smartest decision we made at both our companies that gave us some early success was not overthinking the company. We just went immediately to selling.

WARNING

"Sales is the lifeblood of a bootstrapped company, and you have to be selling very, very quickly.

It's one of the things that’s been consistent in our partnership is that we’ve really focused on selling something and using sales as the proof to continue working on something—rather than the idea."

Stop solving easy problems. As an

entrepreneur, your job is to constantly solve the hardest problem. Solve the hardest problem, and move on to the next, hardest problem.

The first hard problem you're going to solve is getting someone to pay you $1. Figure out how to get someone to pay you $1. Then, you can start thinking about No. 2. The reason that’s counterintuitive for a lot of startup founders is that they solve the problems they already know how to solve.

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ADVICE

Your most valuable early investment is feedback. Get a lot of it.

CoSchedule By the Numbers

code commits

Garrett says...

"Before CoSchedule, we made the mistake of launching products without collecting customer feedback first. We built based on our ideas. We thought 'This idea is so good. Of course the product is going to sell itself.' And they failed.

"So with CoSchedule, we really decided to do it differently. We actually launched the website and put a bunch of information about the product out there before it ever even existed and before we’d ever actually written any code.

"We started talking about CoSchedule and were collecting email addresses of people who were interested in it.

"As potential customers came to the site and showed an interest, we would book a phone call with them.

And we would go through it—one at a time—and we would describe what

the product would look like and what it would do.

"It was all very theoretical. There was no magic—we weren’t trying to make it look like the app was working or anything. It was just: Here’s what we think it’s going to be.

"We recorded every one of those calls—probably 10 or 15 total—and every single person on our team at that time watched those and started to understand what the customer actually wanted and what they were thinking.

"The thing that came out of that was a long-term vision for the product that was very different than what we started with. We went from an idea that was fairly small and niche to a major product roadmap that we are still working on. Even better, we came away with a strong sense of what our future customers wanted to buy from us."

Justin says...

"We picked a smaller market that we knew were classic early-adopters— people who would try the software and wouldn’t be quiet about their feedback but would instead give us tons of it early.

"The grand vision is still being realized, but I think in that first 12 months—the amount of iteration that happened on the product just based on the quantity of people we were able to get using it— that strategic advantage in the market was huge."

Don't underestimate the power of adding even one team member. When we talk to other founders, we often find ourselves telling them

WARNING

they're under-hiring. One thing you don’t understand when you're small is the multiplying factor of adding even just one person.

Every time you make a hire, what it does is free up more of the founder's time to focus on the next big company initiative or the next big goal. You're able to start working on the company rather than in it.

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ADVICE

Identify your assumptions.

WARNING Figure out if you want to be a business owner or a lifestyle owner. A lot of people think

they want the former but are actually making decisions like the latter. Do you want to be someone who gets paid enough to live, have fun and turn a hobby into work? Or do you want to start a company and run a business?

CoSchedule By the Numbers

customers 44

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Justin says...

"A technique for failing quickly is figuring out what assumptions you're making and then prove or disprove them faster. This is something we do on our product team every single day.

We’ll look at a new feature or user request and get into the build phase on it.

"We’ll look at it and say, 'Okay, that’s going to be four or five steps in order to build it, but if we don’t really think about that fifth step and just kind of assume it's all going to be fine—that the third party we want to integrate with is going to go great and have no problems—and we do the first four phases and then realize the fifth one is actually impossible or there's

Why They Stayed something preventing us from doing it, then look at how much time we wasted.

"That's just a small example of a broader concept. Look at your plan, figure out where your biggest assumptions are—the grey areas— and where you only have 50 percent confidence. Get it to 80 percent, and do that first.

"And if you cant, then scrap it and move on. Because that’s the right kind of failure—where you can learn from it faster. You were going to fail anyway.

Failure wasn’t going to change. It's about how quickly you can realize it, move on, and do something else that’s better or different."

When you ask Walsh and Moon why they opted to stay in North Dakota instead of leave for supposedly greener pastures, it's clearly a question they've answered dozens of times before—and to them, it seems pretty self-explanatory.

the capital you need. You're not going to find enough people who are experts at the technology you need to do this.'

"What’s better about anywhere else?"

Walsh asks. "I mean, really, what’s better about anywhere else than here? What makes those places more conducive to starting a company?"

"But here we are, over the 60-person mark, and we’ve yet to be wrong. North Dakota continues to actually be an advantage for us, not a disadvantage by any stretch of the imagination."

Moon chimes in.

They even say that—contrary to the conventional wisdom— finding talent is easier here.

"I think there's just this nature to belief that the grass is always greener . . . somewhere else . . . all the time," he says.

"Everyone in Bismarck asks, 'Why aren’t you in Fargo?' Then, you go to Fargo, and they say, 'Why aren’t you in Minneapolis?'

In Minneapolis, its, 'Why not Chicago?'

From there, 'Why aren’t you in Silicon Valley?' Then, you go to San Francisco, and they're like, 'Don’t move here, man.'

"People told me all the time, 'You aren't going to be able to find talent. You aren't going to be able to find the hires you need. You're not going to be able to find

"If you go to Silicon Valley, you're fighting all the other cool startups," Moon says.

"And recruiting is extremely hard— probably harder than it is here, honestly.

And there, people are jumping around much more often.

"In North Dakota, people are hardworking, they're smart, they're loyal and they're looking for bigger opportunities all the time. And when you go somewhere else, they're not as loyal because they don’t have to be. They can jump ship."

ADVICE

Focus on 10x, not 10 percent.

Garrett says...

"Two things are key: focus and discipline. You have to figure out how to focus your product on the largest opportunities.

"At CoSchedule, we call these 10x opportunities. 10x opportunities have the ability to multiply your company’s results by 10 times. 10-percent opportunities will improve your company by 10 percent. They'll make it a little better—technically better—and they're not necessarily a bad thing to do. It's just not going to make that big of an impact.

"As a startup, you have to focus completely on 10x. You can’t mess

around with 10 percent. We still talk every single day about 10x ideas.

"In terms of product, we're looking at features saying, ‘We could sell this product, our tool, to 100 more customers per month if we had a Pinterest integration. Well, Pinterest doesn’t have an API (application programming interface). Well, so what?

We’ll figure out how to work around it.’

"The key is just being really, really focused. Who is the customer? What is the problem? And what are the 10x opportunities that will allow you to maximize your position in the market?"

Aiming low is usually a self-fulfilling prophecy. As

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entrepreneurs, sometimes we can set our expectations a little too low, and we let ourselves stay in "basement mode." By having three or four people on the payroll, though, you have to figure out how to put money in the cash register.

It also forces focus and discipline. Once you're paying someone's paycheck that’s not yours, you better make sure they're busy and working on the right things. You start to think about what you're doing and what you think about very differently.

ADVICE

Lose your idea.

Garrett says...

"Somewhere along the way—if you're getting the correct feedback—what should happen is that you should start losing track of the idea, and you should start seeing the vision that your customers are laying out for you. What you should be seeing is their problems that you're actually solving for them.

"You're not in business to sell your idea.

You're in business to solve problems for your customers . . . period. That’s what they're trading their money for is a solution. So you have to figure out how to get to that as quickly as possible and really understand what the solution is."

CoSchedule By the Numbers

team members

ADVICE

Manage expectations from day one.

Garrett says...

