Josh Teigen starts campaign for lieutenant governor at Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals event

Apr. 5—GRAND FORKS — Josh Teigen took his first steps on the campaign trail as a candidate for lieutenant governor before a crowd of Grand Forks' young professionals on Thursday.

Teigen, commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Commerce, appeared before members of the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals at Ralph Engelstad Arena just hours after he was announced as current Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller's running mate for the governor's office.

Miller is pitted against fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who has not yet announced a running mate, as well as Democratic state Sen. Merrill Piepkorn and independent candidate Michael Coachman.

Teigen focused his remarks on North Dakota's economy, promising a financial windfall of unprecedented proportions for the state from new investment.

"Not everybody gets to see this, but behind the curtain, there's so much momentum right now," he said. "It's going to be a wave of economic prosperity that this state has never seen in its history."

He also noted the state's workforce issues and 40,000 open jobs, adding that if every one of the state's forthcoming high school, college and technical school graduates, unemployed residents and incarcerated people were to find employment right now, the state would still have 20,000 open jobs.

North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in the country in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as the lowest average unemployment rate nationwide last year.

Teigen later told the Grand Forks Herald he plans to make growing the state's workforce a focal point on the campaign trail.

"We need people to stay here, and we need people to move here as well," he said. "It happens at the local level, because people don't choose the state or county to live in, they choose a community."

His remarks were well-tailored to the Young Professionals' Annual Launch event.

The organization has grown its membership from 250 to 450 members in the past year. Executive Director Sam Jenson attributed that increase to the growth in its student members.

The organization has also increased its number of sponsors as well as attendance at its events.

"Every metric used to measure YP's success has seen an increase over the past year," he reported to attendees.

Several members were honored at Thursday evening's event.

Gee Abdulnur, technical operations manager at Vantis, was honored as the Young Professional of the Year.

Three other Young Professionals members and an employer were also honored.

* David Moreno, a business development intern at Vantis, received the Rising Star award.

* East Grand Forks Economic Development Director Paul Gorte received the Distinguished Mentor award.

* Kristy Coleman, president of UND's Young Professionals chapter, received the Student YP of the Year award.

* The Community Violence Intervention Center was honored with the Grow Grand award.