The department of commerce division of economic development and finance is established to assume the functions, powers, and duties of the department of economic development and finance with respect to programs and other efforts intended to enhance the economic development of the state. The mission of the division is to develop strategies and programs to:

1.    Facilitate the growth, diversification, and expansion of existing enterprises and the attraction and creation of new wealth-generating enterprises in the state; 2.    Promote economic diversification and innovation within the basic industries and economic sectors of this state, including strategies and programs designed to specialize and focus the state’s economy on identified target industries; 3.    Promote increased productivity and value-added products, processes, and services in the state, and the export of those goods and services by North Dakota enterprises to the nation and to the world; 4.    Maintain and revitalize economically depressed rural areas by working in close collaboration with local communities and by encouraging communities to enter into cooperative relationships for more efficient and effective education, health care, government service, and infrastructure maintenance; 5.    Forge a supportive partnership with the Bank of North Dakota, the board of higher education and the state’s institutions of higher education, regional planning councils, local development organizations and authorities, the state’s nonprofit development corporations, and other appropriate private and public sector organizations in achieving the economic goals of the state; and

6.    Identify those statutes, administrative rules, and policies that impede the attraction, creation, and expansion of businesses and job creation in this state.