Grand Forks Economy

[Cratter]

Plus usually (near) sold out crowd for world of outlaws racing on Friday night.

[SIOUXFAN97]

everyone loves my great ideas...here's one for Altru and their art budget..............

commission elementary, junior high, and high school students throughout the area to create hundreds of pieces of "art" (watercolors, sculptures, paintings) in school and donate/give them to Altru to hang on the walls and your art will be seen my thousands over the next few decades with your name on the little id card below it.....

Altru can gimme just 5k for this great idea....

[Cratter]

Check out Plutos new store in Grand Forks. 

It's a trip. They put a lot of money into that store.

[crb1]

1 hour ago, Cratter said:

Check out Plutos new store in Grand Forks. 

It's a trip. They put a lot of money into that store.

I assume it’s all “Tobacco” paraphernalia at the moment. I wonder if they are hedging their bets that Prop 5 passes and they transition to a dispensary 

[Cratter]

8 hours ago, crb1 said:

I assume it’s all “Tobacco” paraphernalia at the moment. I wonder if they are hedging their bets that Prop 5 passes and they transition to a dispensary 

I wondered that myself too. But I believe it's the same owners as Discontent across the street. So they ain't new to the game. Discontent usually has a constant stream of people.

They sell all the vices at Plutos so even if it doesn't pass they'll be fine. Nicotine pouches are hot right now. Vapes, cigs like your grandpa smokes. A nice humidor full of cigars. New age stuff like cbd/thc gummies, kratom drinks, and more stuff I don't even know about I'm sure.

[Hawkster]

I see the Census Bureau released new estimates for ND, with the population gaining to almost 800,000.   They also released numbers for Burliegh County and Imperial Cass as well as Williams and McKenzie Counties.  What I'm wondering is where are the numbers for the rest of the ND counties?   They obviously know them since they have a statewide number.

It looks like Burliegh and Cass are showing healthy gains as well as the oil patch.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/society-culture-and-history/social-issues/north-dakota-sees-continued-growth-with-record-population-estimate-in-2024/ar-AA1wb91R

[nodak651]

Couldn't find anything beyond the overall state numbers on the census website.  Would be nice if sources were linked in news articles.  Frustrating.

[Brim006]

9 hours ago, nodak651 said:

Couldn't find anything beyond the overall state numbers on the census website.  Would be nice if sources were linked in news articles.  Frustrating.

This study was completed by the state and was last updated mid 2024. It shows back to 2020 and estimates out to 2050, so I thought that was pretty helpful/interesting. It splits the state out into 8 regions, and also breaks things down by county, so this might be more of what you were looking for. 

 

137073.pdf

[Brim006]

3 minutes ago, Brim006 said:

This study was completed by the state and was last updated mid 2024. It shows back to 2020 and estimates out to 2050, so I thought that was pretty helpful/interesting. It splits the state out into 8 regions, and also breaks things down by county, so this might be more of what you were looking for. 

 

137073.pdf

Not really any surprises. Continued insane growth in Fargo area, continued steady growth in the Bismarck area, then likely oil dependent growth in Williston, Dickinson and Minot. Essentially stagnant in Grand Forks, and stagnant to slow decline in Devils Lake and Jamestown areas.  

[nodak651]

18 minutes ago, Brim006 said:

This study was completed by the state and was last updated mid 2024. It shows back to 2020 and estimates out to 2050, so I thought that was pretty helpful/interesting. It splits the state out into 8 regions, and also breaks things down by county, so this might be more of what you were looking for. 

 

137073.pdf

Appreciate that.  Thanks.  Will have to look into the methodology of that.  Interesting projection for GF...

[nd1sufan]

On 12/20/2024 at 8:15 AM, Brim006 said:

Not really any surprises. Continued insane growth in Fargo area, continued steady growth in the Bismarck area, then likely oil dependent growth in Williston, Dickinson and Minot. Essentially stagnant in Grand Forks, and stagnant to slow decline in Devils Lake and Jamestown areas.  

It shows Cass County population of 194,000 in 2025 and the actual estimates for 2024 show a little over 200,000 already. These 2050 plan may be a bit low the way it looks. 

[Kab]

I still think grand forks is under counted

must be a lot of empty housing units if their estimate is accurate 

 

[fightingsioux4life]

Just now, Kab said:

I still think grand forks is under counted

must be a lot of empty housing units if their estimate is accurate 

But the ghosts need a place to live too! (sarcasm) 😝 

[SiouxFan100]

A successful football and basketball teams would help - volleyball 

[nodak651]

32 minutes ago, Kab said:

I still think grand forks is under counted

must be a lot of empty housing units if their estimate is accurate 

 

Same.  The estimates are based on an algorithim which uses 100% historical data.  It doesnt appear that they incorporated projections for things like industry growth or university growth into their population estimates.

