As North Dakota economic developers gather for their summer conference in Bismarck, the big issue is workforce.
"If you look at all of Bismarck-Mandan, and Burleigh and Morton counties, right now our best estimate is we have 4400 openm jobs," said Bismarck-Mandan Development Asociation executive director Brian Ritter. "That's a staggering number for a community of about 120,000 people."
Ritter says when talking to new businesses, there's one question at the top of their minds.
"Are we going to be able to find enough people/"
Keith Lund of Grand Forks is the president of the Economic Development Association of North Dakota. He says virtually every area of the state faces challenges in getting people to fill available jobs. Lunds says the keys are recruitment and retention.
"My personal opinion is there's more bang for the buck in terms of retention," said Lund. "So that's working through high schools, colleges, to try to retain people that are here. They're familiar with the culture and the weather. And we need more emphasis on recruitment. We need to do a better job of marketing ourselves."
Lund says that includes quality of life issues.
Ritter says businesses also need to be flexible.
"Flexible in location," said Ritter. "Flexible in hours. Flexible in benefits. Flexible in pay. When you combine those things, you set yourself apart from the crowded job market."
Other items the developers are discussing include child care, affordable housing and economic diversity.