"One of the mistakes I see founders making is giving people ridiculously huge titles where they actually have nowhere to go but down. For example, if you make your third hire the VP of product, you've made a mistake. It's a three-person company. There are no VPs here. At some point, they're going to be let down when you actually have to hire a VP of product.

"We were always very careful with titles, and we were very careful with expectations. In the early days, we said, ‘Listen, we're interviewing you for this content-marketing position, but at the end of the day, your name is so-andso, and your abilities and talents are ultimately going to define your job and

what you're going to be doing­—not some grand promises of things that may or may not come down the road.'

"You say, ‘Listen, we expect this thing to grow and to one day be a company of a couple-hundred people. We see this position as: You’re going to be one of the leaders in this area, and you’re going to help us build this for now. But it’s going to change, it's going to go through many metamorphoses and what we're asking is for you to come along for the ride. We can't make any promises about any particular position in the future, but we can definitely say the opportunities will be there if they're the right fit and make sense for everybody.’"

There's no aha moment. That's the fantasy version of

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entrepreneurship. It’s really much more about persistence. Yes, it starts with an idea, but it's about figuring out how to make sure an idea is something people want, how to turn it into something people want, figuring out what they're willing to pay for it, how to get them to pay for it and how to get them to keep paying for it. The pieces that come after the idea really are the hard part.

CoSchedule: A Timeline JAN '13 Calendar idea is hatched on a plane between Atlanta and North Dakota

MAR '13 CoSchedule blog begins and calendar MVP (minimum viable product) goes to ideation phase

AUG '13 CoSchedule gets its official office in downtown Bismarck, North Dakota

SEPT '13 The CoSchedule calendar launches in late September

APR '14 The company gets its first round of seed funding at $500,000

AUG '15 CoSchedule reaches 5,000 customers

OCT '15 The company opens a second location in Fargo

JUL '16 CoSchedule blog reaches 100,000 subscribers

AUG '16 CoSchedule reaches 100+ countries

Exploring CoSchedule's

New Office

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ow in the heart of Downtown Fargo, CoSchedule recently moved into a 14,000-square-foot office on the corner of First Avenue North and Roberts Street. Fargo INC! took a tour to get a closer look at what the workspace consists of and the purpose behind the design elements.

Entrance

With large windows surrounding the office, it was important to have a nice curb appeal within their entrance space. While it isn't a retail store with customers going in and out all day, people do come by for interviews, deliveries and if CoSchedule hosts an event. The entrance is the first impression of the company, and they want to wear their brand loud and proud.

While a sign is permanent, the television allows the visuals in the space to change. It flips through a variety of screens, including photos from different events and the hashtag #OverheardAtCoSchedule, which is a collection of intra-office conversations posted on Twitter.

By Kara Jeffers Photography by Hillary Ehlen FARGOINC.COM

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As a perk, CoSchedule supplies team members with items such as soft drinks, sparkling water, coffee and Clif bars. They want to give people the energy they need to continue to work hard. This is all located in their kitchenette.

The fireplace is a signature piece in both the Bismarck and Fargo offices. It gives the space an inviting feel, perfect for visitors to sit and relax while they wait for a meeting or interview to start.

Team members will also gather around this space. In the afternoons, it isn't uncommon for employees to come work in the natural light.

CoSchedule is hiring a generation of people who are embracing and living downtown, and they want to accommodate those team members who choose to bike to work. A goal is to eventually have bikes that employees are able to use.

Café

The CoSchedule café is designed to feel like a coffee shop. People go to coffee shops nowadays to work—to be more productive and get a change of atmosphere—and the company is harnessing that to give team members a change of pace. In the mornings, people will be at their workspaces, but in the afternoon, it’s common to see relocation to this space. It has also already been used to host different events.

The long table was made by Grain Designs. It's used as both a work and entertaining space. For example, everyone gets together to have brats on Wednesdays, and the food gets set up here.

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These shelves provide both function and fashion. They highlight books that are foundational to the company such as "Linchpin" by Seth Godin, which every employee reads, and shirts they give away. Different decorations are also on display, as well as basketballs to shoot in the nearby hoop and cubbies that are there for employees to have places to store their things.

Can you spot the Fargo INC! article on display?

The booths are also made by Grain Designs and add to the coffee house aesthetic.

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Office Layout

An open concept promotes collaboration.

Everyone is podded up, or in clusters, of teams. It doesn’t matter what their role is—even the heads of department don't have an office. When you’re downtown, space is a commodity, and an open concept maximizes square footage, allowing more people to fit in the space while also looking great. Everyone also has desks that can do both standing and sitting positions.

CoSchedule wants employees to be confident and productive no matter what their style of working is. Open concept is becoming a major trend, but it only works when there are places to escape to, which is why CoSchedule also has the café, entrance area and other small meeting rooms for teams to work in.

This is one of their larger conference rooms, which has been helpful to their team and company as it continues to grow.

The glass walls are important to keep the open concept feel going.

Everything is transparent, which is also how the company works.

Teams that are larger have their own space. It’s open, but they have their own video conferencing right there instead of having to escape to a conference room.

Because CoSchedule has two offices, entire teams may be split up across both locations. The company has high-end video conferencing platforms that may be used to communicate between the two. They believe it needs to be just as easy to hold a video-conferencing call as it is to send an email or to pick up the phone and call someone. These rooms comfortably fit four to six people and include the television and white boards to brainstorm. It's a great place to connect while not interrupting or distracting others. The office also has call rooms, which are for one person.

Wall Art

“Do what you love where you love” is CoSchedule’s internal mantra and hits two things: the what and the where. They want to create a place where team members are doing what they love while also staying in the great state of North Dakota.

It's a motivational reminder built into their culture to celebrate how lucky the company is to do what they love and to do it here in North Dakota, a state known for loyalty and productivity.

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"Organizing the world one marketing calendar at a time" is CoSchedule's battle cry. When they think about what they're trying to do, this is the purpose that ultimately drives every decision. This wall is also another area for curb appeal, as it sits right behind the window facing First Avenue.

This quote from Apple's "Think Different" ad campaign fits in well with CoSchedule's culture. The company is a place for people who aren't afraid of challenges, take risks, to fail fast and to create change. It's for free spirits who look at things differently. The chairs add a unique touch and are more comfortable than they look!

This is Cal, the mascot of CoSchedule, showing off the company's mantra.

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CoSchedule CoSchedule.com

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Brenna Gerhardt

is the executive director of the North Dakota Humanities Council and the founder of GameChanger Ideas Festival.

GameChanger Ideas Festival 5 Things to Know

T

he GameChanger Ideas Festival is an opportunity for North Dakotans to take a deep dive into a critical issue facing our state, region and nation.

Founded four years ago, the event picks a different topic each year that's prevalent in the news and popular culture, and they curate an event around it. The goal is to both explain the scope of the challenge and then offer solutions from some of the most innovative and thought-provoking thinkers in the world.

This year, GameChanger is tackling criminal-justice reform and discussing ways we can reduce prison populations while creating safer communities.

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Sat., Sept. 23 Bismarck, ND

No. 1) GameChanger wants to cut through the noise.

Brenna Gerhardt: “We really started GameChanger because we felt like, as Americans, there were critical, civil conversations that we need to be having on issues that just weren't happening.

“There’s so much noise out there. There are so many different news sources and fake news sources, and we wanted to be a trusted source where we could bring people in to a more moderate, thoughtful and articulate environment where people could communicate views on different sides of an issue.

