Building the Pipeline
Supporting North Dakota’s workforce: from training to startup to small business
When UND President Andrew Armacost announced a “moonshot” goal to launch four new companies based on UND research in a single year, he underscored a larger truth: North Dakota’s workforce depends on a steady pipeline of skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. Across Grand Forks, UND graduates are helping build that pipeline — from hands-on career training to startup support to Main Street business advising.
Career Impact Academy: Ready for the Next Step
The Grand Forks Career Impact Academy opened in 2025 through a partnership with UND, local school districts, and regional employers to strengthen North Dakota’s workforce. The academy offers hands‑on classes and work‑based learning for students from Grand Forks and 10 surrounding districts, with pathways in building trades, precision agriculture, advanced manufacturing, health services, and culinary arts.
“The Career Impact Academy offers elective courses for high school students in career pathways that align with their interests and future goals,” said Executive Director Eric Ripley, ’99, ’05. “The hope is for students to make an educated decision about their next step after high school.”
CIA emphasizes “transferable skills” — communication, ethical judgment, punctuality — reinforced through work‑based learning tied to students’ interests. Programs like the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) track allow students to earn an industry‑recognized credential as early as age 16.
Enrollment is expected to grow from 493 students in its first year to more than 700 next fall, with new offerings for adult learners seeking upskilling and industry training.
Center for Innovation: From Idea to Impact
For more than 40 years, UND’s Center for Innovation (CFI) has helped move ideas from the lab into the marketplace. Director Amy Whitney describes the center’s role as “de-risking” early concepts and helping founders understand their customers long before they launch.
“We focus on helping UND translate its research into real-world applications through supporting tech transfer and commercialization,” said CFI Director Amy Whitney. “We work with you one-on-one and deeply understand what a viable path forward looks like.”
The model is working. While more than 90% of startups fail, 78% of companies that began their journey with CFI are still operating. The center has helped launch about 770 businesses, supported more than 8,000 jobs, and become a hub for high-growth sectors like autonomous systems.
This summer, CFI will launch UND’s first intellectual property accelerator to help meet the University’s moonshot goal. Ten promising ideas will move through an intensive process to determine whether they should become startups or licensed technologies.
“We are looking for alumni who want to be engaged as mentors who could help us launch the startups. Our amazing faculty need to keep being inventors.”Amy Whitney
ND SBDC: The Backbone of Main Street
Once ideas move beyond campus — or when a community needs a new service provider — the North Dakota Small Business Development Center (SBDC) steps in. Headquartered at UND’s Nistler Hall, the SBDC works with about 2,000 entrepreneurs each year across all 53 North Dakota counties.
“Small communities rely on their small businesses,” said Director Tiffany Ford, ’05, ’18. “That doesn’t just mean the gas station or the grocery store. It also means service providers like plumbers, electricians, and childcare providers — businesses people need to live their everyday lives.”
The ND SBDC helps entrepreneurs test ideas, identify markets, secure financing, and plan for growth.
“When a large employer comes to a community, their employees expect certain things,” Ford said. “Places to grab lunch. Somewhere to meet for coffee. A sense that this is a place where people want to live.”
Those amenities, she said, are almost always created by small businesses and they play a major role in community growth.
