08.11.15

Hoeven Celebrates Groundbreaking of New Bobcat West Fargo Headquarters

Senator Working to Open New Markets to Help Grow North Dakota Businesses

WEST FARGO, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today marked the groundbreaking of the Bobcat Company’s $9.5 million headquarters expansion in West Fargo. The new facility, which is expected to be completed next summer, will double the size and employee capacity of the current headquarters and will bring together employees currently working at different locations in the Fargo area.

“Our state’s ongoing economic growth and prosperity is due in no small part to the investments of our businesses and the hard work of their employees,” Hoeven said. “Through a business friendly environment, as well as our efforts to break down barriers to trade and open new markets, we support the efforts of companies like Bobcat to bring quality goods and services not only to our state and nation, but to the rest of the world. Bobcat’s new headquarters will help streamline their operations by providing much-needed space to continue their expansion and success in our state.”

Trade is an important part of the state’s economy, Hoeven said. Exports of merchandise from North Dakota in 2014 totaled $5.5 billion. Nominal exports from the state between 2000 and 2014 increased by nearly 780 percent, while the nation’s exports grew by 108 percent. North Dakota ranks 12th in the nation in the export of agriculture and construction machinery, doing nearly $1 billion in business all over the world.

Hoeven has been working, both as governor and now as senator, to help expand Bobcat’s and other companies’ operations in North Dakota by increasing trade and opening new markets for exports. In 2011, he traveled to South Korea to promote trade and push for the U.S.-South Korea Trade Agreement that passed in the 112th session of Congress. The agreement also included free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama, amounting to more than $13 billion in increased economic activity for U.S. manufacturers, farmers and ranchers.

While in South Korea, Hoeven met with Yongmaan Park, Chairman of Doosan Corp., the parent company of Bobcat. Hoeven encouraged him to expand Bobcat’s operations in North Dakota. In addition, as governor, he worked to create the North Dakota Trade Office and helped arrange international trade trips, including trips to Taiwan, China and Eastern Europe, for a range of products produced in the state.

The senator continues to build on these past efforts to create new opportunities for businesses in the state. Through his position on the Senate Appropriations Committee, he works to support programs like those at U.S. Commercial Service (CS), which has trade professionals in more than 75 countries and over 100 U.S. cities, including Fargo, to help regional companies get started in exporting or increase sales to new global markets. Last year, Hoeven hosted CS Director General Arun Kumar to showcase a successful North Dakota export business and to enlist the Commercial Service’s help in developing and expanding markets for rural exporters.

Today’s groundbreaking is part of a long line of Bobcat’s milestones in North Dakota. Last year, Hoeven celebrated both the grand opening of Bobcat’s Acceleration Center in Bismarck and the roll-out of the company’s one millionth loader in Gwinner.

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