"The hope is that it's a place where people can wade through an issue in an environment that's conducive to learning and can have a conversation and be open and thoughtful about something."

By Nate Mickelberg | Photography by J. Alan Paul Photography and photos courtesy of GameChanger Festival

EVENT PREVIEW

No. 2) Where TED Talks tend to scratch the surface, GameChanger goes a little deeper.

Gerhardt: "We only invite people who have done something critical to engage in change. They have to have a track record, not just an idea. They have to have experienced it and done it.

"And most of the time, they’ve actually changed their idea. They started out with an idea, and then, as they implemented, they realized it needed to be tweaked or changed. There’s principle, and then there’s practice. And when those two things meet, it doesn’t always go the way you think it's going to go.

"Another critical difference is that, every year, we take the format we had the year before, throw it out the window, and do something completely fresh and different."

No. 3) They're not competing events, though. They're complementary.

Gerhardt: “I love TED. We have a TEDx in Bismarck. TEDxFargo, which is obviously bigger, is fabulous. But we don’t see them as being competing events in any way, shape or form.

"It’s critical for communities to have many different kinds of cultural events. There's not just one way to do it. We just want people to get engaged and thinking. And everyone learns in different ways and can be engaged in different ways. So we want to give people different options from which to approach something."

No. 4) The topic-selection process is crowdsourced.

Gerhardt: “We pick the topic two years out.

We have a community advisory committee made up of the mayor, business leaders, and teachers, among others. And we ask them: 1) What's happening in our community?

2) What are you reading about in the newspaper?

3) What keeps you up at night?

4) What kinds of conversations do we need to have?

"We arrived at this year's topic given the number of police shootings we've seen over the past couple years and given our desire to dig a little more on topics that people have a lot of questions and misconceptions about.

"And the first thing we did when we decided to have this conversation about police shootings and criminal justice was go to the police themselves. We talked to Chief David Todd in Fargo and Chief Dan Donlin in Bismarck and said, ‘We’d like to have this conversation, and we’d like you to be at the table. Is that something you’re interested in?' And they very graciously said 'yes.'

"Because even though we’re taking a look at a critical issue, it’s not an anti-police event in any way, shape or form. We're trying to be really fair to all sides of the issue and make it a learning experience that makes our whole community better.

We’re inviting police officers to come for free to the event so that they’ll be there for the discussion.

"We believe it’s really important to have all the voices at the table and be respectful of the people in the community who are doing those hard jobs like policing."

No. 5) GameChanger is for the general public, not just content experts in the field.

as legislators. We really think this is a farreaching and critical issue. It's really about exploring ideas and understanding the complexity of ideas. So it's for everyone.

Gerhardt: "We want people to know that you don’t need to be a content expert on this to come. It really is for the general public. We think that everyone who comes will get something out of it. And this topic touches everyone’s lives—as a taxpayer who’s paying for the prisons, as a publicsafety issue, as police officers, as lawyers,

"It’s an event for everyday citizens who want to understand and participate in our democracy in a way that strengthens us as people who come together in the face of crisis and challenge."

EVENT SCHEDULE

8 a.m.

Book signing

Registration begins at the Belle Mehus Auditorium

12:45 - 1:45 p.m.

9 a.m.

1:45 - 2:45 p.m.

Intro and opening

9:15 - 10:05 a.m.

Presentation and Q&A

Speaker Tom Gash

Author, "Criminal: The Truth About Why People Do Bad Things" The day's events will be moderated by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and 2016 GameChanger speaker Eric Schlosser.

12:15 - 12:45 p.m.

Lunch

Local Panel North Dakota is full of individuals working to make our criminal-justice system the best it can be. No one group can do it alone, and all have expertise in a different area.

2:45 - 3 p.m.

Break

3 - 4:30 p.m.

10:05 - 10:20 a.m.

Break

10:20 - 11:10 a.m.

Keynote presentation and Q&A

Speaker Piper Kerman

Author, "Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison"

Speaker

Theatrical performance of "Cops & Robbers," a one-man play written and performed by J. Piper, a sheriff's deputy, writer and actor.

The play depicts 17 characters reacting to a cop shooting a possibly unarmed suspect.

4:30 - 5 p.m.

Q&A w/ J. Piper

11:10 - 11:30 a.m.

Break

5 p.m.

Conclusion

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

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"Meeting of the Minds" All three speakers will come together for a roundtable discussion to compare and contrast their views on the criminal-justice system.

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Tickets To register, visit GameChangerND. com/Tickets Use promo code "FARGO" to receive a 10% discount.

GameChanger Ideas Festival GameChangerND.com

InterUrban

INSPIRATION

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VERY BUSINESS BENCHMARKS. TAKING A DEEPER LOOK AT WHAT YOUR PEERS AND COMPETITORS ARE DOING IS AN EXCELLENT WAY TO MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS. IT’S ALSO A NICE SHOT OF LEARNING AND INSPIRATION. AT KILBOURNE GROUP, MUCH OF OUR BENCHMARKING COMES IN THE FORM OF EXPLORING OTHER CITIES. WHEN YOUR JOB IS TO DESIGN GREAT SPACES AND UNIQUE EXPERIENCES FOR PEOPLE, THE BEST WAY TO BENCHMARK IS TO GET OUT THERE AND HAVE SOME FUN.

BY Mike Allmendinger PHOTOS COURTESY OF Kilbourne Group

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Mike Allmendinger is the president of Fargo commercialdevelopment firm Kilbourne Group.

Arts

Roberts Commons Garage in Downtown Fargo

Parking For years, the City of Fargo Parking Commission considered the pros and cons of building a parking garage Downtown. While the need for parking infrastructure was apparent, a stark garage in the middle of your walkable retail district doesn’t appeal to the masses. Long expanses of cement can destroy what retail consultant Robert Gibbs calls your town’s “X-Factor.”

Then, one day, the commissioners and city leaders boarded a bus to tour Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Omaha, Nebraska—sister cities with similar historic, mixed-use districts to Fargo.

Many of us have visited a new city and stumbled upon a crazy-cool art space, alive with creators creating and full of intriguing local artwork you’ll never see anywhere else. It leaves an impression and imprints on you a lasting feeling of that city. For more than a year, Kilbourne Group has been working with The Arts Partnership, learning the language of each other’s business and partnering to find ways to work together to create more space for arts in Downtown Fargo.

Mixed-use parking garages— particularly those in Lincoln— gave commissioners a front-row view of how a parking structure can add to your downtown’s walkability rather than detract from it, and the idea for Roberts Commons was born.

Parking is now open at 625 Second Avenue North (a reminder that the first two hours are free), and the mixeduse building of apartments, retail and restaurant space that will wrap the garage on three sides is well underway.

Anticipated opening is late spring 2018.

APT, a creative incubator Downtown, is the result of this partnership. It’s been a launching space for dozens of creatives and has contributed to our community in ways we wouldn’t have imagined. In August, a young receiver of a North Dakota Make-A-Wish grant will fulfill her dream to have a gallery show to display her work and raise money for cystic-fibrosis research.

Hundreds of people have been through the space, interacted with the artists and their art, and become a bit more connected to our arts community.

The team at The Arts Partnership continues to explore the art spaces in

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Main Street Square in Rapid City, South Dakota, sees more than 200 events and more than 600,000 people annually.

