BISMARCK — A Dickinson-based company has been awarded a mammoth government contract to build part of President Donald Trump's proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven, both R-N.D., announced Monday, Dec. 2, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Fisher Sand and Gravel a nearly $400 million contract to design and build 31 miles of physical barriers along the border in Yuma, Ariz.
The work has an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2020. The Army solicited five bids for the job and received three, according to the U.S. Department of Defense .
The company has pursued government contracts to work on the wall since at least 2017, when it built a prototype along with five other companies for the Army Corps of Engineers' consideration. Fisher previously filed a lawsuit in April alleging a separate $800 million contract for border wall construction was unfairly awarded to another company. A judge ruled against Fisher and the case was terminated in May.
Hoeven and Cramer praised the company and said the work will enhance border security.
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"I am glad to see more progress being made to secure the southern border, and I am grateful to see a good North Dakota company like Fisher Industries getting some of the work," Cramer said in a news release. "I know they will do very well, performing high quality work at a good bargain, all for the security of the people of the United States."
Tommy Fisher, the company's president and CEO, was then-Rep. Cramer's guest at Trump's 2018 State of the Union address. Cramer previously told Forum News Service he had not pushed the president to hire Fisher but that he would welcome it. He said his support of the company isn't influenced by Fisher's campaign contributions.
"I want Fisher to get every inch of that wall because they're a North Dakota company," Cramer said in May.
The Washington Post reports that Trump has repeatedly urged officials with the Corps of Engineers to pick Fisher for contracts only to be told the company's bids did not meet standards.
