I just spent an amazing two days in Fargo North Dakota.

We are meeting here to celebrate the "turning on" of the North Dakota portion of the Northern Tier Network. As the President of the consortium, I am honored to be a small part of the event.

At the ceremony yesterday, we heard from the system Chancellor, university presidents, state legislators, and a senator. They all spoke of one thing.  This breakthrough in network capability for North Dakota is vital to the region's future prosperity in commerce, research and education. North Dakota was able to align resources and approaches to establish this in a way that will change their state forever. Not only did they get the work done but when it was done they were able to articulate a common vision concerning what was accomplished and how to move forward. I was jealous and I was proud to be a small part of it.