Square, which draw more than 600,000 people into the space each year. Data show that 80 percent of them are local to Rapid City, proving it's truly an amenity for the people of the city.

Local artist McCal Johnson in her space at APT.

other cities in an effort to continuously improve and to plan for a phase two of APT.

Civic Plaza In 2011, Rapid City, South Dakota, opened Main Street Square, a civic open space in the heart of its downtown, programmed for the enjoyment of residents and tourists alike.

Today, more than 200 events are held annually in Main Street

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Their weekly summer concert series draws more than 10,000 people per night. Their weekly outdoor movie night draws more than 800. Winter openskating sees more than 16,000 people lacing up skates each season—all in a space that used to be a surface parking lot.

And to top it off, the Main Street Square consultant we’re working with says that since the opening of the civic space, there are no vacancies in downtown Rapid City. The registers are ringing, and businesses are thriving.

The Downtown Fargo civic plaza (formal name to be determined) is modeled

after Main Street Square.

The landscape-architecture team, consisting of Land Elements of Fargo and REA of Indianapolis, has designed the plaza as a multi-use area with programming options available 12 months a year.

Fargo Parks District is on board to manage and program the space, ensuring it's designed for all who wish to enjoy it. We continue to learn from Main Street Square while creating something unique for Fargo.

They say imitation is the purest form of flattery, and we’re grateful to every town along the way that has inspired us to try something new. What have you seen that you’d love to have in Fargo?

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"Understanding where people are coming from and what lens they're viewing the world through will give you a new perspective on every individual, situation or challenge."

MEGAN OTTO Senior Visual Designer, CoSchedule FARGOINC.COM

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Let Me Tell You About

MY ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT PERSONAL ASSISTANT

BY Betty Gronneberg Betty Gronneberg is the founder and executive director of uCodeGirl, a technology- and STEM-mentorship initiative in Fargo.

PORTRAIT BY Paul Flessland

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C

onnecting with people is an important part of my job, and I enjoy it.

It often requires a lot of maneuvering of schedules and a parade of emails before a date and time is decided upon. Though I don’t particularly dislike the email ping-pong that ensues, it left me searching for a better way to do it.

For some time, I have been using online scheduling forms such as Doodle, Appointy, and Calendly, and they work great.

Still I wondered, though, "Is there an even better way to optimize the tools I already use—one that integrates my email and calendar?"

Meet Amy Ingram, my virtual personal assistant.

Her initials are, of course, A.I., the same ones typically used to describe artificial intelligence. The rest of her last name, n-gram,

"Though I don't particularly dislike the email ping-pong that ensues, it left me searching for a better way to do it." is a technique used in computational linguistics for text- and speech-mining and analytics. And you guessed it: Amy is not a human. She's a sophisticated algorithm for scheduling my preferred time, created by New York City startup x.ai.

All I have to say in my email communication is “My virtual assistant, Amy, will find us a time for coffee this week," and blind-copy her. She then knows to schedule an hour during my preferred coffee-drinking time, and she's programmed to know when I'm available to jump in a call for a half hour. It works brilliantly, and having an assistant includes a heavy dose of ego-stroking appeal!

The company boasts hundreds of thousands of schedules being handled using Amy or her male counterpart, Andrew Ingram. This is personal computing elevated to the next level. Move over "There's an app for that." That's so 2015!

With human-like phrases such as, “Happy to schedule a time with you and Betty," it becomes tricky to not try and interact with Amy in a personal way. Even though I have informed my contacts this is a virtual assistant, they still ask, “Amy, can you have Betty come in 10 minutes early?” or ”Please inform Betty that . . . " One day, I received an email from Amy: “Since you and I have gotten used to each other, I will spare your inbox forwards of my communications."

“Hmmm," I wondered aloud, "Should I be worried?"

Turns out my fear was justified. I almost missed an important meeting because I shared a calendar with my husband, and Amy replied to my contact, “Unfortunately, that time doesn’t work for Betty. ”

Revolution" is a time of extraordinary change and offers boundless possibilities.

The specialty-smart-bots market is already crowded with many agents doing similar things. And not just for scheduling but also as career development advisors and HR assistants, among others.

“We’re not setting out to build a human-assistant replacement," says Charles Lee, the cofounder of Gene, another smart bot on the market. "It’s a product to address the 99 percent of the population that doesn’t have one. Our target user is not going to be the C-level executive who already has an assistant."

A smart realization of the limitations, complexities, and importance of social maneuvering in human interactions, if you ask me.

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If you're interested in learning more about Amy: x.ai https://x.ai

Oops, it was time to intervene.

This "Fourth Industrial FARGOINC.COM

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INTERN EXPERIENCE PROGRAM Emerging Prairie's

BY Kara Jeffers PHOTOGRAPHY BY Hillary Ehlen

A

s summer comes to a close and fall semesters begin, the third year of Emerging Prairie's Intern Experience program wraps up. This year, about 45 interns were enrolled in the eight-week program, which began in June.

"It's designed to help interns connect to each other and to the community," says Annie Wood, director of community programs at Emerging Prairie.

"We want to help them get to know people in other companies so they can share

Annie Wood

stories and learn from each other."

Interns are divided into small groups and meet each week.

"Each meeting has a theme that works them through a

Director of Community Programs Emerging Prairie

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discovery process, helping them understand themselves and how they contribute to the company through the internship they're in," Wood says.

"We then discuss what it means to be on a team or part of a group, how it's different and challenging, and what that means for communicating in a power structure. We wrap up the summer by helping them think about their time at their internship as it's coming to a close. What do they want to take with them? What do they want to take beyond? The goal is to get them to think one step further as far as careers and continuing in school goes."

The interns also gather as a large group four times in the hope that they discover more about the community and learn from local experts.

"The first one is designed to be a fun one so this year we had a Downtown Fargo scavenger hunt to help them interact with Fargo in a different way," Wood says. "For the other three large-group sessions, we bring in community members to discuss other areas we are exploring.

Company Perspective Brianne Hoffman

Communication Specialist Doosan Bobcat North America

"The first speaker talked about how to understand if your skills are or aren't really a good fit for your job this summer. How do you make the most of it?

Another speaker came in and talked about teams, how they are different than groups of people and how you begin to form people into a team versus a group. The last speaker we had was actually a TEDxFargo speaker. He's a professor of communication, and we had him talk from a bigger organizational-level standpoint about communication and how organizations view the interns' age group as part of the workforce."

The Intern Experience program is a simple and practical tool for local interns, but to be successful, it needs to have active participation from the Fargo-Moorhead community.

Fargo INC! connected with two participating companies who sent interns to participate in the program as well as one of the facilitators to get a better explanation of their roles in the program and their opinions of its impact.

How many interns did your company send to the program? One A brief description of the intern's responsibilities • Supporting execution of internal communication's short- and long-term strategies • Ensuring all communications meet company standards within specified deadlines • Creating and assisting with research, copy writing, editing, designing stories for various media delivery • Working closely with stakeholders across functions and locations to ensure timely, accurate, cost-effective completion of projects

Why did you want your intern to participate in the program?

"We felt our intern, Kim, would benefit from connecting with other interns in the community and sharing best practices. We encourage our interns to grow and learn throughout their time with Doosan Bobcat. We were excited that she sought out this program, looking to further expand her community awareness and learn more about her field of study throughout the process."

What do you think the intern gained from participating?

