Commission approves continued Innovate 28 funding, asks independent ROI review

Following presentations from the Economic Development Corporation and the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber, Cass County commissioners agreed to honor Innovate 28's 2027 funding request and included the initiative in the preliminary budget package while seeking additional performance verification.

Chair (speaker 1) said the commission should "honor their request, which was in the budget," but proposed a county-led RFP and a $150,000 placeholder to pay for a consultant to independently assess return on investment and measurement methods. Commissioners emphasized the need to own county metrics and to make the evaluation a condition of future funding discussions. One commissioner voted against the final package; most commissioners recorded affirmative votes on the budget plus the audit placeholder.

Innovate 28 presenters described private-sector leverage: the Chamber reported more than 100 private investors and the EDC cited recent company wins and a multi-million-dollar pipeline. Private-sector speakers from I. Bailey, Gate City Bank and Moore Engineering urged continued public-private partnership and said the county match helped recruit and retain employers.