WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND
By Scott Hennen
Host of “What’s On Your Mind?” Radio Show heard on KTGO-1090AM and KFYR-550AM
Co-owner of Flag Family Media and the McKenzie County Farmer
Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Why are more people not willing to work in North Dakota’s oil country? Given the work ethic of people in these parts, I can’t imagine it’s the hard work that keeps them away. And if a job building America’s energy dominance isn’t work worth doing, nothing is.
It is a well-known fact that the lack of workforce in North Dakota’s oil patch is costing North Dakota taxpayers in a big way. Oil companies drilling in North Dakota would increase their activity here, and pay more taxes if they could find more people willing to take the high-paying jobs they offer. It’s a big problem that seriously stunts the growth of the industry.
So what’s the solution? The North Dakota Petroleum Council (NDPC) has announced a plan to find a workforce for it’s oil and natural gas company members with a Global Recruitment of Oilfield Workers Program (GROW). Ron Ness, President of the NDPC, says “Companies have been struggling to find workers within North Dakota and across the country for the last few years, so we felt we needed to create an innovative way to respond to our industry’s challenges of finding workers through legal immigration.