"I think Kim liked connecting with other interns in the community and learning more about their experiences. We have a small communications team and this allowed her to share her personal experience with others as well as bring additional insight back to Doosan Bobcat and apply it."

How did your company benefit from your intern participating in the program?

"I liked that the program gave Kim assignments to complete.

It forced her to come back to Doosan Bobcat and do some research and crowdsourcing to complete her assignments. In the process, she learned more about our company, our people and our culture. She was also able to connect with others in the community and expand her social network, which I think will help shape her future career."

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Company Perspective Andy Luikens

Recruiting Coordinator Border States Electric

How many interns did your company send to the program? 11 A brief description of the interns' responsibilities "The interns spend 75-80 percent of their time working on daily business functions within their department of hire.

Some examples of this work are: vendor Analysis, process/ operations improvement and business integration. The other 20-25 percent of their time, the interns focus on a company project that allows them to act as an intern team to benefit the organization as a whole."

Why did you want the interns to participate in the program?

"Border States takes pride in and cares for each and every community we service throughout the 20 states we are located. Even more importantly, we know that civic responsibility is key to getting and keeping great people

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within our employee-owned business. The Emerging Prairie Intern Experience allows interns to see Fargo-Moorhead in a unique and creative way, which ultimately builds a bond to this area and its people, creating a foundation for future success."

What do you think the interns gained from participating?

"The Intern Experience makes a direct impact on each young professional involved in it.

From getting the chance to simply network with peers and other business leaders to sitting in educational sessions that directly build their skills, knowledge and expertise in areas such as workplace collaboration versus cooperation. We know that each of our interns had takeaways, as they would often come into the office after their meetings and share their most recent growth experience."

How did your company benefit from your interns participating in the program?

"Seeing the concepts learned through the Intern Experience put to use was truly the most engaging part of having our young professionals participate. This program gives interns knowledge that they continuously bring back into the organization to share and improve our daily work.

"Many used their time and skills as a reason to speak up and share information within their team or department. This not only built them up over the summer but also provided value to all those in our organization who grew from an intern sharing a new idea or concept. Overall, the Intern Experience is simply a great value-add to any internship program."

SEPTEMBER 2017

Rachel Johnson

Chief Operating Officer (COO) Hatch Coaching Hatch Realty

Each small group was facilitated by a young professional in the community.

Their job was to introduce the talking point for the day and explore and lead the questions to help facilitate discussion.

Rachel Johnson of Hatch Realty was one of these facilitators.

Describe your role as a facilitator with the Intern Experience program: "As a facilitator for the Intern Experience program, my main role was to be a resource for young adults experiencing their first taste of employment in the business world, which can be overwhelming!"

"Your engaged employees are a powerful voice.

They're 270 percent more likely to refer a friend to work for or with your company."

BETHANY BERKELEY Performance Consultant, Dale Carnegie of ND & MN

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Facilitator Perspective

What benefits did small groups specifically add to the Intern Experience?

"The small groups allowed for more intimate conversation and relationship-building that doesn’t always occur in a largegroup setting. The small groups brought individuals together to learn and grow by sharing their experiences in the work force. Hearing from people who were sharing similar but different experiences brought perspective and understanding to how they contribute to the teams, organizations and communities they are a part of."

In your opinion, why should companies and supervisors send their interns to a program like this?

"As a company, when you dedicate resources and time to anyone in the organization, they feel valued. As an intern, not only does this investment show that they are valued members of the company but also shows how much that company wants to create leaders and allow for personal growth."

What do you think the interns gained from participating?

"The direct feedback I heard from my interns was they appreciated having dedicated time to reflect on the experience they were having at their internship and engaging in conversations with other interns going through similar experiences in our community."

How do you think insights and skills gained from the program helped FM companies this summer, and how will it help future employers?

"This program allowed for individuals to see their job as more than just a '9-5' but an opportunity to be a leader in their teams, organizations and communities."

THE THINGS FALL

Trends are constantly changing, so we teamed up with onyx + pearl and Halberstadt's to find clothing and accessory items to fit the fads as we transition from summer to fall in the workplace.

WOMEN'S All items can be found at

onyx + pearl 21 8th St. S, Fargo Facebook: @onyxandpearl Instagram: @onyx.and.pearl

As one of the newer retail stores in Downtown Fargo, onyx + pearl focuses on women's attire, specifically for women looking for businessappropriate clothing options. Check out these pieces to update your fall wardrobe for work!

Navy blue pin stripe top with front ties

by Dress Forum ($38)

Taupe leather pointed toe flats by Free People ($198)

Khaki motorcycle leggings by Beulah Style ($43)

Black pom pom earrings ($9)

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Corduroy floral print blazer by Essue ($48)

Black and white faux snake skin loafers by M&L ($29)

Blackand-white pinstripe jumpsuit by Dress Forum ($47)

Black blazer by Ellison ($47)

White denim blue striped midi dress by Orange Creek ($40)

Blush velvet handbag with tassel zipper by Vegan ($41)

Gold circle earrings with rhinestones ($6) FARGOINC.COM

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DRESSY

MEN'S

All items can be found at

Halberstadt's 102 Broadway N, Fargo Facebook: @HalberstadtsND Instagram: @HalberstadtsND HalberstadtsND.com

While some companies may still require dressier attire, many are going toward a more businesscasual dress code. Either way, Halberstadt's has got you covered!

With some pieces just received for the fall season, here are two ways to take the same blazer and wear it in your work setting.

CASUAL

All wool navy blazer by S2 Couture ($200)

DRESSY

Wool and silk tie by Barbara Blank ($50)

DRESSY

White, all cotton and wrinkle-free dress shirt by BLU ($70) 76

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DRESSY

All wool, grey sharkskin, slim fit dress pants by S2 Couture ($100)

CASUAL

Patterned sports shirt by BLU ($70)

CASUAL

Denim jeans by Mavi ($98)

DRESSY & CASUAL

Tan conard cap toe shoes by Johnston & Murphy ($150)

DRESSY & CASUAL DRESSY & CASUAL

Tan belt by Florsheim ($30)

Navy, patterned socks by St. Croix ($36) FARGOINC.COM

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Happy Hooligans

By Craig Whitney

Back in the Skies Again

T Craig Whitney is the president and CEO of the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber of Commerce.

Portrait by J. Alan Paul Photography

he Fargo-MoorheadWest Fargo Chamber of Commerce is committed to supporting the men and women who serve in our armed forces. We are fortunate to live in a community that is rich in well-trained and professional military outfits, including our Army National Guard units, Naval Reserve squadron and our 119th Wing of the North Dakota Air National Guard, AKA The Happy Hooligans.

A special moment in time is being marked for the airmen of the Happy Hooligans as they are in the process of completing a successful transition to operating the MQ-9 Reaper, a medium-altitude, longendurance aircraft capable of precision attack and reconnaissance.

This completed transition marks the first time that a Happy Hooligans aircraft has

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flown over the skies of Fargo since the F-16s left in 2007 and the C-21s left in 2013.

It’s truly a remarkable moment for the past and present airmen of the Happy Hooligans. While the flights you see in the skies above are done for training purposes, it's important to note that our airmen are also supporting missions where their expertise is needed across the world.

Vital to the safety and security of our nation is the 119th Wing’s mission to provide trained-and-ready airmen to execute world-class, MQ-9 precision, attack-and-reconnaissance, kinetic- and non-kinetic target-intelligence production and expeditionary support capabilities.

