Business View Magazine | March 2018

158 Moorhead is also aMinnesota GreenStep City. Minnesota GreenStep Cities is avoluntarychallenge, assistance,and recognition program to help cities achieve their sustainabilityand quality-of-life goals. The programconnects cities to resources and technical assistance to complete up to 29 best practices in the areas of buildings and lighting,transportation,land use,environmental management,and communityand economicdevelopment.“Whichmeans that we are really focusing on all the things that go alongwith being a green city,”Volkers declares.“That’s a big thing for Moorhead.” Education is also a“big thing”inMoorhead.Families are attracted to the citybecause of its active school district and its four major institutions of higher learn- ing: Concordia College,Minnesota State University Moorhead,Minnesota State CommunityandTechnical College,and Rasmussen College,with a combined stu- dent enrollment of approximately14,000.“We educate and retain our workforce,one of the best in the nation,” saysMahli.“They’re innovative and entrepreneurial.We pride ourselves in being kind of a cutting-edge place. The peoplewho built these communities were trail- blazers and pioneers andwe take a lot of pride in that.” But perhaps the biggest thing going for Moorhead is its sense of community.Mahli recognizes it in the way the population came together to battle its recent floods.“It shows a lot about their grit,”he avers.“There were over a hundred thousand people in our metro community that came together to build four-and-a- half million sand bags.” “There is such a sense of communityhere,”Volkers MOORHEAD, MINNESOTA