by North Dakota Commerce
The North Dakota Department of Commerce last June announced two new tools designed to help connect growing companies to the best sites for expansion: Location One Information System (LOIS) and Lasso RFI software.
To make the process seamless for local and regional economic development organizations, Commerce purchased an umbrella subscription to LOIS — a widely used property marketing software that promotes available sites and buildings globally to site selectors and corporate end-users. Because the subscription is statewide, the new Commerce benefit provides service for all regional, county, local and downtown economic development organizations and Native American Tribal governments at no added cost.
Commerce also acquired Lasso, a request-for-information data collection software used by corporate location decision-makers, site selection consultants and economic development organizations (EDOs). Access to Lasso enables EDOs to prepare for future site selection projects and keep their site and building database up to date on the LOIS property marketing map.
“These new tools significantly strengthen our ability to position North Dakota’s sites and communities in the competitive marketplace for business attraction,” Commerce Commissioner Chris Schilken said. “By providing comprehensive and up-to-date property marketing data, we can better showcase the opportunities available in our state and entice businesses to consider North Dakota as their next location.”
The introduction of LOIS and Lasso represents a significant step forward in Commerce’s efforts to enhance economic development services across North Dakota. These two tools not only provide valuable data and insights but also foster collaboration among various community and economic development organizations. “By leveraging these resources, we can create a more cohesive and effective strategy for attracting new businesses and supporting existing ones,” Commerce said in a press release.
“These tools have significantly enhanced our ability to market properties and attract new businesses — but what’s been even more impactful is how they’ve strengthened collaboration between the regional council and our local EDC partners,” said Amber Metz, executive director of the Lake Agassiz Development Group. “By working together and leveraging shared data and resources, we’re better positioned to showcase the opportunities from Ransom to Traill County and the broader region. It’s exciting to see how this partnership is driving momentum for future growth.”
Benefits For North Dakota Organizations
- Extended Marketing Reach: LOIS enables community sites and buildings to be viewed on a customizable map, optimized with property brochures, geospatial map layers, demographic and workforce data, web visitor analytics and sharing tools.
- Preparedness for Site Selection Pursuits: Lasso allows organizations to proactively prepare for corporate site selection by sending RFIs and storing data in a cloud database for future retrieval.
- Property Marketing Data Accuracy: Pre-populating the Lasso RFI ensures that the data fields corresponding to the public-facing property brochure in the LOIS property marketing map are updated.
“We are thrilled to see the rollout of LOIS and Lasso,” said Red River Regional Council Executive Director Dawn Mandt. “Rural communities and regions, which can struggle to afford such tools, now have the same opportunity to promote their spaces as major cities. Our regions have been advocating for this for years, and we are looking forward to utilizing these services to enhance our economic development efforts.”
Rolette County in north central North Dakota has just over 12,000 residents and is one of many communities statewide with sites available for businesses.
Photo courtesy of North Dakota Commerce
LOIS and Lasso Training
To make the process work smoothly and seamlessly, Commerce offers training to all local and regional partners statewide. Training covers how to integrate the LOIS Map viewer on organization websites, generate reports and walk through the Lasso RFI process.
The LOIS platform includes customizable GIS mapping to highlight community assets and available properties. Listings feature detailed profiles with information on size, zoning, utilities and proximity to amenities. Multimedia elements such as photos, videos and documents are also integrated to help showcase each property.
The LOIS platform currently contains detailed information on over 600 sites available for development statewide, as well as nearly 1,600 available buildings. The sites include everything from a 320-acre industrial rail park in Berthold to multiple 4-acre sites available in Fargo. The many buildings in the database range from the 3.14 million-sq.-ft. Dakota Commerce Center North in Fargo to multiple 12,000-sq.-ft. buildings available in Fargo, Bismarck and Minot.
Details on each property include zoning, total size, sale or lease information, utility infrastructure, available incentives, and whether the tract has received site certification. Building data also includes details on ceiling height, property type, available square footage and whether the building is single-tenant or multi-tenant.
For more information on how to use LOIS to find your next business site, contact the North Dakota Department of Commerce at 701-328-5300.