North Dakota Recent News – Swanson Reed | Specialist R&D Tax Advisors

Blue Comply Wins Fargo Regional Pitch Comp

Wyoming Patent of the Month - November 2021

Blue Comply has won Grand Farm’s Fargo Regional Pitch Competition. The event was organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures and highlighted six different startups all looking to secure a spot at the Startup World Cup competition in San Francisco. Troy Verberg, founder of Blue Comply and regional winner, will have the opportunity to pitch at the global event on October 4th in San Francisco.

The Fargo Regional Pitch Competition was held at the Grand Farm Innovation Campus just west of Casselton, North Dakota.

Blue Comply develops tools and tools for the Oil & Gas industry. Their focus is on improving detection of fugitive methane leaks by targeting thief hatches. These hatches account for the majority of methane leaks on well sites, so improving the time to detection goes a long way in reducing waste emissions. Their IMSA Detection system is a wireless IoT device integrated into a storage tank thief hatch to detect methane leaks.

The Startup World Cup is the largest startup competition globally, offering startups a chance to win a $1 million investment. The 2024 pitch will take place October 4th in San Francisco.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Taking Flight: Aethero’s $1.1M Investment to Shape the Future of UAS

Aethero, a Grand Forks-based startup specializing in AI and UAS technology, has recently secured over $1.1 million in investment, marking a significant milestone in its journey towards revolutionizing the UAS industry. Co-founded by Matt Dunlevy and Josh Klug, Aethero is dedicated to analyzing and monitoring infrastructure health using cutting-edge drone technology.

This substantial investment, part of which comes from a North Dakota venture capital fund, reflects the confidence and support of investors in Aethero’s vision and technological capabilities. With this funding, Aethero is poised to accelerate its development and commercialization efforts, paving the way for groundbreaking innovations in autonomous aerial systems.

The investment, facilitated through gener8tor 1889 North Dakota – an accelerator program aimed at assisting startups in securing seed funding – will provide Aethero with the resources to pursue ambitious research and development initiatives. Additionally, it will enable the expansion of Aethero’s customer support and business development teams, strengthening its position in the market.

Aethero’s mission extends beyond merely advancing drone technology; it aims to address critical challenges across various sectors, including agriculture, infrastructure, and public safety. By leveraging AI and UAS solutions, Aethero seeks to empower industries and organizations to harness the transformative potential of drone technology for enhancing efficiency and safety.

Ben Stanley, principal of gener8tor 1889, expressed confidence in Aethero’s vision, emphasizing its potential to revolutionize the way property owners manage critical infrastructure. Through innovative technologies, Aethero is poised to provide property owners with valuable insights, enabling them to prioritize maintenance and improve overall efficiency.

As Aethero embarks on its next phase of growth and innovation, it remains committed to driving positive change and shaping the future of autonomous aerial systems. With its pioneering spirit and dedication to excellence, Aethero is poised to make a lasting impact on industries worldwide, ushering in a new era of UAS technology.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Unleashing Innovation: CorVent Medical’s Research and Development Journey

CorVent Medical, a leading medical device company based in Fargo, North Dakota, has announced Jeremy Nelson as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Nelson’s extensive operational experience, spanning nearly two decades, positions him as a valuable addition to the company’s executive team.

With a robust background in supply chain, manufacturing, engineering, and automation, Nelson brings a wealth of expertise to his new role. Based at CorVent’s Fargo office, he will play a pivotal role in guiding the company’s operations and overseeing its expansion as it transitions from a startup to a fully-fledged commercial medical device enterprise.With CorVent’s recent move to a new 15,000-square-foot headquarters, Nelson’s appointment is a strategic move towards further enhancing the company’s operational capabilities.

Nelson’s vision for CorVent Medical is centered around developing a world-class medical device quality and operations team. He is committed to implementing best-in-class systems and processes that align with the company’s mission of delivering simple, yet sophisticated respiratory solutions for post-ICU and home environments. By leveraging the collective strengths of CorVent’s team, Nelson aims to maximize the company’s value for all stakeholders by cultivating a winning combination of people, processes, and systems that enable local production and global distribution of respiratory products.

