Fowzia Adde helps newcomers build businesses in Fargo–Moorhead
Fowzia Adde founded the Immigrant Development Center in 2003 to help newcomers build economic lives in the Fargo–Moorhead region. Her work includes the International Market Plaza in Fargo, a business incubator described in MPR’s January 2025 profile. It is a North Dakota story with relationships extending across the river into Minnesota.
Starting over, then helping others begin
MPR reporter Dan Gunderson traces Adde’s arrival in the United States to 1997, after years in a refugee camp in Kenya. She initially pursued healthcare training before an injury changed her plans. In a separate April 2025 West Central Initiative conversation, Adde discussed her Muslim faith and the personal importance of reflection and generosity.
Space, advice and the paperwork behind a business
IDC’s own program descriptions combine affordable commercial space with mentorship and operational support. They also describe entrepreneurial training and help with forms, resumes and interpretation. Those details make business incubation more concrete: a premises alone does not supply every skill or connection needed to operate it.
The organization dates its founding to 2003, while MPR dates the start of the plaza initiative to 2012. That sequence shows how support for newcomers developed into a physical space for enterprise.
Keep the two sides of the river clear
IDC describes work in both Fargo and Moorhead. Its current website labels a separate Moorhead cultural-mall redevelopment as ongoing and phased. That Minnesota project should not be presented as a completed North Dakota attraction. For an aspiring owner, the useful question is which training, advising or space is available now, through the provider’s current process.
An older North Dakota history
The Ross mosque story follows another period of Muslim settlement in the state. The photograph below belongs to Ross, not Adde’s incubator. Explore it as a separate historical route, or continue with the practical article about finding a business’s first customers.
Follow the story
Explore the original reporting and organizational records:
Selected local stories, not a complete account of the state. Events and figures refer to the periods stated above. Check directly with organizations for current services.