With more than 1,100 personnel, the 119th Wing is actively supporting the mission of national security abroad while standing ready to protect North Dakotans in times

of natural disasters. The Happy Hooligans have a true history of military excellence, and their smooth transition to the MQ-9 Reaper aircraft shows that that will be continuing long into the future.

I'm proud of the work these airmen have done and will continue to do to protect us at home and abroad. I am even more proud to say these men and women are members of our community, and their excellence in the skies and airfields carries over into our community.

If you know a young adult in our area who would be a great fit for this exemplary organization, I encourage you to learn more at GoNDAir.com And remember: Keep your eyes to the sky, and feel confident knowing the Happy Hooligans are once again flying the skies above Fargo.

"The Happy Hooligans have a true history of military excellence."

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FMWF Chamber of Commerce FMWFChamber.com

NORTH DA KOTA IS

No. 1 State for Startups

I

t isn't easy to start your own business, but staying local is a helpful way to begin.

Among reasons why startups fail, a bad location is one of the most common.

In a recent study by WalletHub, analysts ranked all 50 states to determine which is the best for startup success. Ranked in the No. 1 spot, North Dakota received an overall score of 69.38, still more than 10 points above the next state in line, Texas.

Rather than moving to the Silicon Valley, consider staying in the Fargo-Moorhead area for the best startup opportunities!

#1

Overall Rank

1. North Dakota 2. Texas 3. Utah 4. Oklahoma 5. Nebraska Categories Evaluated • Business Environment • Access to Resources • Business Costs

North Dakota also performed well in a number of other categories: Average Growth in Number of Small Businesses Highest 1. North Dakota 2. Texas 3. Utah 4. Florida 5. Nevada Lowest 46. Ohio 47. Vermont 48. Alabama 49. New Mexico 50. West Virginia Accessible Financing Most 1. North Dakota 2. Utah 3. Iowa 4. Mississippi 5. West Virginia Least 46. New Jersey 47. Florida 48. California 49. Nevada 50. Arizona

North Dakota ranked...

#1 in business environment

#5 in access to resources

BY Kara Jeffers

#30 in business costs

Avg. Work Week Longest 1. Alaska T-2. North Dakota T-2. Wyoming 4. Texas 5. Louisiana Shortest T-45. Michigan T-45. Vermont 47. Massachusetts 48. Rhode Island 49. Oregon 50. Utah

Study results from WalletHub FARGOINC.COM

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Other Study Highlights Labor Costs Lowest: Mississippi Highest: Maryland

Thoughts from a Local Startup Founder Rick Berg CEO & Cofounder AdShark Marketing

1. Why did you choose North Dakota, or Fargo specifically, for your company?

"For me, I think Fargo rather chose me.

It happened to be the city I lived and worked in at the time of initially launching our company. I had originally planned to move out to Silicon Valley to try and get a job with a startup out there, but then I was able to find a job at a rising young startup in Fargo called Myriad Mobile. The founders of Myriad (Jake Joraanstad and Ryan Raguse) were very supportive of me starting a company even while working for them and were instrumental in getting us some initial traction."

2. What are the benefits you’ve seen being in this state/community?

"North Dakota, or more specifically Fargo, has been a great place to start a company. Our community here is very supportive of entrepreneurship, and organizations like Emerging Prairie do a great job of highlighting and celebrating local entrepreneurs. I feel organizations like these create a buzz or mindset that spreads throughout the community. It not only helps current or new entrepreneurs succeed but also inspires others to build new things. This type of energy has really fueled our growth and pushed us along the way."

3. Do you believe that the economic policies being pursued by the Trump 82

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Availability of Human Capital Highest: New Mexico Lowest: Colorado Office Space Cost Lowest: Iowa Highest: New York Total Spending on Incentives as % of GDP Highest: West Virginia Lowest: Nevada Educated Population Most: Massachusetts Least: West Virginia

administration will promote newbusiness development?

"I don’t agree with everything Trump is going for but I definitely agree with much of his economic policies. I am a fan of less government and lower taxes and I feel like most people would agree that governments are very good at inefficiently spending tax dollars.

Ultimately, I think cutting spending and the tax burden would be a good thing. I also really like the idea of attempting to bring manufacturing jobs back home. If he is able to achieve some of those things while not going massively more in debt, I think the economy, the country and new businesses would stand to benefit."

4. To what extent do state policies, such as corporate tax rates, influence decisions about whether and where to start a new business?

"I definitely don’t think it is the first thing founders think of when launching a new venture. In my experience, most entrepreneurs start companies in or near

the city they currently live in. I think those factors play a much larger role when companies are looking at relocating and expanding to a new territory. Additionally, I think these policies have a greater impact in situations where they are located near a state border, like in our circumstance of Fargo-Moorhead. It’s obvious to see that a person can save roughly five to seven percent a year in taxes by starting their company in Fargo rather than Moorhead."

5. Are tax breaks and other incentives to encourage new businesses on net a good or bad investment for states?

"I believe it is a net good and it really just comes down to simple economics. In order to create a strong state economy, states need to create new jobs, maintain low unemployment, maintain a strong diverse workforce and have population growth. The best way I see to do that is to attract new businesses through some type of incentives.

"Keeping people in the state is key to our state’s economic success and a healthy

entrepreneurial community is one good way to do that. College graduates and the younger generations seem to want new, exciting or interesting careers and many times those come from startups or young companies. The more new business growth we have in the state, the more likely the younger generations are to stay here."

6. What measures can state authorities undertake in order to encourage entrepreneurs to start new businesses in their state?

"Tax breaks, business grants and other incentives are a great start but to further encourage more people to take the leap, I think we need better educational resources for potential entrepreneurs to turn to. I hear people say all the time, “I wish I owned my own business,” or, “I should just start a business,” but they rarely follow through with it. I believe that's because either they're afraid of the unknown or because they believe some of the common misconceptions about starting a business.

"I would really like to see a program that is run by experienced and current entrepreneurs and is less like a classroom and more of a mentorship program.

People need to know the initial steps, considerations and legal aspects of starting a business but beyond that, every company is different. I think having an experienced resource to bounce ideas off of, answer questions or point you in the right direction when you need something would be extremely beneficial. The key to success really comes down to having solid mentors and I don’t think that would be too difficult in our community."

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AdShark Marketing AdSharkMarketing.com

My 2 cents ON YOUR BOTTOM LINE

The Utility of Values ABOUT ME

BY Josh Hoper • PHOTO BY Paul Flessland

T

he founder and executive advisor of ABS Fargo, Josh Hoper is a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades. Whether it's shedding some light on the nitty-gritty financials or providing practical advice to the newest of new business owners, his experience in a wide variety of roles and industries gives him a unique perspective that all types of Fargo INC! readers should find useful.

You hear a lot about values these days.

There are endless anecdotes that explain how people use their values to stay motivated. There is, after all, a built-in motivational quality to values that get to the "why" of what you do.

I've read some inspirational stories here in Fargo INC! on this very topic.

There are varying degrees to which you might have an understanding of your values. You might have a casual understanding, having thought about them a few times in the past year.

Or they might be, as a friend of mine says, "baked into your molecules"— synthesized, defined, revised, and evolved consciously and consistently over years of trials and successes.

BUSINESS

WISDOM

Of course, there are varying degrees between these two as well. It's typically the latter group of people whose values motivate and inspire them every day.

