Evidence for a New Economic Development Model?

Economic growth, economic diversity, these are buzzwords in North Dakota and in Minot right now. The City’s NDR application talks about it; our consultant on the project, CDM Smith, even has a $300,000 budget to create an ‘Economic Development Strategic Plan for Minot & Ward County’. We also have the MAGIC fund, a sales-tax-funded pot

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Good Talk Minot Debuts with Conversation on Former Sheriff Kukowski & County Commission

A collaboration between creators of two of Minot’s newer media companies, The Minot Voice and The Good Talk Network, debuted recently. Good Talk Minot is a regularly recorded podcast focused on the local issues of the day. The first show was recorded last month, and touched on a couple local events (now in the past)

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Suggest a Question, Commentary on Conflicts, and Setting a New Standard

This June’s City Council election is the culmination of a nearly two-year discussion on how we do things at the City level and ultimately, what we want our community to look like in the future. But here’s the thing about elections — the results we get are only as good as the information about the

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Fact Checking Claims About Economic Incentives

In the doldrums of the oil downturn, economic resiliency, development, and diversity have never been more important. And it’s become apparent — especially here in Minot where we see evidence of businesses closing almost weekly, that we haven’t been very good at creating any of those things. Perhaps it’s because we’re using the wrong methods.

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Questions & Concerns With Handing Over $375,000 to Anyone

First and foremost, I applaud Stephanie Hoffart and her team at MADC for developing a prospect as exciting as Skyscopes. Between the Air Force, the oil and energy industries, and the ag business, the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) industry is a great fit for Minot. It would be awesome if our little town can carve

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A Prosecutors Perspective on Confidential Informant Legislation

The discussion around “Andrew’s Law” this legislative session has been emotional charged. When a law is named after a person who’s no longer with us and born from a tragic situation, it’s easy to get caught in the idea that we must act and accept the first pitch. Ladd Erickson argues that Senate’s decision to

Read & Share   sourced from: Say Anything Blog.com

A Reason Why UND Chose to Cut Women’s Hockey

The impacts of statewide budget cuts are filtering through nearly every department operating under the State’s umbrella, but nowhere are they more visible than in the University system. The latest casualty is the Woman’s Hockey program at UND. Rob Port with Say Anything Blog provides an economic perspective on why that difficult choice may have

Read & Share   sourced from: Say Anything Blog.com

18th Avenue Storm Sewer Project Possibly Full of Worms

The 18th Avenue storm sewer project in SW Minot has been under consideration by City Council going back to January. The City moved forward slowly, holding multiple public comment forums to answer questions and explain the project. Of greatest concern to residents were the special assessment and demonstrated need. Basically, some potentially-assessed citizens questioned whether

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We Can No Longer Afford the Hypocrisy

Good Morning Senator Hogue and Senator Larsen, I’m writing to provide a last minute appeal for House Bill 1163 regarding the removal of North Dakota’s Sunday closing laws. And because this debate is just the latest in a series at both the state and local level that has me concerned, I’m publishing this letter publicly

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How will we be judged?

It is difficult to predict the future. While the USA is restricting immigration, Canada is encouraging it. As a skeptic, allow me to speculate that if there were an influx of attractive young women from eastern Europe and/or Scandinavia seeking our borders, they may become more open. If we look into the past, this is

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To build an amazing team, look for people who challenge you

It’s relevant commentary as the citizens of Minot take up the conversation of choosing the team that will lead the City this June. It turns out there is a roadmap to choosing a management make-up that consistently delivers results, and though the correlation with civic government isn’t perfect, but there are some concepts to worth

Read & Share   sourced from: Quartz

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It's the free, easy way to stay informed about what's happening in Minot, and it helps support independent local news and journalism.

The Struggle within the Economics of Environmental Protection

If you take a minute to read the mission and guiding principles behind The Minot Voice, you’ll notice the protecting the environment gets a special call-out. This guest blog on Scientific American provides some valuable commentary on a couple ideas intended to quantify the future economic impacts through a current market mechanism.

Read & Share   sourced from: Scientific American

Hey Minot, Did You Feel the Wind Shift?

So, for those of you who have been following the Minot Voice, something you might not know about me is that I’m a sailor. And if you’ve got no experience with sailors, let me describe our breed. We’re calm, industrious folk who make the most of our lot, and we’re acutely aware of the environment.

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These Individuals Deserve All Our Thanks!

Yesterday, I put pictures of our City Engineer and Public Works Director on the Internet and questioned whether we have a system that gives the City of Minot the best chance of success. It was a difficult piece to publish because asking hard questions and questioning outcomes is uncomfortable business. Today, you’re getting a very

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What if they’re wrong?

Minot’s a small town in a slow economic time, and the City’s contracts for roads and sewers and flood protection are the fattest ones around. And the two most powerful people in town when comes to delivering those professional services contracts to engineering firms and paving the way for contractors and developers? It’s our Public

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The Missing Main Street Opening Wasn’t the Only Flaw in Phase 1

Last Monday, City Council took up the issue of adding an opening in the floodwall at Main Street. It’s been a topic of discussion and commentary here on The Minot Voice since last spring, but it ramped up recently with news that there were also discussions taking place to remove the Anne Street Bridge. Council

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