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Quick Facts

Work Force

• Estimated available labor force of 72,279
• Employee absenteeism less than 1%
• Over 50% of the population considers themselves underemployed
• 55% of the available labor force reported having Microsoft Office Suite and other software knowledge
• 45,000 Post Secondary Students within the Red River Valley region

Cost of Doing Business

• Low power costs, 3.5 - 6 cents per kWh average for large industrial customers
• Natural gas rates of $2.85 - $3.35 per dk for average industrial user
• Rent quality Office space for $10 - $14 sf, Industrial space, $2 - $6 sf
• Access to local officials and congressional delegation unequaled
• #1 for lowest taxes for a manufacturing facility
• #1 for lowest taxes for a food processing facility
• #6 in the nation for best location - in terms of overall costs of doing business
• Lowest Workers Compensation Insurance costs in the nation

Education

• Grand Forks Public Schools (GFPS) & East Grand Forks Public Schools have over 8,000 students enrolled
• Grand Forks ranks #14 for the quality of the public schools (out of total of 362 surveyed)
• GFPS recipient of the 2002 National School of Character Designation Award
• GFPS offers MOUS (Microsoft Office User Specialists) certification for their high school students.  A+ certification training course and Cisco Networking certification training course is also offered
• Four institutions of higher education in the region enroll over 18,200 students
• University of North Dakota (UND) is home to ND's only law and medical schools
• UND generated more than $94 million for research in Fiscal Year 2006
• UND is home to the internationally-renowned Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) and the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences

Infrastructure

• Interstate-29 and US Highway 2
• Low cost utilities
• Air and rail services to Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Designated Foreign Trade Zone
• One hour from the fourth busiest commercial port of entry into Canada
• DSL, T1 T3, Satellite, Cable and Wireless Service

Quality of Life

• Lowest crime rate in the nation for the past 6 years
• Grand Forks based Altru Health System ranked in the top 3.3% in the nation
• Average commute time 15 minutes
• New entertainment and recreation venues such as the 11,400+ seat Ralph Engelstad Arena, the 22,000 seat Alerus Events Center and King's Walk Golf Course , an Arnold Palmer Signature Course
• Grand Forks ranks #30 among the Best Metros with populations of fewer than 230,000