BISMARCK, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Several Jamestown community leaders attended the 2018 Main Street ND Summit on Feb. 12-13 at the Bismarck Event Center.

The Main Street ND Summit was a gathering of local and national community development experts and advocates to share best practices and engage community leaders, entrepreneurs, students and interested citizens in envisioning North Dakota’s future.

Mayor Katie Anderson; Tammy Dillman, Central Valley Health; Corry Shevlin, Jamestown-Stutsman Development Corporation; Dr. Polly Peterson and Tena Lawrence from the University of Jamestown; Kendra Krueger, American Heart Association; David Klein and Cassie DuBray from Great Plains Housing, and Becky Thatcher-Keller, Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce were some of the Jamestown participants.

“It was a very informative conference, with some outstanding speakers from around the country. It gives me hope that Jamestown is on the right track with what we are doing, but we do have a long way to go before we can embrace the quality of life I would like to see for our residents, new employees and visitors. We currently have some great anchor tenants on our main street, but we need to work on filling in the gaps to bring a good diversity of business to the community. It is important to provide a “walkable” community as well, and with some of the projects that are happening or will happen soon, I believe our walkable score will improve,” said Becky Thatcher-Keller.

The Main Street ND Summit served as a forum for information on the community planning principles behind the three pillars of Burgum’s Main Street Initiative: a skilled workforce; smart, efficient infrastructure; and healthy, vibrant communities to help North Dakota compete in a 21st century economy in which rapid technological advancement is changing every job, industry and organization. Additional information is available at www.MainStreetND.com.

“The Summit provided us an opportunity to work in concert with leaders to shape the future of North Dakota, by facilitating resources and providing the tools to help businesses grow and communities thrive,” Governor Doug Burgum said. “Reinvigorated communities are the key to a strong future in North Dakota.”

The Main Street ND Summit was hosted by Gov. Burgum and the North Dakota Department of Commerce.