‘Good Life’ campaign brings 9 new workers to ND in first 6 months

GRAND FORKS — In its first six months, a North Dakota workforce attraction marketing campaign has introduced 9 folks to the state, together with Minot, Bismarck, Wahpeton, Mandan and the Fargo space.

Kicked off in June, the revamped “Discover the Good Life” marketing campaign is a North Dakota Division of Commerce advertising and expertise attraction marketing campaign that takes an interactive method to drawing staff to the state. Past simply offering data, the marketing campaign connects folks fascinated by relocating with “neighborhood champions” throughout the state who present details about their communities.

“It’s enhancing the promoting piece by placing actual people in place who can say why they love the locations the place they dwell,” mentioned Becca Cruger, director of workforce growth on the Grand Forks Area Financial Improvement Company and one of many metropolis’s neighborhood champions.

Whereas no person has taken the leap and moved to Grand Forks because of the marketing campaign, Cruger has linked with a few half-dozen people who find themselves fascinated by shifting to North Dakota. One has visited, one other has expressed curiosity in shifting to the state instantly, and a 3rd requested a listing of obtainable jobs within the Grand Forks space.

Thus far, greater than 1,000 folks have linked with neighborhood champions like Cruger after submitting contact data by means of the marketing campaign web site’s “Relocation Assist Desk.”

Whereas 9 folks served by the marketing campaign have relocated to North Dakota, most who’ve expressed curiosity haven’t. However Katie Ralston Howe, director of the workforce division within the Division of Commerce, says that’s OK.

“The factor now we have to bear in mind with a expertise attraction initiative like that is that the choice to maneuver is complicated, it’s emotional, it’s an enormous resolution, and it’s one that individuals typically want slightly time to make,” she mentioned. “We’re actually happy with how shortly the 9 job-seekers that we’ve served have made the transfer, however we perceive that there are extra which can be actually contemplating North Dakota very significantly.”

In Grand Forks County, the demand for staff is excessive.

On the finish of November, there have been 1,830 job openings and 597 folks unemployed, in accordance with Dusty Hillebrand, Grand Forks workforce middle supervisor at North Dakota Job Service. The county has an unemployment charge of 1.6%.

“It’s not plug-and-play with folks,” he mentioned. “(The unemployed staff) won’t have the appropriate abilities, they may not have the appropriate coaching or schooling ranges. They could produce other boundaries to employment that maintain them from discovering or sustaining work.”

In North Dakota and across the nation, Cruger mentioned legislators try modern options to handle the tight labor market.

“As any person who works each day in workforce and is watching what’s unfolding proper now, the communities which can be doing modern issues and making an attempt to resolve issues are going to be those which can be poised for fulfillment,” she mentioned.

In its subsequent six months, Ralston Howe expects this system to proceed to attract folks to North Dakota, particularly if it fares nicely within the upcoming legislative session.

In his 2023-25 funds proposal, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum requires $167 million to handle the workforce scarcity in North Dakota. Of the overall, $25 million would go towards a strategic advertising and recruitment marketing campaign, together with help for increasing the “Discover the Good Life” marketing campaign.

If the Legislature had been to approve your entire $25 million, half would go towards advertising and half could be used to proceed constructing out the expertise attraction aspect of the marketing campaign, Ralston Howe mentioned.

“I believe in these subsequent six months, this subsequent 12 months, as soon as now we have extra funding on this, we’ll begin to see a rise within the variety of folks fascinated by North Dakota,” she mentioned.