CorVent Medical is a value-driven institution, developing the technology needed to improve access to critical care ventilation. Traditional systems have been limited by their complexity and cost. Through constant R&D, CorVent has developed robust and elegant solutions that are easy to use for daily and off-the-shelf ventilation so providers can focus on critical patient needs.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Red Trail Energy is the Nation’s First to Capture and Store Carbon Dioxide Underground

Red Trail Energy has made great strides in carbon capture and sequestration following the conclusion of six years of research and development as well as hefty investments.The ethanol plant has become the first facility in the United States to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions deep underground.

The company officially began the injection of CO2 captured from the plant on June 16 and made the official announcement two days later. They expect that each day the plant will capture 500 metric tons of CO2 produced by fermenting corn to make fuel.

This sustainable step reinforces and supports the path for long0term viability of current energy sources in the state. The North Dakota Industrial Commission gave approval for Red Trail Energy to commercially capture 180,000 metric tons of CO2, a greenhouse gas.

This milestone follows after the state became the first in the nation to secure authorization from the Environmental Protection Agency to inject CO2 deep underground for permanent storage. This earlier authorization was granted in 2018. The CO2 is deposited more than a mile underground into the Broom Creek Formation – a porous layer of rock sandwiched between “impenetrable” rock layers that will permanently store the greenhouse gas in the earth.

Officials credited the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota for doing work that demonstrated the feasibility and potential of carbon capture and storage in the state. They estimated that North Dakota can safely store more than 252 billion tons of CO2.

Red Trail Energy continuously monitors the stored CO2 using a carbon fiber installation at the injection well as well as an adjacent monitoring well.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

US Department of Agriculture Tackles Cercospora Leaf Spot Disease

Cercospora leaf spot disease is an infectious disease affecting a range of plants in landscapes and nurseries. The disease is the result of the fungus Cercospora beticola and occurs wherever table beets, swiss chard, sugar beet, and spinach are grown and is one of the most important diseases affecting the Chenopodium group. The disease leads to significant losses especially in late summer. The leafy greens become unmarketable and the beet roots fail to grow to full size.

With such an impact, it’s no surprise that plant pathologist, Nathan Wyatt, has committed to researching this disease. The project, which is underway at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, will aim to find a way to more efficiently control the disease in sugargeats. It will also look into how to reduce fungicide resistance to the pathogen.

Nathan Wyatt, who works in the Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center’s Northern Crop Science Laboratory in Fargo, North Dakota will be conducted during the next few years to fine tune the model that predicts when the risk of cercospora leaf disease is at a level at which growers can respond by spraying fungicides on the sugarbeets.

The research will focus on looking at the thresholds of relative humidity and temperatures at which you start to see cercospora leaf spots. Wyatt will use that research, which identified weather conditions conducive to cercospora leaf spot disease development, together with new information about asymptomatic infection to devise more specific fungicide predictions.

Currently, the 2022 NDSU sugarbeet production guide recommends that farmers begin spraying fungicides early on and then spray every 10-14 days for the remainder of the season.

Data will be collected this summer, and field trials will get underway in 2023, Wyatt said. The goal is to have prediction models available for sugarbeet cooperatives in 2024.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Ideal Aerosmith Awarded $17M Contract

The New Program Dedicated to Keeping Mississippi at the Forefront of Technology

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded North Dakota-based Ideal Aerosmith, Inc. a massive contract for the creation of an Expeditionary Mission Support Station (EMSS). This contract comes in at a maximum of $25,685,970 cost-plus-fixed-feed deal. And will include a ground station for controlling multiple unmanned aircraft and sensor systems.

The contract is funded at $17 million, but includes a 12-month option period which would bring the total up to $25 million. This optional period funding has not yet been approved.

Ideal Aerosmith is best known for their motion testing technology. They work to develop innovative motion testing solutions from hardware to software. This motion simulation testing can be applied to a variety of industries including aerospace, automotive electronics, and petroleum industries around the world.

The contract with EMSS will include updating the advanced mission planning systems and is strategically important for allowing dedicated Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets and the collection of this ISR data for use in the planning process. Ideal Aerosmith will create the mission planning software capable of collecting and processing this ISR data – both classified and non-classified. They will aim to make the software capable of planning multi-day routes with dynamic weather considerations which may change over both time and location.

“The technology developed under this contract will help missions across the globe to be better informed, supporting the safety and effectiveness of our servicemembers,” said Senator John Hoeven. Hoeven had been working with the ONR to secure this deal with Ideal Aerosmith.

