The Fargo-Moorhead Metro Area is located on a span of territory that crosses the border between Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota.

Combined, the metro population supports approximately 190,000 individuals and has been named Money Magazine's list of the Best 25 Small Business for Jobs and Business in America.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION

The City of Fargo is one of the cleanest places to live in the USA and officially recognized by the American Lung Association State of the Air 2007 Report Card. In addition, North Dakota as a state was awarded straight A's in air quality in the same year.

In 2007, Sperling's Best Places recognized Fargo-Moorhead for a low cost of living, positive job prospects, and a high standard of living.

Expansion Management Magazine named the Fargo-Moorhead metro ares one of America's Top Business Opportunity Metros in the same year.Among other organizations and publications to honor this metropolitan area, Forbes Magazine recognized it as Number Four among the best small metro areas for Business and Careers.

Emerging Occupations and Industries

Since the year 2008, the wave of the developing occupations and businesses for the future flows through three major catefories of Technology:

1. Life Sciences,
2. Physical Sciences, and
3. Information Technology

The Fargo-Moorhead area is nationally recognized for educational excellence and business potential in these fields and is expanding related businesses accordingly in the decade 2008-2018.

The Greater Fargo-Moorhead Metro Area is developing advances Physical Sciences via:

• The ONLY North American Corrosion & Coatings Research Center. Some centers around the USA specialize in either Corrosion or Coatings, but not both.
• The Center for Nanoscale Technology Training for nanoscience, nanotechnology, microelectronics, and microfabrication. This facility features cutting edge technology and equipment for the use of both public and private Research & Development (R&D). This feature enhances the community as well as the institutions providing its services.
• A superbly equipped Hi-Tech lab for combinatorial materials science. This lab includes facilities that examine polymer synthesis and coating formulation. It features the finest and more comprehensive collection of robotic tools in the world. to date in 2008, there is no other laboratory like it.

Life Sciences together are also a major development focus:

• Minnesota Biotechnology & Health Sciences Zone – access to all equipment and programs.
• High-Tech Industries – Pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, clinical supplies, sleep disorders clinics, eating disorders studies, imaging services, psychiatry, automation, and research.
• The Center for Protease Research - matrix metalloproteinases to combat disease.
• The Center for Visual Neuroscience - EEG labs and electrical brain-imaging experiments.

Information Technology impacts most other industries:

• Fargo-Moorhead supports over 60 IT related companies: software, IT services, telecommunications, and other. Among them are Microsoft (one of the major local employers), NAVTEQ, Sundog, SEI, Allegiance Software, and Pedigree Technologies.
• The IT employment Turnover Rate has been very low – as low as 3-5%, so their employees stay on; however, these companies are expanding to create new jobs and will need additional workers through 2018.

1. Healthcare & Social Assistance Professionals and assistants
2. Retail & Wholesale Sales related occupations, including supervisors
3. Tourism: Accommodations, Food & Beverage Services
4. Manufacturing and Production
5. Finance/Insurance - Banking, investments, private/commerical insurances
6. Education Services - Educators K-12 & College, assistants, aides
7. Construction Jobs - Journeymen, helpers, others
8. Professional Scientific & Technical jobs - inlcudes Sustainability and Alternative Energy
9. Administration, Support, and Waste Management
10. Transportation/Freight and Warehousing

1. Healthcare Practitioners and Techs - Nurses and technicians
2. Construction/Extraction positions
3. Retail and Wholesale Salespeople and related jobs
4. Production jobs - i.e., manufacturing positions
5. Food & Beverage Preparation and Service, all levels
6. Office/Administrative Support
7. Education and Training Instructors, Teachers, and Assistants
8. Transportation/Freight and Materials Moving
9. Diagnostic/Treatment Practitioners - Nurse practitioners, medical assistants, physicians, dentists, opthalmologists, veterinarians, etc.
10. Healthcare Support

Additional jobs that are growing fast with new openings:

1. Construction Trades - Journeymen, apprentice-track, and helpers.
2. Management positions, all industries
3. Personal Care and Service - Health aides, personal assistants, companions.

The Fargo-Moorhead metro area is home to the Tri-College University (TCU) Consortium partnership that joins three separate schools across state lines for a unique set of services to students and communities.

These schools are North Dakota State University, Minnesota State University at Moorhead, and Concordia College. Students attended or enrolled at any one of these TCU educational facilities are able to take classes at any of the other two schools. This vastly expands their educational and occupational opportunities.

Further, there is no additional charge to students whatsoever for applying credits earned at the other two school to their own primary institution's transcript of their college studies. One of the many advantages of this is that a student can save on out-of-state fees when crossing the border to attend another school. This offer is not found in many cities in the United States.

CONCORDIA - A FAMOUS NAME IN EDUCATION

Concordia College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is recognized for programs in science and languages, especially In its sophisticated language camps around the country. Language camp experiences in a dozen languages (including English) have been offered to ages elementary school through adult and have been highly successful The Japanese Language Camp, for instance, has immersed students in the Japanese language for a week while offering added lessons in introductory Japanese Karate.

Acceptance rates for Concordia Alumni into medical and law schools, which involves very keen and stiff competition, is around 85-90%. This is very high, nationally, among colleges and universities.

NDSU

North Dakota State University is a successful and well respected research school that offers the Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degrees in the metro area's only Research & Technology Park. Training specialities at NDSU include information systems, technology transfer, and economic and professional development. All of these are vital to continued economic growth in Fargo-Moorhead and the success of ongoing revitalization projects that include sustainability.

National projects led by NDSU include nanotechnology, microelectronics, and polymers. These are instrumental in advancing biotechnology and bioinformatics, several fields in aerospace and aeronautics development, medicine, healthcare, Information Technology, and many specialties in engineering and engineering technologies, among others.

Just a few of the local companies operating in this sphere include Alien Technology, Fargo Automation, Packet Digital, Phoenix International, IDA Corporation, and Dakota Technologies

MSMU

Minnesota State University at Moorhead works significantly toward state and regional economic development. Its regional university has four colleges that provide training programs in life and physical sciences, technology, education, communication, business, nursing, social work, and criminal justice.

A new $30 million investment at MSUM in the sciences includes a large Science Center for biology and chemistry research laboratories.