News Releases for August 2007
August 24, 2007
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Hoeven, Dickinson Officials Launch Strom Center Of Excellence For Entrepreneurship And Innovation
BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. John Hoeven today was joined by Dickinson State University Officials and major donor Jerome Strom for the grand opening of Dickinson State University’s Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, one of the state’s new Centers of Excellence.
“The Strom Center embodies the essence of the Centers of Excellence program by unleashing the economic development potential of our university system and entrepreneurs while providing more opportunities for our students,” Hoeven said. “The center is an investment in our people and the future of rural North Dakota.”
The Strom Center is dedicated to help develop the rural economies of western North Dakota by providing a support network for entrepreneurial enterprises. It will focus on the commercial application of technology to help businesses start or expand in rural communities. Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing, which recently expanded its high-tech aerospace operations with a separate facility in Dickinson, was the center’s keystone project.
The center is the recipient of a $1.1 million grant from the Governor’s Center of Excellence Commission. The facility was named for Jerome Strom and his late wife Rosie, who donated $1 million to the project. Additional partners include Stark Development Corporation, the Bush Foundation, the Small Business Development Center, Business Challenge and the North Dakota Trade Office.
Also in attendance for the event were Dickinson Mayor Dennis Johnson; Chair of the North Dakota Centers of Excellence Commission Mark Nisbet; Chancellor of the North Dakota University System William Goetz; Chair of Stark Development Corporation Joe Frenzel; DSU President Dr. Lee Vickers; Strom Center Director Jeanne MacDonald; and Bush Foundation consultant Maggie Arzdorf-Schubbe.
Centers of Excellence are the product of the Governor's initiative to combine education and economic development to create higher paying jobs and new business opportunities for North Dakota citizens. The Centers tie the private sector with higher education to do research and development on the campuses of North Dakota's 11 colleges and universities. Their objective is to research, develop and commercialize products and services to create good paying jobs for the citizens of our state, and career opportunities for our young people.
Since their creation, $20 million in state Centers of Excellence funding has leveraged nearly $80 million in funding on the state’s university campuses for research and development in agriculture, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, business technology and other areas that are creating jobs and opportunities for North Dakotans.
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