It's important to understand that the motivational, inspirational side of values aren't always enough to get the most out of every person, every day. Perhaps counterintuitively, it can be just as critical to understanding the practical, utilitarian benefits of really understanding your values.

This month’s article won't be a detailed explanation about how to discover and define your values. The "how" could come in a later article. Discovering and defining values can take weeks, and in my case, months, to begin to

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Today, I want to share two ways that discovering and knowing your values can have a practical influence on your life. They both are related to how you spend your time. One helps you filter out distractions, and the other defines the difference between who you want to be and who you are. Hint: There's often a big difference.

Opportunities or Distractions?

Every day, we get out into the world and are flooded with information. Some of it represents legitimate opportunities.

"There is always value in an opposing point of view. The only way to see it, however, is to truly understand it."

IRINA SAGERT Financial Analyst, Titan Machinery

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understand what's really at the core of what makes a person tick.

However, many, if not most of them, are just distractions. Our inboxes are overflowing, and our social media feeds can get overwhelming. How do you tell what is worth your time and what isn't?

How much time do you spend deciding what is a legitimate opportunity and what is a frivolous distraction? How fine is the line between these two?

If you are crystal-clear about your values, you will use them to quickly filter out the distractions and deal with the real opportunities.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Warren Buffett, as he summarizes this filtering system. He says, "The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say 'no' to almost everything.�

If you're going to get anything done in your business, you can't take forever to decide what to say "yes" to. It's critical to use your values to be the main component of the filter.

Every minute you spend deciding whether to give something your attention is a minute you're not taking action on a good opportunity. You can't get that minute back.

You can't get the minutes or hours back that you spend pursuing projects that don't align with your values.

The best way to take back time spent on distractions is to filter them out before they take up an appreciable amount of your time.

Aspiration and Reality Many sports fans are gearing up to enjoy our favorite football team this coming season. More than ever, we've come to expect a lot of supporting information about the game from detailed scoreboards, video boards, and audio cues from the announcers and sound systems.

BUSINESS

WISDOM

"'Really successful people say 'no' to almost everything.'"

Could you imagine what kind of game experience you'd have if you were only allowed to see the scoreboard or hear the announcers at the very end of the game?

If you're like me, you frequently check the scoreboard to see the down and distance, time left in the quarter, timeouts left and other stats that help me anticipate what type of play to expect.

Now, think about it from the coaches' and players' perspective. It's critical that they know the exact situation and the precise results of their previous decisions so they can most effectively call the next play. A critical role of the coaching staff is to keep detailed records of every play, including the situation that led up to the play and the results of the play. This real-time, detailed information is evaluated against the objectives and goals set before the game.

Coaches make adjustments based on the difference between the game plan and the actual results. Imagine if they stopped keeping track of their actual results and the scenarios in which those results were achieved. I can guarantee that the team wouldn't be a contender, let alone a championship team.

In your life and your business, you are the player, the coach, and the spectator—maybe all three. For many reasons, it's critical that you not just know the score, but many other aspects of "the game" that inform your decision-making.

You wouldn't mistake pre-game objectives with actual game results. One of the easiest mistakes you can make when identifying and defining your values is to define your aspirations (who you want to be) instead of who you are.

Daydream for a minute about what you would do if a big pile of money landed in your bank account. Now, think about what you can do with the actual account balance.

The difference between those two is the difference between aspirations and reality.

Being clear about your values allows you to quickly assess the difference between who you are and who you want to be.

There are many resources you can use that help you figure out what your aspirations are. Knowing the facts also helps you understand whether or not you are moving closer to your aspirations.

Ask Yourself Are you spending your time moving closer to your aspirations or further away? Are you spending your time on things that align with your values?

If you are crystal clear about your values and have them "baked into your molecules," you'll be able to eliminate most of the time you spend on things that don't align with your values, or don't bring you closer to your goals. It follows, then, that you'll be able to spend more time on the things that are most important to you.

"Business underpins the practices and principles that guide progress and innovation in society."

SCOTT BEAULIER Dean, NDSU College of Business FARGOINC.COM

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Tech

T PS

Outlook can handle more than one email account from any typical email provider.

You can add your Office 365 e-mail alongside your Gmail. This allows you to track all your email accounts in one location.

Outlook has a built-in sorting system. Sick of getting spam emails and can't find the unsubscribe button? You can quickly create an Outlook Rule to automatically place those messages into the deleted folder.

w/ Giga-Green Technologies Here are five work-arounds for that pesky Outlook problem you might be having.

By William Galvin Portrait by Hillary Ehlen

Need to quickly back up your email? Outlook can export all your emails to a file backup called a ".pst" These can be passwordprotected and then imported back into Outlook to ensure you have a secure, instant restore.

This also allows offline access to all your emails when internet is not available.

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Ever have problems aligning meeting times on your calendar? You can send your calendar and request your recipient's calendar as well. This places their calendar under your "My Calendars" section with varying level of detailed information depending on the level selected with the sharing request. This will allow you to overlay your and their calendars to find the gaps.

William Galvin is the founder of Giga-Green Technologies, an independent technology consultancy in Fargo.

Can’t find the BCC (blind carbon copy) option? You can manually add it to the Outlook toolbar under File -> Options -> Customize Ribbon. This allows you to send an email to an individual without others knowing who else it was sent to. This is a great way to blast out email to your customers without sharing everyone's email addresses amongst the recipients.

Giga-Green Technologies Giga-Green.com

CALENDAR

SEPT 2017

BUSINESS EVENTS

EVERY WEDNESDAY 1 Million Cups

Every Wednesday, 9:15 - 10:15 a.m.

Join the vibrant entrepreneurial community of Fargo-Moorhead and Emerging Prairie by participating in an event filled with guest speakers, tons of coffee, ideas and excellent networking opportunities. Event is free.

1MillionCups.com/Fargo The Stage at Island Park 333 4th St. S, Fargo

#1MCFar

SEPTEMBER 12-14 Big Iron Farm Show

Tuesday, September 12 - Thursday, September 14

In 1980, a farm equipment show took root in Casselton, North Dakota, with the idea of showcasing the latest in “big iron.” This was indeed the start of something big.

One year later, with a successful inaugural event behind them, the Red River Valley Fair Association moved the event to the spacious West Fargo Fairgrounds.

Since then, the event has grown each year, from a farm equipment show to

a three-day celebration of rural living— agribusiness, health, innovation and technology. In 2015, more than 70,000 attendees came from across the nation and several other countries to see demonstrations, visit more than 900 exhibit booths, connect with their peers and attend training sessions. Today, there is little doubt that Big Iron Farm Show is the event for agribusiness.

BigIronFarmShow.com Red River Valley Fairgrounds 1805 Main Ave. W, West Fargo

SEPTEMBER 13 Keys to Effective Communication Wednesday, September 13, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

In this session, you'll learn about the various forms of communication: phone, email, voicemail, face-to-face, and social media and how to make them more effective. You will also learn listening skills with a chance to practice.

In the session, you’ll learn: • That communication comes in many different formats—spoken, written and non-verbal • To assess your listening skills and take away areas for improvement • How to grasp the impact of communication as it relates to technology

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#FMWFTraining

Who should attend: Everyone who works in an organization and has interactions with others, whether co-workers, customers or manages people This training qualifies for two CPE credits for the ND CPA Society.

