Bruce Gjovig

Bruce Gjovig


Director, Grand Sky, Inc.
Bio

Bruce Gjovig is a strategic advisor for Grand Sky, the nation’s first UAS business park and UAS airport in the United States, located on the Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota utilizing an enhanced use lease (EUL).  Opened in 2016, Grand Sky includes UAS facilities in programs by Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, Thales, Vantis (Beyong Visual Line of Sight for North Dakota), and the OSD Test Resource Management Center (TMRC) which is repurposing 24 Global Hawks for hypersonic missile testing in the Sky Range program.

Gjovig is CEO Emeritus -  and was Founder, CEO and Entrepreneur Coach -  of the Center for Innovation Foundation, a program focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, private investment, and the entrepreneur ecosystem at the University of North Dakota for 33 years. Launched in 1984, under his leadership the Foundation became one of the premier venture development organizations in the world. It received 18 national and international awards for excellence and was one of just six entrepreneur centers nationwide featured for best practices and outstanding performance of venture development organizations. In March 2017, the Center received three international awards, two of particular note: the InBIA Mixed-Use Business Incubator of the Year and the Dinah Adkins Technology Incubator of the Year AwardsBoth worldwide awards were for best incubator exemplifying overall excellence and serving as the leading model for others to follow when serving innovators and entrepreneurs. Gjovig built a world-class program out of UND. From 2006 to 2017, the two incubators were certified six times as a “Soft Landings International Incubator” from InBIA, just one of 31 incubators worldwide - and among the first six - for being business friendly to international entrepreneurs entering a foreign market. Gjovig raised over $33 million for the Center for Innovation Foundation and helped launch one of the nation’s first Schools of Entrepreneurship.

In 2008, Sir Gjovig was presented with the Knight of the First Class, Royal Norwegian Order of Merit by HM King Harald V of Norway for 25 years of educational and business exchanges with Norway. In 2014, he was presented the national Ronald Reagan Award for his 30 years of promoting free enterprise, innovation and entrepreneurship. He has two degrees from the University of North Dakota. In 2010 he was co-founder of the North Dakota Bioscience Association of North Dakota and continues to serve as chairman of the board to help grow the bioscience industry in North Dakota.  Since 2016, he has been one of 30 Civic Leaders appointed by the Chief of Staff for the U.S. Air Force, serving as an advisor and advocate for our nation’s Air Force and Space Force.

Gjovig is the author of seven books, the last three are about the Innovative Entrepreneurs from North Dakota.