Hello from the president of the Minn-Dak Manufacturers Association!  We’re getting ready to head into our summer break, where we slow down on our tour schedule until the new year starts up again in September.  What better way to close down another successful year than having beer and pizza with our manufacturing family?  Every year before the break we have a social celebrating the year, the friendships we’ve made, the new members that have joined the association, and for this year our becoming an affiliate of MMA by having a social at a local brewery (this time Junkyard Brewing in West Fargo).  If you haven’t signed up yet for our social next Tuesday, please do so on our website!
 
The last month was a great example of all of the support our manufacturers have from our community partners.  Our very own board member Joey Ness and the organization he belongs to (the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Committee) held two amazing events, one specifically focused on resources for manufacturers featuring the North Dakota Commerce Commissioner, and another on the importance of data and analytics when thinking about workforce with a breakout session on manufacturing.  The Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber held a session on work-based learning as a way to develop workforce (with yours truly as a host) as well as a manufacturing listening session to hear what’s on our manufacturers minds.  Finally, we go to do some regional networking by visiting Cirrus Aircraft in Grand Forks and see the amazing work they do.  It’s been an incredible couple months!
 
As we get ready for the summer break, I want to personally thank each of these organizations for sharing their time and their support with us.  But most importantly, I want to thank each of you for what you do.  We’re part of an amazing ecosystem, and each of you have a role to play, from a machine operator to a plant manager to an engineer to a student to an educator to a service provider.  For our manufacturing community to thrive, we need each of you. It is such an honor to lead this amazing board and get to see all of you do the incredible work you do.  I hope you have an amazing summer, and we can’t wait for the 2025/2026 year to start and see what new things we can accomplish, from new training opportunities to more advocacy opportunities to more tours – including a big one, a tour of the first factory for Bobcat in Gwinner, North Dakota – truly an amazing place and a testament to what manufacturers can achieve.  You can sign up for that one on our website too! 
 
Again, thanks to each of your for what you do, and have a fantastic summer!

Patrick