Forum Business Group Shares 2022’s Favorite Stories – InForum

FARGO — It’s been a busy year for The Forum’s business reporting team. Some of our biggest stories include restaurant closings, mall remodeling, staffing shortages, unionization and new construction. and car washes. We can not forget about car washes.

Reporters Helmut Schmidt, Thomas Ivanella and Tammy Swift recap their favorite stories of 2022 below.

It’s hard to pick my favorite business stories for 2022. You can ask me to choose my two favorite children.

Do I go with my reporting when the first story comes out? Will I go with the big news in the next story?

The top story that comes to mind is that I broke it on August 11th. “

Downtown Morehead Development’s extensive plan to transform the Center Mall area, redeveloping the town center over the next 5 years, transforming the mall and its parking lots into nine city blocks of apartments, townhomes, condos, stores, restaurants and parking.

Downtown Moorhead Development by Roers, JLG Architects, Stantec, Downtown Moorhead Inc. and discovered in Moorhead City.

The plan calls for building 1,200 residential spaces, 100 retail and dining spaces, and 2,000 parking spaces over five years. That could push the site’s property value from $20 million to the $200-$250 million range upon completion, according to City Manager Dan Mahley.

After years of the mall’s decline, I consider Morehead’s plan to rebuild downtown the best to date.

Downtown Fargo continues to be filled with a number of projects, but the story that got readers excited came on October 10 – “

FMCT plans to move to downtown Fargo as part of the $66 million NP Avenue project

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Judy Lewis, executive director of the Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre, said $10.5 million will be spent on the theater shell, fitness and technology. Another $2 million in donations is being sought.

The main drivers for the project, which was announced as early as 2022, are downtown developer Kilbourne Group, the City of Fargo and International Development. It will include 145 apartments, retail space, and a 500-stall parking garage. Meanwhile, Global Development will decide how it wants to redevelop the Herbst Department Store building at 16 Broadway.

FMCT will be a major cultural boost to downtown Fargo, downtown housing is still in demand, and the parking will spur more development nearby.

A must-see story I first broke on March 14th was “ Owners of Blarney Stone Pubs Buy Fargo Hotel Donaldson Downtown.

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Since then, the boutique hotel has evolved. Meanwhile, the Hodo bar and restaurant spaces have been transformed into a Blarney Stone concept. Look for that opening in early 2023.

I’m a bit of an outdoor decoration nut, so Halloween and Christmas are lit up at my family’s place. That makes my October 21st story. “

It’s a thriller! Meet the Fargo-Moorhead Halloween ‘Yard Explorers’

” Very interesting to report.

And the Dec. 8 story, “Marge’s Diner Brings 1970s Vibrance to Downtown Fargo,” was easy to write. I grew up in old bars and restaurants (my mom cooked and nursed in St. Paul for decades), and Marge is a blast from the past for this 60s and 70s kid. That’s right!

Questions remain as Moorhead Center Mall tenants ponder their future.

With Morehead Center Mall gearing up for a major redevelopment, these are undoubtedly exciting times for city residents eager to see improvements to the downtown area. In August, the city, along with Downtown Moorhead Inc. And along with master developer Roers, they revealed their plans to reimagine the mall’s property and environment. This ambitious redevelopment will include new retail and residential spaces and will house the town’s upcoming library and community centre.

Somewhat lost in this excitement, however, are the existing tenants of shopping malls. Some are decades-old businesses, while others are popular restaurants or new shops. InForum videographer Chris Flynn and I wanted to capture the feelings of the mall’s remaining tenants, so we visited the mall after the Election Day vote to increase Morehead’s sales tax.

This story ranks as a favorite from last year because it shines a light on businesses trying to figure out what’s next. Moorhead has every reason to be excited (or at least cautiously optimistic) about the mall’s future plans, and rightfully so. Still, it was important to highlight businesses that think they’re going where they want to go from here, and thank you for sharing their stories.

Hospice of the Red River Valley is about to begin construction on North Dakota’s first hospice home.

Hospice of the Red River Valley will soon bring much-needed new end-of-life care to North Dakota: A hospice home. According to Executive Director Tracy Caron, a hospice home is a place where families can comfortably gather while they receive medical care in their final days. The hospice has 18 rooms and provides a place for people to stay when home care becomes too difficult or to return home.

