Cuts Have North Dakota Manufacturing Support Agency Working on Plan B

Impact Dakota. (photo courtesy of Impact Dakota via the North Dakota Monitor)

(By: Jeff Beach. North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota program that provides training and support to manufacturers in the state faces an uncertain future if federal funding is cut.

Impact Dakota temporarily lost its federal funding last month. Jodie Mjoen, CEO and president of Impact Dakota, said federal funding is usually renewed on April 1. This year on April 1, he was informed that the federal funding — more than $800,000 for the year — was being pulled by the Trump administration.

“We were told about 5 p.m. on the 1st that they weren’t going to renew the funds, and we had no advance notice at all,” Mjoen said. “And so we were scrambling.”

The nonprofit organization got a reprieve a couple weeks later, but with funding only for the next six months instead of the usual year.

Impact Dakota did have some revenue coming in from 22 ongoing projects, Mjoen said. Manufacturers that use Impact Dakota for training often pay fees that provide the matching money needed to be eligible for the federal grant.