01.12.16

North Dakota Entrepreneurial Leader Joins Hoeven for the 2016 State of the Union Address

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven this evening hosted Greg Tehven of Fargo, Executive Director and co-founder of Emerging Prairie, as his guest at President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union Address. Emerging Prairie is a digital-media company that highlights startups, technology and innovation and supports the region’s entrepreneurial activities by operating a wide variety of events and initiatives, such as Drone Focus, the Prairie Den co-working space and 1 Million Cups (1MC) Fargo, the largest and most active 1MC program in the country.

“Greg is a dynamic young leader and I was proud to have him with me in Washington to stress the essential role innovation and entrepreneurship play in our economy,” Hoeven said. “Folks like Greg and his team at Emerging Prairie work to spark new startups and create the products and services of tomorrow across North Dakota and the nation. Greg understands how important it is for a city, a state or a country to build the right kind of pro-business environment that we worked to create in North Dakota. It was a pleasure to hear about his ideas and innovative projects.”

Prior to founding Emerging Prairie, Tehven also co-founded and spent seven years as the Executive Director of Students Today Leaders Forever, which organizes the Pay It Forward Tours through its national headquarters in Minneapolis, student-led chapters at more than 30 college campuses and programming partnerships with many high schools and middle schools. Tehven also worked with Kilbourne Group to stimulate growth and entrepreneurship in downtown Fargo and helped to organize numerous community events in the Fargo-Moorhead area, including launching TEDxFargo, a program that brings people together in the spirit of sharing ideas and creating positive community connections.

While in Washington, Tehven joined the Secretary of the Senate and all of the U.S. Senators for dinner at the Capitol, after which he and the senator attended the State of the Union Address in a joint session of Congress.