FARGO, N.D. (KFGO) – The owners of Fargo-based CI Sport, Inc. are seeking a tax break for the former Gander Mountain store they plan to purchase in south Fargo.
Gander Mountain closed in 2017. Up until now it was not known who the buyer was because the sale is pending. According to the city assessor’s office, the company is seeking a tax exemption of $30,125 annually for five years on existing and newly constructed buildings on the property along 43rd St. S., near I-94.
City Commissioner David Piepkorn, who chairs the tax exempt review committee, says CI Sport is a long-time, local small business with local owners and should be kept in Fargo. The company needs more space and plans to expand. Piepkorn says there’s plenty of competition to attract successful businesses like CI Sport. He says the city of Moorhead offered the company free land to move its operation there.
The CI Sport application will be on the tax exempt review committee agenda next Tuesday. City commissioners will have the final say.
The company is owned by Fargo businessmen Randy Thorson and Warren Ackley, who started it in the 1980’s where the business is now located.
CI Sport has become a nationally recognized company supplying embroidered, screen and digital print apparel for colleges and corporations. According to its city tax application, there are 87 employees with plans to add 15 more in the first year of expansion.
