Hurt Ridge Labs

06/04/2026

I'm finally at the stage where the AI assistant I've been building out for months can help troubleshoot herself. It's not only helpful, but at times amusing as well. 😆

04/20/2026

Is there any song prettier than that of North Dakota's state bird? I love it so much, I decided to make that the default alarm chime for my AI personal assistant. 🐦

04/15/2026

Friday is going to be blustery but the rest of April is shaping up to be perfect gardening weather!

One of the personalized pieces of software I wrote a few months back was a dashboard for my wife and me (Frank + RaeLea = "FraeLea"). The things we look at daily get pulled up on our phones and computers so we don't miss them: calendar, tasks, server health, and of course the weather.

Living on a clay hill in North Dakota means that wind speed and direction is of particular interest! I've got the temperature track color-coded so I can see when I need to turn the chicken coop heaters on, at-a-glance.

04/13/2026

Splendiferous greetings to you!

It's been over three months since RaeLea and I announced the closure of Hurt Ridge Candy. We've not been idle, however!

I (Frank) have returned to my roots as a technologist. HurtRidge.com has been relaunched, the focus shifting to agentic AI. My motto is "Artificial Intelligence for Genuine People." My goal is to build useful tools that help my neighbors and friends save time and money so they can get back to living their lives.

I've signed my first two paying clients and delivered world-class software to one of them already. I'll go into detail in future posts.

AI isn't as sweet as candy, but it's pretty exciting! If you choose to stick around as a Facebook fan, I'll be posting updates on some pretty cool things I've been building.

And of course you can visit the website to learn more if you can't wait.

(You can still find our freeze-dried sweets everywhere Bison Country Distributing distributes, while stock remains!)

12/26/2025

🚨NEWS: Hurt Ridge Candy is shutting down (but our candy is still available for a while).

It's been a heck of a ride building this brand and slinging sweets these past few years. We've had the privilege of meeting thousands of customers, producing tens of thousands of packages of freeze-dried candy, and partnering with over 50 retail locations throughout the state.

As much as we loved building this brand, there's no denying market conditions (higher costs, increased competition from Mars and Hershey's with their own freeze-dried lineup, and general tightening of consumer spending on "luxuries"). When we separate emotion from the equation, the math just couldn't math out for us, so we're winding things down.

You'll still be able to get our candy as our distributor, Bison Country Distributing, has acquired our full inventory, keeping our retail partners supplied throughout 2026.

And rest assured, we aren't disappearing, ourselves; we are returning focus to our passion for storytelling as we write our 9th novel after leaving our readers waiting for far too long.

We invite you to follow that adventure at Frank and RaeLea Hurt, Authors

THANK YOU for enjoying our candy. It's been a true joy. 🥰

--Frank and RaeLea Hurt

11/11/2025

Late night getting orders packed! Wish it was like this every week :-D We sure are grateful for the holiday season rush!

11/04/2025

We love it when our friends collaborate! Jaydobo and Dakota Nuts-N-Candy offering a sweet-and-savory gift box for the season.

Dakota Nuts-N-Candy teams up with Jaydobo LLC seasoning for veterans

10/25/2025

Samples available for a limited time, today, at the Minot Pride of Dakota Showcase at the State Fairgrounds. Bison Country Distributing and Jaydobo each have a selection of our candy available for sale too.

10/22/2025

This weekend in Minot! We won't be attending ourselves, but look for the Bison Country Distributing area, as they carry our candy too! And samples of our freeze-dried peanut brittle (made in collaboration with Rushmore Mountain Taffy Shop, ND ) will be offered alongside the wine pairing Friday evening, so check it out!

NEW to the Minot Pride of Dakota showcase (October 24-25) is our Pride of Dakota food and drink experience area!

🍷Friday evening, October 24 from 5:30pm - 7:30pm we are excited to partner with Nordic Wines to provide you an ultimate food & drink experience!

🍷Join us and sample Nordic Wines along with non-alcoholic drink options expertly paired with delicious Pride of Dakota foods from these companies:
Big Kernels Popcorn LLC
Dash Apiary
Exceptionally Nuts
Hurt Ridge Candy
Grubbersputz's Premium Snacks - Mandan
Legendary Greens
Peggy's World Famous Bloody Mary Mix
The Popcorn Shop
T's Tangles
Warm Hands Foods
Wild Willy's Seasonings

💵And don't forget to pre-register for a chance to win $200 in Pride of Dakota bucks for an amazing Pride of Dakota shopping spree! Our winner will be announced Tuesday, October 21st @ noon!

➡️Register Here to win: https://forms.office.com/g/Gwyd7hLvZm

10/22/2025

Our friend Jaydobo just had a fantastic segment on ND Today, and he kindly gave a shout-out to us along the way.

ND Today: Business Highlight: Pride of Dakota For more Local News from KFYR: https://www.kfyrtv.com/ For more YouTube Content: https://www.youtube.com/cha...