The fully donor-funded hospice broke ground in May and has been in the works for more than 20 years. Capron said the COVID-19 outbreak has prompted Hospice of the Red River Valley to accelerate its efforts to reopen the hospice. Many patients died alone during the epidemic, which is not the case in a hospice, where the rooms are completely private.

When I visited Capron at the Hospice of the Red River Valley office, I expected our conversation to focus on the importance of bringing a hospice home here. It did, but during our 45-minute conversation, Capron revealed that her family used a hospice home she opened in Ohio when her son was dying. That’s why bringing a hospice home to North Dakota is so personal to Capron. Instead of trying to express her feelings about the situation, I’ll share her thoughts: “I’m so thankful and grateful to have this because he has kids and the kids get support. We might have support, but we might be there as a family… I might be his mom. I didn’t have to be a caregiver. His medical needs were met in a beautiful environment where the children felt comfortable and calm, not barren.

Organized labor is making a comeback nationwide. Will it expand to North Dakota and Minnesota?

The labor movement in the United States 2022 itself had a banner year. While that hasn’t had a major impact on our neck of the woods yet, unions have seen progress around the Twin Cities.

The movement was sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic as workers sought better working conditions and compensation. In the year In December 2021, workers made a significant breakthrough when a Starbucks location in Buffalo, NY voted to unionize. Buffalo’s victory set off a chain reaction, with dozens of Starbucks locations now united. The movement has spread to big companies like Amazon, Target and Apple.

Locally, the Minnesota and North Dakota chapters of the AFL-CIO are looking to take control of this movement and add it to their ranks. For union leaders, it’s a welcome change. If you need more evidence that unions are on steam, look at Amazon union president Chris Smalls’ visit to Fargo in June and the Bismarck Bobcat Institute’s decision to unionize in September.

Roll Patrol: Read on to find out who rolls the most caramel in North Dakota

The way to a journalist’s heart is through their stomach.

That’s why I loved writing the story on the search for North Dakota’s best caramel rolls.

First, we asked readers to vote for the restaurants they believe make the best rolls. We then selected several finalists from Elgin, ND to here in Fargo.

And, finally, the best part: the business/life teams sampled the Rolls-Royce of Rolls, in all their gooey, buttery, compassionate glory. Our results were published on September 5, sparking a flurry of interesting comments on the forum’s social media sites. You know how: North Dakotans are serious about their caramel rolls.

The occupational hazard of this sugar palooza was that I gained three pounds (and goodness knows what happened to my blood-sugar and cholesterol levels), but boy, was it worth it!

West Fargo Rescue offers new hope, a sanctuary for horses destined for slaughter

As an animal lover, I think there must be a special corner of heaven for those wonderful people who care for creatures big and small.

I think that’s why I’m so impressed by Connie and Rob Faulkner, who use their time and resources to give the horses, cats, kittens, goats, and dogs so much needed love and rehabilitation that other humans have abandoned.

This story on West Fargo’s Pride & Joy Rescue, which debuted on September 9, is a reminder that animals are not just lawn ornaments, but living, breathing, feeling creatures who deserve a life free of abuse. , it’s amazing how they restore friendship and love.

Not thankful for grocery prices? Tammy Swift writes about how wartime chefs made turkeys out of burgers and clothespins.

I love both food and history, which is why writing this story about the Depression- and Thanksgiving dinner during World War II was so much fun. It allowed me to scan wartime forums on microfilm in which thrifty cooks of old were encouraged to prepare their holiday table with things like gelatinous tomato aspic and bologna with ginger sauce.

Even more amazingly, some ingenious World War II cooks made “turkeys” out of ground beef into Butterball shapes – complete with burger “drumsticks” carved on clothespins!

In the year With everyone complaining about the cost of food in 2022, it seems like a good reminder that this isn’t the first time American cooks have had to summon the ingenuity and patience to navigate ingredient shortages and rising prices.

Unfortunately, this story, originally published on November 18th, did not get as many eyeballs as I had hoped. (Maybe people are too busy taking out bank loans to put eggs, butter and milk in their pumpkin pie?) Maybe in sleepy, cold January, readers will have more time to read.