House panel backs $30 million completion-grant line for proposed value-added egg facility

The House Appropriations Committee approved an amendment and voted to give House Bill 13-32 a do-pass recommendation after discussion about a proposed value‑added egg production facility in eastern North Dakota.

Representative Jared Haggart, sponsor of HB13-32, told the committee the bill “focuses on large value added egg facility, incentive fundings” and would set up a state program to award grants to large egg production facilities and direct $30,000,000 to the Agriculture Development Diversification Fund.

The measure passed with an amendment that directs the Agricultural Commissioner to use a Bank of North Dakota (BND) line of credit to make completion grants rather than paying the state cash up front. Kelvin Hull, chief business development officer at BND, said the approach is intended to make incentives contingent on project completion: “...what we call it completion grants. ...when they achieve their ... certificate of occupancy, they would get half of the incentive. And then when the facility is up and running and it reaches 50% of the capacity that they have said they're going to achieve, then they would get the, other part of that incentive.”

Under the amendment the bank would provide a line of credit the Agriculture Commissioner could draw on to fund awards after the project meets the statutory conditions. Hull explained repayment would be determined by the 2029 legislature; repayment options include a deficiency appropriation or a specific appropriation from funds such as the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF), legacy fund earnings or the general fund.

Mayor Buczynski of Grand Forks, which is the local host jurisdiction for the prospective facility, briefed the committee on competition from an offer in Wisconsin and described Grand Forks’ advantages. He said the company has tested North Dakota varieties and liked the workforce and communities, arguing the area has “a better potato” for the product and the site is ready. He added, “It’s really ours to lose now.”

Committee members pressed officials for expected economic scale. Hull and the local representatives said the facility owner anticipates a $400 million to $500 million investment in the plant itself and that the project would have additional downstream impacts on storage, farm production and regional markets. Hull said the bill requires a Regional Economic Modeling, Inc. (RIMI) analysis to estimate economic impacts as part of award criteria.

Members also discussed existing administrative structure to implement the program; Hull said the Agriculture Development Diversification Committee already exists in the Century Code (created in the 2021 legislative session) and could administer grants and coordinate with BND. Representative Bosch asked whether the committee structure was new; Hull confirmed the authorizing statute and committee are already in place.

The committee adopted the amendment (amendment 05002) and later gave HB13-32 a do-pass recommendation as amended. Committee members and local officials framed the bill as a way to make incentives certain for an investor while protecting state cash if projects fail to proceed.

Votes and next steps: The committee adopted the amendment to HB13-32 (amendment 05002) and gave the bill a do-pass recommendation as amended. Per the amendment, awards would be administered by the Agriculture Commissioner using a BND line of credit and paid as completion grants once the facility meets the statutory milestones; repayment of the line would be subject to action by the 2029 legislative session.