Are you developing new software for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Microbeam Technologies Awarded $250K in Funding

North Dakota-based Microbeam Technologies Inc. has been awarded $249,886 in funding from the US Department of Energy. Microbeam is a leader in advanced fuel-quality analysis and assessing impacts of fuel on power-system performance. They work to find solutions that can lead to clean, efficient, and reliable energy system operations via predictive tools and interpretation.

Currently, Microbeam is focused on the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques to determine mechanisms of ash-deposit formation. This focus can then be used to predict ash-related problems in coal-utilization systems. They intend to use this funding to further their research into improved utilization of coal to support the need for critical mineral resources.

Are you developing new software for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Self-Amplifying RNA Products Released by Aldevron

Aldevron is a global leader in advancing biological science by using high-quality plasmid DNA, proteins, enzymes, antibodies, and other biologicals. Aldevron recently added three new self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) products to their line – AldGFP saRNA™, AldSEAP saRNA™ and AldnLUC saRNA™.

The saRNA encodes non-structural proteins that enable self-replication. This means genetic medicines and vaccines can be reformulated and administered in lower doses. With customizable manufacturing, they can create their products for any gene of interest. Aldevron also announced that these new products will contribute to the next generation of COVID vaccines.

Are you developing new materials or using them in new applications? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Study Ranks Performance of Each State’s Economy Over The Past Decade

The economy of the United States is the largest in the world by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the second-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). During the past decade, in most of the US states, economy has improved considerably, but that is not to say every state’s economy is equally healthy. Some states are experiencing an economic boom, while others continue to contend with poor GDP growth, low per capita income, unemployment and poverty.

The Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health conducted an analysis of the data collected by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for 2009 and 2019 and ranked the economic performance of all fifty states in the US. The results determined that the economies of the states such as New Hampshire, followed by North Dakota, turned out to be the healthiest over the past ten years, while the states such as Louisiana and Mississippi were regarded as the most economically distressed states. To be more precise, the most economically distressed states for 2019 were Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky, Alabama, West Virginia, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Mississippi. However, the results of the study should be interpreted with caution.

This is because, though ranked last and being labelled as the poorest state, Mississippi improved its economic distress index score of 153 in 2009 to 141.8 in 2019. The state witnessed an upsurge in nearly all income-related categories. But simultaneously, it also faced widespread weakness across the economy. Sectors shrinking included government, construction, entertainment, arts, agriculture, nondurable goods manufacturing and recreation. The state’s economic conditions weakened as compared to its growth in the past. The economy grew just 0.3% in 2017, compared to 2% growth in 2016. However this is expected to improve in 2018 and 2019.

It can be concluded that economic vitality can help communities remain competitive and adapt to the constantly changing world.

Kennedy And Bresciani: Invest In An Innovative Economy

Digitally connectivity and innovation backed by research and development (R&D) are the two crucial aspects that make an economy diversified along with its ability to generate abundant opportunities for citizens. The state of North Dakota, though a pioneer in digital infrastructure and broadband access, lacks sufficient value for research. Therefore, the presidents of University of North Dakota (UND) and North Dakota State University (NDSU), Mark Kennedy and Dean Bresciani respectively, conducted a state-wide tour with their proposal to invest 25 million USD in supporting research at the universities.

North Dakota ranks mostly among the top-ten US states when measured on the New Economy Index. For example, as per the research by Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, in 2018, the state ranked 9th in its implementation of the digital economy and business start-ups, 10th in health IT and 12th in online agriculture. The leading institutions of higher education in North Dakota, NDSU and UND, contribute greatly to these areas along with the fresh wave of proficient graduates and capable workforce every year.

However, the ranking of North Dakota in terms of R&D warrants urgent attention. The state ranks 36th in the context of industry investment in R&D, 41st in high tech jobs and 36th in scientists and engineers. Likewise, the ranking regarding the generation of patents, venture capital, and Initial Public Offerings is also apprehensive. Both UND and NDSU have yet to exploit their full research potential. This justifies the need to invest considerably in R&D at North Dakota’s higher institutions, in general, and UND and NDSU, in particular, in order to make key industries and sectors such as energy and agriculture robust and the state’s economy diversified and resilient.

It can be safely assumed that the proposed state investment of $250 million at NDSU and UND can bring about long term positive economic impact on the State and Private Sector through several means counting, but not restricted to; economic diversification, enhanced production factors, and the growth of new markets.