The second annual state Demographics Conference was held in Bismarck Monday.
It was sponsored by the UND Department of Economics and Finance, the state Health Department, North Dakota Compass at NDSU, and the state Department of Commerce. The conference looked at economic and population trends in North Dakota.
"You can't improve your results if you can't measure them," said Commerce Commissioner Jay Schuler in an interview. "We all have concepts on what's going on with our population. But to get the real facts is just critical. It allows us to look at how do we improve and make this better -- where do we need to focus our resources."
Schuler said this kind of information is important as the state works on attracting and keeping people in North Dakota – and diversifying the economy. he said one challenge for North Dakota is to keep young people in the state after they graduate high school and college.
"We need to keep our brains, our young people, our educated people in this state," Schuler said. "We don't want them moving They collaborate, and they figure out better ways to do things."
Schuler said the trend used to be that North Dakota was getting older. But he said with the energy expansion in the west – and opportunities like Grand Skies in Grand Forks, North Dakota is now the fourth youngest state.
