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North Dakota tries to woo workers for empty jobs
March 17, 2014 6:12 PM ET
By By JAMES MacPHERSON
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota officials are sending a plea to people across the country: We need you.
The state's unprecedented oil bonanza has made it the economic darling of the nation — boasting a sturdy economy, a state government budget surplus, and its highest population ever, as swarms of people have migrated to North Dakota. But it hasn't been enough, officials say, citing some 25,000 more jobs than takers in all industries in the state.
Bismarck wasn't too bad when we lived there. ALOT better than Minot where we are at now. We ended up renting a 4 bedroom house with basement and detached garage for 850/month. Granted this was 2 years ago and I remember there being a meeting about how Bismarck folks need to prepare because the oil patch boom would be hitting in 2 years.
I know in Minot here they are building houses and apartments like they are going out of style. Hopefully we'll see prices start to normalize but I imagine we're a few years off from that.
Housing is definitely the issue here. You can get a job, but you still need a place to live. Prices are double/triple here what they were for the same thing in Idaho where we came from--and if you don't take it the moment you see it, it's gone. People need jobs, sure--but nobody wants a life where they life in a different state from their family for an indefinite amount of time. Students might live in 2-bedroom apartments, but that's hard long term on families.
They're building a lot in Grand Forks, too, but prices are high (we're renting--rental prices are very high, too!) and they definitely haven't caught up with demand. If you get a good job offer and find good housing, though--definitely come! Just about every single business you enter around here has a help wanted sign.
Thanks. I've done downstream processing (refining) so Bismarck area would be where I look. I would be interested in a permanent dwelling rather than a rental, since I am accustomed to living for several years in a location. Looks like many new homes are being built in Bismarck area.
Yes I concur.... Grand Forks is building....though not as much as city leaders would like, who would love to see some outside companies come in to help build more and get supply up. So far just a few builders (local) and hard for them to build enough to bring supply up for the single family homes and bring down costs. Land costs is a huge factor as most of the building land around Grand Forks is ag land and is very very expensive. Though it is hoped that if the north/west Walmart opens (once they can find enough staffing) that some housing will be built west of town where land is less expensive due to poorer soil vs the south end where expansion is taking place and soil is very rich for farming.
With labor costs and land....anything new single family home wise is going to be 250-300k and up.....some new townhomes in the 220-230k range.
The biggest issue for folks trying to find single family housing in the 150-200k range which are older homes but also sell very fast. Apartment building continues and it is hoped that another 900 or so units come on line this year will help with supply issues and bring down rental costs.
The biggest issue with housing in the state is finding rental single family homes....though better than 10 yrs ago but they are in high demand but very short supply and quite expensive.
About 50 Grand Forks area business leaders met Thursday to discuss a workforce shortage, perhaps the biggest problem facing local businesses.
The panel, led by the local chamber of commerce, economic development corporation, the Northeast Dakota Area Human Resource Association and Job Service North Dakota, focused on generating ideas for how to recruit workers to the area, and what specific obstacles need to be addressed.
Keith Reitmeier, area manager for Job Service North Dakota, said there are 0.5 unemployed people per job opening in Grand Forks County, compared to a 0.6 ratio statewide.
“It isn’t just the western part of the state that’s hungry for workers, it’s all over the state” he said. Reitmeier said some employers are having a tough time finding workers with the right skills, but much of the problem has to do with simply not having enough people to fill positions.
North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 2.6 percent, while Grand Forks County sits at 2.9 percent. The state had more than 20,000 online job openings as of February, Job Service reported.
Interesting. That is how it was we first moved to the Charlotte area too. Rentals were hard to come by because people from the NE are moving down south to get away from the high COL and weather. But now this area is in a housing boom and traffic is getting worse by the minute. We are paying $1300/mo rent for a 3bd townhouse which is about $300 more per month than what we would've paid in the suburbs of north Atlanta.
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