"Utilizing Immigration as a Workforce Solution."
That was the title of one of the panel discussions at the GNDA Policy Summit, held in Bismarck Sept. 27th.
This comes as North Dakota is experiencing a workforce shortage. And the legislature approved creating an "Office of Legal Immigration" in the state's Commerce Department.
A program to bring Ukrainian immigrants to the Bakken is underway. It’s called “Bakken Grow.” North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness — the panel's moderator — said the energy industry needs those workers.
"When one of my major Bakken operators came to our office, and their executive leadership said, 'We want to deploy $1 billion to $2 billion per year in North Dakota over the next 10 years, but we are deeply concerned that the workers aren't going to be there, and we're going to have to look at other places to deploy our capital,'" Ness said. "We took that seriously."
Ness says there are currently 37 workers from Ukraine in the Bakken – and he’s hoping that will be more than 50 by mid-October.
The president and CEO of Sanford Health-Bismarck said Sanford has hired more than 300 immigrant nurses at its Bismarck and Fargo locations, and that number will likely grow to 600.
"We've been able to nearly completely eliminate our contract labor," Dr. Todd Schaffer said. "With that, we've been able to expand services, and continue to staff up units that may not have been fully staffed throughout the pandemic."
Schaffer said there are some challenges in bringing immigrants in.
"It's not as simple as, 'Hey, we're going to hire you,'" Schaffer said. "Now we're going to work through the visa process, work to find them housing. And many of them bring families. They might have a spouse who needs a job, and kids that need to be enrolled in school."
Mike Arntson is the Fargo Plant Manager for Cardinal Glass Industries. He said the plant employs 361 people – and a majority of them are not from the United States. He said it is time for the state – and companies – to embrace immigration.
"We embraced it at one time," Arntson said. "I think it's time we embrace it again."
Arntson said without it, companies that are deciding where to move and build a factory in North Dakota may look at the workforce situation, and bypass the state.