Registration (includes lunch) • $30 Chamber members, in advance • $35 Chamber members, at the door • $40 Non-members, in advance • $45 Non-members, at the door FMWFChamber.com Delta by Marriott 1635 42nd St. S, Fargo

Jill Berg

SEPTEMBER 14 United Way Kick-off Event: Be a Force for Good

Thursday, September 14, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. (kickoff) l 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. (social)

No one organization can solve complex community problems. The only way we can create real, lasting change is by innovating the way people, organizations and systems work together. That’s the power of our local United Way of Cass-Clay— the "Force for Good" that is around us every day. Join them. Change your community for good.

Register at UnitedWayCassClay.org/Events There is no cost to attend.

UnitedWayCassClay.org/Events Sanford Health Athletic Complex (SHAC) at NDSU 1300 17th Ave. N, Fargo

#FMWFFam17

SEPTEMBER 19 The Chamber's Seventh Annual Meeting Tuesday, September 19, noon - 1:30 p.m.

Bernie Dardis, a long-time Chamber member with strong roots in the region, has been named this year’s Legacy Leader.

Dardis has been integral to the work of the Chamber, advocating on behalf of business interests in Bismarck, working for the entire Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo region, and playing a key role in the merger between the West Fargo Chamber and FargoMoorhead Chamber in 2010.

Dardis has served on the Chamber Board of Directors since 2010 and as chair in 2013-14.

Registration (includes lunch) $35 Chamber members, in advance $40 Chamber members, at the door $45 Non-members, in advance $50 Non-members, at the door $650 Corporate table

SEPTEMBER 19 Job Service North Dakota Welcoming Week Workshop Tuesday, September 19, 3 p.m.

Join for a panel of employers who hire refugees. Also, immigrants share their success stories and answer questions.

Please contact organizer Carey Fry with any questions:

Past Legacy Leader Winners 2007: William C. Marcil, Sr. 2008: Frederick B. Scheel & Edward Stern 2009: Dr. Roland Dille & James R. McLaughlin 2010: John Q. Paulsen 2011: Ronald D. Offutt 2012: Bruce Furness 2013: Margie Bailly 2014: Alexander McDonald & Darrol Schroeder 2015: Morrie Lanning 2016: Roger Gilbertson FMWFChamber.com Holiday Inn 3803 13th Ave. S, Fargo

CFry@ND.gov 701-239-7304 WelcomingFM.org Baymont Inn & Suites 3333 13th Ave. S, Fargo Bernie Dardis

SEPTEMBER 20-NOVEMBER 15 CO.STARTERS

Starts Wednesday, September 20 (every week for nine weeks)

CO.STARTERS is a nine-week business development program that helps aspiring entrepreneurs put ideas into action and turn a passion into a sustainable and thriving small business.

Week 1: Knowing yourself—assumptions, working styles, team-building, obstacles Week 2: Knowing your customer— problem, solution, benefit, competition, advantage, customer Week 3: Getting the relationship right— marketing and message and getting, keeping and growing customers Week 4: Building the model to scale— starting small, distribution, revenue, typical sale, price Week 5: Strengthening your structure— business structures, licenses, IP, hiring Week 6: Discovering the bottom line— startup and ongoing needs, fixed and variable costs, break-even point Week 7: Accounting for growth—break-

SEPTEMBER 20-22 Startup Champions Network (SCN) Fall Summit

Wednesday, September 20 - Friday, September 22

A Few Details Tuesday afternoon (optional event) Possibilities symposium on social business, co-hosted by the Bush Foundation and Emerging Prairie. Registration will be complimentary for all summit attendees.

even point, sales projections, cash flow, accounting Week 8: Planning for the future—raising capital, growth plans, goal-setting, pitch prep Week 9: Sharing your story Fargo Course Schedule Fall class: September 20 - November 15 Winter class: February 21 - April 18 Cost $500, which includes: • Course materials • Professional course facilitator with office hours to address your businessdevelopment needs • Access to a list of members of the business community who are ready to meet with students • Small-business resources • Discounted membership at the Prairie Den during the course Folkways.co/Costarters Prairie Den 122 1/2 Broadway, Fargo

Wednesday • 8 a.m. - Breakfast of Champions & Welcome • 9 a.m. - 1 Million Cups Fargo • 10:30 a.m. - Session • 12 p.m. - Lunch • 1:30 p.m. - Mayor's summit on entrepreneurship, co-hosted by Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney • Evening - A surprise!

Thursday • All Day - Mix of sessions from the Fargo Ecosystem and the Startup Champions • Evening - A surprise!

• Friday • Morning - Sessions • Noon - Wrap-up Cost • $125-$175

SEPTEMBER 26 Calibrating the Inner Compass: How to Lead in Alignment with your Guiding Principles Tuesday, September 26, 3:30 - 5 p.m. l Social: 5 - 6 p.m.

Do you know what really ignites your soul?

Research shows this is a crucial question to answer. Individuals who are living in alignment with their guiding principles are more likely to feel fulfilled and achieve the loftiest of goals. Yet less than 20 percent of leaders report having a strong sense of their own individual purpose.

Bethany Berkeley

This session will take you on a mini journey of self-discovery. Dale Carnegie Performance Consultant Bethany Berkeley and Sundog Senior Client Consultant Chelsea Monda will provide resources to help you identify your true north and tools to begin leading with intention in all aspects of your life.

Note: This is part one of a two-part series. Come back October 18 for part two.

Registration • $25 Chamber members, in advance • $30 Chamber members, at the door • $35 Non-members, in advance • $40 Non-members, at the door FMWFChamber.com DoubleTree by Hilton & West Fargo Conference Center 825 East Beaton Drive, West Fargo

DOWN THE ROAD Voices of Vision: Shaquille O'Neal Wednesday, October 4

FMWFChamber.com

United Way Day of Caring Thursday, October 12

UnitedWayCassClay.org

Business After Hours Thursday, October 19

FMWFChamber.com

MONTHLY BUSINESS MEETUPS* • Bitcoin Meetup • Cass-Clay Subcontractor Sales

#FMWFWC Chelsea Monda

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

& Marketing Meetup

• Geek Meet FM • Girl Develop It • Fargo 3D Printing Meetup • Fargo Cashflow Game Night • Fargo Entrepreneurship Meetup • Fargo Virtual Reality Meetup • Fargo-Moorhead Content Strategy

• The Fargo-Moorhead Real Estate Investing Meetup

• Master Networks – Fargo Business Referral Group

A Day in the Life: Poverty Simulation Volunteer Event

"A Day in the Life" is an interactive volunteer experience that depicts real-life scenarios faced by many of the families living in poverty in Cass and Clay Counties who are sometimes one paycheck away from homelessness or crisis.

Registration for the September sessions

will open July 18. Registration for the December session will open October 18.

Session 1: September 19, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Session 2: September 27, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Session 3: December 7, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

All sessions are held at: Microsoft 4550 42nd Ave S, Fargo

• Mobile Meetup Fargo • Moorhead Entrepreneurship Meetup

• Prairie Dawg Drupal • Red River Valley Big Data –

Midwest Big Data Hub Meetup

• YMCA Brighter Futures *All meetups above (except Bitcoin Meetup) can be found at Meetup.com/Cities/US/58102. If interested in the Bitcoin Meetup, please contact ALarson@MyriadMobile.com

FARGOINC.COM

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