FARGO
Business + West Fargo
The Man IN THE
Driver’s Seat THE AMOUNT OF GROWTH WEST FARGO HAS SEEN IN THE LAST DECADE IS INCREDIBLE. THE POPULATION GREW FROM 14,940 IN 2000 TO 25,830 IN 2010, AN ASTOUNDING 72.9 PERCENT GROWTH IN 10 YEARS. BUSINESSES ARE POPPING UP THROUGHOUT THE CITY. SCHOOLS ARE BEING BUILT AT A REMARKABLE RATE. ALL IN ALL, IT’S A GOOD TIME FOR WEST FARGO. WE CAUGHT UP WITH ITS MAYOR RICH MATTERN TO TALK ABOUT THIS GROWTH. Interview by Andrew Jason Photo by J. Alan Paul Photography
West Fargo was named North Dakota’s City of the Year for 2013. What was it like to receive that? “We’ve received, through the years, a number of awards for various things but when you are voted City of the Year by your peer cities, it was a judging group from the North Dakota
12
League of Cities, I think that is really the biggest award you can get. It’s not just me. It’s the staff and the other commissioners and we all share in that award, because it’s through everybody’s hard work that we’re given that award. That you’re seeing this tremendous growth.
How many Shamrock shakes have you eaten so far this year? // Fargomonthly.com
“There are various things that I wanted to accomplish when becoming mayor and one of the things I wanted to do, since I’m in the PR business, I wanted to get West Fargo more on the map. Mayor (Dave) Stedman before me always shied away from interviews and those kinds of things. Given my background I