Hennen: North Dakota looks to Ukraine to relieve its extreme need for oil workers

Teddy Roosevelt as soon as stated, “Far and away, the very best prize that life has to supply is the possibility to work laborious at work value doing.”

Why are extra folks not prepared to work in North Dakota’s oil nation? Given the work ethic of individuals in these elements, I can not think about it is the laborious work that retains them away. If a job constructing America’s power dominance is not work value doing, nothing is.

It’s a well-known proven fact that the shortage of workforce in North Dakota’s Oil Patch is costing North Dakota taxpayers in an enormous method. Oil corporations drilling in North Dakota would enhance their exercise right here. These corporations would pay extra taxes if they might discover extra folks prepared to take the high-paying jobs they provide. It is a huge downside that significantly stunts the expansion of the business.

So what is the resolution? The North Dakota Petroleum Council has introduced a plan to discover a workforce for its oil and pure fuel firm members with a International Recruitment of Oilfield Staff Program known as GROW.

Ron Ness, president of the NDPC, stated “corporations have been struggling to search out staff inside North Dakota and throughout the nation for the previous couple of years, so we felt we would have liked to create an progressive method to answer our business’s challenges of discovering staff by authorized immigration.”

Former Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford has been employed

because the undertaking supervisor of Bakken GROW. NDPC’s first initiative will recruit staff from Ukraine by humanitarian sponsorships of authorized immigrants.

“The Bakken GROW program is a humanitarian mission and a workforce resolution. The NDPC workers and membership are excited to start sharing the hospitality of North Dakota and the large Bakken profession alternatives with a large group of people,” Sanford defined when saying the brand new program.

Alaska has had success with an identical program. They discover staff from Ukraine who’re exempt from navy service of their dwelling nation, have superior academic levels, and have three or extra kids. The NDPC stated for the reason that starting of the struggle with Russia, 100,000 Ukrainians have been allowed to enter the US to search out work below a program known as U4U.

“They want our assist. We’d like their assist,” stated Ness. Every immigrant wants a sponsor earlier than they will come to the US. Extra details about sponsoring a refugee might be discovered right here:

bit.ly/BakkenGROWSponsorForm.

The issue is actual. Options are urgently wanted. I applaud Ness, Sanford and the NDPC for taking this daring step.

Sanford, the previous mayor of Watford Metropolis, expressed frustration over our present workforce not seizing these alternatives. These are among the many highest-paid jobs in all of North Dakota.

“But our workforce will not fill the open positions,” he informed me this week.

Within the early years of the Bakken Increase, folks from all throughout America got here to fill these jobs whereas the nation was mired in a recession. Now they’ve returned to their households. It is time for a brand new period welcoming any and all prepared to work laborious within the Bakken at work value doing.

Scott Hennen hosts the statewide radio program “What’s On Your Thoughts?” On AM 1100 “The Flag”, AM 1090 KTGO “The Flag” and AM 1460 KLTC. Electronic mail him at

ScottH@FlagFamily.com

This column doesn’t essentially replicate the opinion of The Discussion board’s editorial board nor Discussion board possession.