Commerce Announces New Grant Program to Help Businesses Automate and Address Workforce Shortages |
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The North Dakota Department of Commerce today announced the launch of the Automate ND Grant Program, a new initiative designed to help North Dakota businesses overcome workforce shortages and increase productivity through automation.
The program, funded with $5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), will provide grants of up to $500,000 to North Dakota Primary Sector Certified (PSC) businesses, such as those in manufacturing and agricultural processing. These grants can be used to cover up to 50% of the cost of purchasing or leasing machinery, equipment, and software for automation projects.
"North Dakota businesses are facing a significant workforce shortage," Head of Investments and Innovation for Commerce Shayden Akason said. "The Automate ND Grant Program will help these businesses invest in automation technologies that can increase their productivity and allow them to expand without needing to hire additional staff."
The program aims to achieve several key objectives:
• Increase productivity per employee: Automation can help businesses produce more goods and services with fewer workers.
• Create upskilling opportunities: Businesses can use grant funds from the Technical Skills Training Grant (track C) to conduct a feasibility study on the purchase of automation equipment and train their employees on how to operate and maintain the new equipment.
• Improve employee satisfaction: Automation can help to reduce repetitive tasks and create a safer work environment for employees.
• Boost state GDP: Increased productivity from automation can lead to higher company profits and increased economic growth for North Dakota.
To be eligible for the Automate ND Grant Program, businesses must:
1. Be registered in North Dakota
2. Be a Primary Sector Certified business
3. Have fewer than 500 employees (tourism businesses are not eligible)
4. Complete a third-party feasibility study that assesses the project's impact on productivity, workforce needs, and return on investment (ROI).
Applications for the Automate ND Grant Program will be accepted from March 21st to May 30th, 2024.
For further information about the Automate ND Grant Program, please visit the following link: ndgov/AutomateND.
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Impact Dakota - A Feasibility Study Partner |
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Impact Dakota is an approved feasibility study provider. Feasibility Study costs are born by the applicant. The Feasibility Study must include an assessment for Smart Manufacturing readiness and a value stream map showing impact of project.
• Cost: Appx. $2,500.00 (potential for up to half covered through Technical Skills Training Grant)
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• Average time to complete feasibility study: One week: Includes Pre-meeting, 1 day in house, and a follow-up meeting
Please contact Lyle or Reese to schedule your feasibility study.
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Impact Dakota Welcomes New Staff |
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Les Knudson, Troy Hanson, and Terry Shulz have joined Impact Dakota as Senior Business Advisors. Each brings significant experience to the team and look forward to working with North Dakota manufacturers to help ensure they are successful in their continuous improvement journeys.
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With great sadness, Impact Dakota announces the passing of our colleague and friend, Mary Ingman. Mary passed away on March 3, 2024, at RiverStone Health Hospice Home in Billings, MT.
She served as a Senior Business Advisor with Impact Dakota from July of 2023 until her passing. While she was a member of our team she was a valuable contributor and we all miss her greatly.
We send our deepest condolences to Mary's family, friends, and business colleagues.
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Impact Dakota Announces New Board Members |
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Jason Gates and Josh Herbold are the newest members elected to the Impact Dakota Board of Directors. They will begin their three-year terms on April 1, 2024. Jason is the Head of Electrical Engineering at Korber Pharma, a German-owned company that designs and manufactures custom handling and packaging equipment for the pharmaceutical industry. Josh currently serves as a Senior Vice President - Commercial Relationship Manager with Bremer Bank. He works with middle market manufacturers, transportation, value-added distributors, construction, and professional services companies.
Impact Dakota would like to thank Michael Gallagher (two terms) and Fred Kainz (one term) for their time, talents, and dedication to the Impact Dakota Board. During their tenures, they each served in the capacity of Board Chairman.
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| Lean Training Opportunities — |
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LEAN 101 WORKSHOPS
During this one-day Lean overview, you will learn about the Top 10 Lean Tools, C4/A3 Idea Generation, Problem Solving, and participate in a Lego simulation.
Click below to register for April Lean 101 Workshop: April 11th in Bismarck
REGISTRATION DEADLINE - April 4th
Check our website calendar for additional dates and locations.
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LEAN ENTERPRISE HIGH PERFORMANCE MANUFACTURING TRAINING
The Impact Dakota LEHPM training helps businesses achieve higher profitability by building internal capability and capacity to improve QUALITY, COST, and DELIVERY. This training is based on the Lean Enterprise Certification (LECP) body of knowledge and uses standards developed and judged by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in partnership with Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) and the Shingo Institute.
Next Course Starts: April 16, 2024. Click below for details and registration.
Additional 2024 sessions have been added; visit www.impactdakota.com/events.
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Iviry - Impact Dakota's CMMC Compliance Partner - Focuses on North Dakota
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Impact Dakota has created a Strategic Partnership with Iviry to assist North Dakota defense contractors with protecting current revenue streams from being disrupted due to non-compliance, and to reduce barriers to entry for ND companies wanting to expand their product and service offerings into the Department of Defense market.
In response to the formal kick-off of DoDs CMMC program later this year, Iviry leadership will be visiting us on-site the week of April 15 - April 19, 2024.
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If you’d like to meet with their team to learn more about their compliance methodology and how they might assist your team, please email Tierney Curry, Marketing Manager at Iviry, or reach out to Reese Forester at Impact Dakota for more information.
Iviry, LLC, a Veteran-owned IT Managed Services Provider (MSP) serving small to medium sized businesses in North Dakota. They specialize in supporting Defense Industrial Base (DIB) companies, delivering reliable, affordable IT for their business operations, but also in driving compliance with the required NIST-800-171 cybersecurity standards. Iviry offers an efficient, phased approach to compliance including Gap Analysis, Gap Remediation, and Compliance sustainment.
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Impact Dakota — A Transformational Resource |
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Impact Dakota has been a transformational resource for many companies in North Dakota for years.
We are constantly trying to improve our offerings to make sure we are helping North Dakota manufacturers do and be their best. That said, our bread and butter is our LEAN Training offerings.
If you have been doing things the same way for 30 years and they are working pretty well for you, could you be doing them in less time?
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Recently we have had several employees participate in the Impact Dakota’s Lean Enterprise High Performance Manufacturing Training. We at Spectrum Aeromed feel it’s important to our culture that all employees receive this training regardless of what position they are in so that it instills the methodology on Lean Manufacturing from every aspect of the company and how to eliminate waste.
Click here to read this article written by Impact Dakota Board of Directors member Jeff Edberg.
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Supply Chain Scouting System |
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Impact Dakota is partnering with NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) and our nationwide network of 50 other MEP Centers across the U.S. and Puerto Rico to help solve supply chain gaps encountered by manufacturers, government entities, and critical service providers.
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DO YOU HAVE A GAP? ARE YOU ABLE TO FILL A GAP?
— Open Opportunities —
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- Synthetic Fabrics
- Batteries (various sizes and applications)
- Wood Surface Table Panels
- Backpacks and Carry-On Luggage
- Minibus
- Polyethylene to Steel Transition Fittings
- Gas Meter Swivels, Nuts, and Washers
- BABA Compliant Surface Water Membrane Ultrafiltration Packaged System
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- Generator
- Grill Guard Tube
- Compression Molded Part
- Electrical Breaker Test Equipment
- Medium Density Fiber (MDF) Mold
- Spindle Shaft
- Coils for Fan Coils
- Fans for Fan Coils
- Solar Panels, Electric Vehicle Chargers, Electric Vehicles
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