The Fufeng Gambit -- November 16, 2021

Background: link here.  This is a huge economic story for North Dakota.

This is a corn milling story. Corn.

Quick: what state is know for corn? Sure, North Dakota has a lot of corn, but when you get right down to it, if one is interested in corn, one's first thought is Iowa and the states that border Iowa. Not North Dakota.

But if, for some reason, the state's incentives for bringing a Chinese company to North Dakota, why would China choose Grand Forks, not Fargo? For those on the east coast, Fargo is to NYC as Grand Forks is to Rahway, NJ. 

Fargo:

• closer to the rest of the world; Grand Forks is almost as remote as Williston, except on the other side of the sate
• has much better transportation; I-29 and I-94, two of the longest interstate systems in the US intersect at Fargo, not Grand Forks
• Fargo has a much larger population that could better support a huge new manufacturing complex coming into North Dakota
• has everything that Grand Forks could offer .... or does it....

The deal was likely done by the most internationally savvy group of businessmen and politicians the United States has, including the North Dakota Tax Commissioner (more on him later, perhaps).

So, anyway, that as a bit of background, what does the Grand Forks area have that would interest China over all those other areas in corn country, USA?

The answer at this link.