The director of the state Commerce Department’s Workforce Division is expecting the state will see the first workers coming to North Dakota through the efforts of the state’s Office of Legal Immigration by the end of the current biennium, if not sooner.
"We have upwards of 50-plus nurses, in partnership with the health care system, hopefully by the end of this calendar year," Katie Ralston Howe told the Legislature's interim Workforce Committee. "And we're also working with some other federal partners to rec4uit from other countries for some temporary positions."
Ralston Howe told the Committee that success in recruiting depends on some other factors outside of their control.
"We need places for people to live," Ralston Howe said. "We need quality facilities for them to send their children to while they are working. We need transportation. Some of the success depends on what a community can offer in terms of support."
Ralston Howe says the top industries looking for these workers are health care, construction, manufacturing and agriculture.
Name change?
Ralston Howe told the Committee a change may be coming – not in the office’s task, but in the name.
"The Office of Legal Immigration — "OLI" (pronounced "OH-LEE) — has caught on," Ralston Howe said. "When we talk to some of our partners, North Dakota OLI really has gained a name for itself. But we really would like to change it to 'Global Talent Office," to better-reflect the work that we are doing to recruit foreign-born talent, and looking at the office as a workforce solution."
Ralston Howe said the acronym wouldn't be as fun.
"But it more accurately labels the office, and the work that we're doing," Ralston Howe said.
The committee chairman — Rep. Shannon Roers-Jones (R-Fargo) said she sees nothing wrong with the acronym "GTO."
The change will likely be considered by the 2025 Legislature.
