The Great Plains

[jimdahl]

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The Great Plains

BISMARCK, N.D. -- At a time when the much-celebrated coasts creak from rising interest rates, faltering income levels and soaring energy prices, this windswept, energy-rich city of 57,000 on the western edge of the Dakota plains is experiencing the best of times. Cities like this one out in the far-off hinterland -- Iowa City, Sioux Falls, Fargo, Grand Forks, Rapid City -- now are enjoying job growth rates that, if they don't rival Las Vegas, certainly put to shame those of most major metropolitan areas. Unemployment is negligible and wages are rising across virtually all job categories.

Over the past five years, the fastest growth in per capita income has taken place in energy-rich Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico and West Virginia, while highly urbanized places like California, New York, Michigan and Illinois gather dust at the bottom of the pack. Tax revenues in these once hard-pressed states are also soaring; North Dakota's surplus is now estimated at $527 million, representing more than a quarter of the state's $2 billion annual budget.

Fargo-Moorhead, the pair of cities straddling the Red River (the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota), is a thriving metropolis of slightly less than 200,000 that grew by over 20% between 1990 and 2000 and has added an additional 4,300 people over the past five years. One in five newcomers was an immigrant. Bismarck has seen a similar surge in population, growing by 3% over the past five years.

Yet it is clear now that decades of dependence did not erase the entrepreneurial spirit of the Great Plains. As early as the 1980s lower business costs helped spark the growth of companies -- covering everything from business and financial services to manufacturing and high-tech. Later, new telecommunications technology would play the decisive role. Native sons like Doug Burgum and Mike Chambers found they could return home again and, through the use of telecommunications technology, run a world-wide business from places such as Fargo.

[NDFAN]

And I thought I was the only one on this board that read the WSJ!

Good article on ND. Too bad our state has the image of being cold in the winter. (Which is true, but people haven't realized that warm coats are available)

[ScottM]

I read the article the other day, and generally agreed with most of its content. Smaller towns will probably continue to slouch towards oblivion, while larger cities like Sioux Falls, Fargo, etc. will probably draw more people, ideas, business, etc. I think the issue for business and political leaders is how to use the benefits from energy production to diversify their economies and populations. And by "diversify", I mean putting value-added components into the mix to allow them to weather the inevitable downturn in energy pricing.