[NeutralObserver]

On 12/19/2024 at 7:14 PM, Hawkster said:

I see the Census Bureau released new estimates for ND, with the population gaining to almost 800,000.   They also released numbers for Burliegh County and Imperial Cass as well as Williams and McKenzie Counties.  What I'm wondering is where are the numbers for the rest of the ND counties?   They obviously know them since they have a statewide number.

It looks like Burliegh and Cass are showing healthy gains as well as the oil patch.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/society-culture-and-history/social-issues/north-dakota-sees-continued-growth-with-record-population-estimate-in-2024/ar-AA1wb91R

I've been following the yearly estimates for many years, since the oil boom started because I grew up in Dickinson so I'm always interested in seeing how that area is doing.  Typically they release the state numbers first, then months later they release the county population estimates and then the city.  I don't know why they do it that way, but that's what I've seen.  The census web site is also not the easiest to use to find data, I was asked to do a survey once and stated that.

Here's their current schedule, looks like county and metro populated should be in March, with city level in May.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/about/schedule.html

[Hawkster]

On 12/25/2024 at 9:39 AM, Kab said:

I still think grand forks is under counted

must be a lot of empty housing units if their estimate is accurate 

 

I do sorta think they deliberately make the estimates a little low and then when the actual census is done it keeps people from bitching that their city was under counted.   By lowballing the estimate when people complain they can point to the estimate and say well the census is higher than the estimate.   That said, estimates do show a trend and gives an indication of the direction of future growth.

[Hawkster]

On 12/30/2024 at 12:40 PM, NeutralObserver said:

I've been following the yearly estimates for many years, since the oil boom started because I grew up in Dickinson so I'm always interested in seeing how that area is doing.  Typically they release the state numbers first, then months later they release the county population estimates and then the city.  I don't know why they do it that way, but that's what I've seen.  The census web site is also not the easiest to use to find data, I was asked to do a survey once and stated that.

Here's their current schedule, looks like county and metro populated should be in March, with city level in May.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/about/schedule.html

If county estimates are scheduled for March, why did they release the big counties like Cass now?  Sure is an odd way to do it.

[southpaw]

1,000 people losing their jobs and a long-standing business shutting down would certainly be bad for the Grand Forks economy.

[Nodak78]

18 minutes ago, southpaw said:

1,000 people losing their jobs and a long-standing business shutting down would certainly be bad for the Grand Forks economy.

build all you want without subsidies.  enough taxpayer money.

[Green Banner]

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/belgian-potato-processor-plant-announces-plans-for-first-american-processing-plant-in-grand-forks

[nodakvindy]

25 minutes ago, Green Banner said:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/belgian-potato-processor-plant-announces-plans-for-first-american-processing-plant-in-grand-forks

This is exactly the kind of thing we need. Need to expand beyond raw materials and build more processing and industry where the money is. 

[Brim006]

2 hours ago, nodakvindy said:

This is exactly the kind of thing we need. Need to expand beyond raw materials and build more processing and industry where the money is. 

Yes, this is great. Hopefully everything falls into place without too many hiccups and/or delay. Grand Forks needs to continue building on the momentum of some of these industries they rely on and do well. Diversification is great, but GF will likely fail to be the best location for many other industries that might have eyes on ND. I wouldn't waste too much time or resources on those lower chance options and instead keep piling on the food processing and drone trains that seem to work well overall. 

 

This company will mostly produce retail fries for grocery chains like Costco and Sam's club I believe. Mostly using yellow potatoes and likely will have battered fries as well. Although Simplot doesnt do a lot of retail (directly), this will cause major competition for employees which will drive up wages and naturally bring more people to town. Good news all around. 

[bincitysioux]

Grand Forks leaders to consider 'high-end resort' plans

Quote

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa has purchased land along the southwest edge of Grand Forks with hopes of building a casino, reigniting a conversation that has been happening in Grand Forks for at least 20 years.

This would be outstanding for Grand Forks, and would really set it apart from the other 3 "big cities" in ND.  Hopefully this can finally move forward.

[forksandspoons]

1 hour ago, bincitysioux said:

Grand Forks leaders to consider 'high-end resort' plans

This would be outstanding for Grand Forks, and would really set it apart from the other 3 "big cities" in ND.  Hopefully this can finally move forward.

Agreed!