GRAND FORKS — A statewide North Dakota workforce attraction campaign has not yet brought workers to Grand Forks in its first six months, but economic developers are hopeful the city will see results soon.
Kicked off in June, the revamped “Find the Good Life” campaign is a North Dakota Department of Commerce marketing and talent attraction campaign that takes an interactive approach to drawing workers to the state. Beyond just providing information, the campaign connects people interested in relocating with “community champions” across the state who provide information about their communities.
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While nobody has taken the leap and moved to Grand Forks as a result of the campaign, Becca Cruger, director of workforce development at the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation and one of the city's community champions, has been in contact with multiple people who are interested in moving to North Dakota.
“While nobody has relocated yet, I think that there are very positive signs along the moving process,” said Cruger.
So far, she has connected with approximately a half-dozen people who are interested in moving to North Dakota. One has visited, another has expressed interest in moving to the state immediately and a third requested a list of available jobs in the Grand Forks. By providing a liaison to be a resource, the campaign moves beyond just sending information on cities in North Dakota, said Cruger.
“It’s enhancing the advertising piece by putting real humans in place who can say why they love the places where they live,” said Cruger.
Statewide, nine people served through the campaign have moved to North Dakota. More than 1,000 have connected with community champions like Cruger after submitting contact information through the campaign website’s “Relocation Help Desk.”
Most of the people who have expressed interest in North Dakota through the campaign have not moved to the state. Katie Ralston Howe, director of the workforce division in the Department of Commerce, says that's OK.
“The thing we have to keep in mind with a talent attraction initiative like this is that the decision to move is complex, it’s emotional, it’s a huge decision and it’s one that people often need a little time to make,” Ralston Howe said. “We’re really pleased with how quickly the nine job-seekers that we’ve served have made the move, but we understand that there are more that are really considering North Dakota very seriously.”
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The cities to which people have moved in the first six months of the campaign are spread across North Dakota, including Minot, Bismarck, Wahpeton, Mandan and the Fargo area.
In Grand Forks County, the demand for workers is high. At the end of November, the county had 1,830 job openings and 597 people unemployed, according to Dusty Hillebrand, Grand Forks workforce center manager at North Dakota Job Service. The county has an unemployment rate of 1.6%.
“It’s not plug-and-play with people,” he said. “(The unemployed workers) might not have the right skills, they might not have the right training or education levels. They might have other barriers to employment that keep them from finding or sustaining work.”
In North Dakota and around the country, legislators are trying innovative solutions to address the tight labor market, said Cruger.
“As somebody who works everyday in workforce and is watching what’s unfolding right now, the communities that are doing innovative things and trying to solve problems are going to be the ones that are poised for success,” said Cruger.
In its next six months, Ralston Howe expects the program to continue to draw people to North Dakota, especially if the campaign fares well in the upcoming legislative session. In his 2023-25 budget proposal, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum calls for $167 million to address the workforce shortage in North Dakota. Of the total, $25 million would go toward a strategic marketing and recruitment campaign, including support for expanding the “Find the Good Life” campaign.
If the Legislature were to approve the entire $25 million, half would go toward marketing and half would be used to continue building out the talent attraction side of the campaign, said Ralston Howe.
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“I think in these next six months, this next year, once we have more investment in this, we’ll start to see an increase in the number of people interested in North Dakota,” she said.
In Grand Forks, Cruger says the state campaign matches well with Greater Grand Forks’ own talent recruitment campaign, “Greater Grand Forks: Way Cooler Than You Think!” She is optimistic that “Find the Good Life” will bring people to Grand Forks in the coming months.
“I expect people to fall in love with Grand Forks as much as I have,” Cruger said. “I expect people to make the move, and when you look at the economic impact of just one person moving to Grand Forks and paying property taxes that funnel down to the schools and to the roads, that’s what we want as economic developers.”
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