North Dakota

Letter: Shopping small this holiday season supports North Dakota’s main street businesses

Published

5 months ago

December 11, 2023

Letter: Shopping small this holiday season supports North Dakota’s main street businesses

Not so long ago, it was an annual holiday tradition to travel downtown and shop at one of the many locally owned main street businesses. Brick-and-mortar businesses would promote their best deals of the year in hopes of luring shoppers to make a purchase, or at least browse their shelves full of merchandise.

Alan Haut is director of the Small Business Administration’s district office in North Dakota.

Contributed / Small Business Administration

Today, online shopping has quickly become the preferred way Americans buy their holiday gifts. Recent estimates show that more than 80% of shoppers make regular online purchases throughout the year. Given the dramatic shifts in the retail environment over the last 20 years, those holiday scenes and traditions are in danger of passing into the realm of nostalgic folklore.

To better compete, small business owners have become very innovative in the way they sell and promote their products and services. An encouraging transformation born out of the pandemic is that many entrepreneurs pivoted operating models to include e-commerce platforms, or changed product offerings, to meet the new demands of the online consumer. Some are even bringing back the retail traditions of the past by providing personalized one-on-one assistance to customers and the selling of locally produced niche items found nowhere else in town. Cottage businesses have started in record numbers as people realized their dream of small business ownership could begin in their basement or garage. A unique program in North Dakota, called Shop North Dakota (www.shopnd.com), allows these cottage companies to sell products online without having to invest in an expensive e-commerce site. Shop North Dakota is an initiative of the ND Small Business Development Center network with the support of Pride of Dakota.

Small businesses are the backbone of our democracy and the solution to our most challenging economic problems. If you’re an entrepreneur and need advice, please consider exploring the tools and resources of the U.S. Small Business Administration and its partners including the ND Small Business Development Center network, statewide SCORE Chapters, a Procurement Technical Assistance Center, and a Women’s Business Center in Bismarck. These partners are key to helping identify strategies to become more competitive and viable in what will likely be an ever-shifting business landscape.

In addition to our formal partners, small business owners can get involved with local support organizations such as chambers of commerce, business districts, and neighborhood associations. These organizations are actively involved in coordinating events and promotions to attract foot traffic to their small business members including local bazaars and shop small/dine small/entertain small, focused festivals.

This holiday season, please join us in making at least one purchase from a locally owned small business in your city or town. These business owners are the true heroes of our communities, and they deserve our support, thanks and appreciation.

Happy holidays from all of us at the SBA!

Aikta Marcoulier is the SBA’s regional administrator and Alan Haut is the SBA’s North Dakota district director.

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North Dakota

Letter: Israel has a right to exist

Published

3 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

There was an anniversary on May 14, 1948, but The Forum missed it. It was the day that Jewish Agency chair David Ben-Gurion proclaimed in Tel Aviv the establishment of the state of Israel. It was celebrated then by the Jewish people and within a matter of hours, the United States gave it official recognition as a nation state.

Now how is it that The Forum missed this anniversary?

On the op-ed page was a letter from

Allison Slavik saying that Gaza is not going away

. That might be true, but how about a mention of releasing the hostages held in tunnels by Hamas? Most people could accept a truce if at least a few of the living Jewish people could again see daylight along with the bodies of the dead under Hamas control.

How did the Jewish mothers of those hostages feel on May 12th?

Also,

Trampas Johnson has his viewpoint

expressed about the Palestinian-Israel conflict. How sad that Hamas butchery and savagery has engulfed the innocent lives of the Palestinian families.
Since Secretary of State Blinken and National Security spokesman John Kirby are each on record asking for Hamas to accept a temporary cease-fire and release 30 hostages, I believe that could create more support for Allison’s and Trampas’s debate points. But here we are, no fireworks for a celebration in Israel on its own Independence Day. Instead, there is daily fireworks in Hamas and Israel war.

If Gaza has a right to exist, so does Israel. The entire world knows that Israel is a Jewish nation. Now the readers of The Forum might read the other side of story and pray for the release of the hostages.

Crystal Dueker lives in Fargo.

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North Dakota

North Dakota Fossil Site Reveals When Asteroid Killed Dinosaurs

Published

10 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

North Dakota Fossil Site Reveals When Asteroid Killed Dinosaurs

Spring is a time for budding flowers, tender green leaves and baby animals. But 66 million years ago, that gentle season instead brought mass death and carnage from Earth’s catastrophic impact with a massive space rock. Scientists recently pinpointed the season of the disaster and linked it to springtime in the Northern Hemisphere, after analyzing fossilized animals that died minutes after the impact at a site called Tanis, where a river once flowed through what is now North Dakota.

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North Dakota

North Dakota Polynesian Club celebrates culture at PAC Fest

Published

17 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

North Dakota Polynesian Club celebrates culture at PAC Fest

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – A fairly new group, the North Dakota Polynesian Cultural Club, hosted its first Pacific Island, Asian, Arts and Culture Festival, or PAC Fest for short.

The North Dakota Polynesian Club invited the public to come eat cultural food, watch performances of cultural dances and listen to special speakers at Lord of Life Lutheran Church.

Event organizer, DJ Lamyuen, says he hopes to bring attention to his community.

“The goal and the mission is to bring awareness to our Pacific Islander and Asian heritage,” said Lamyuen.

The performances featured included the Bismarck YMCA belly dancers and traditional Indian dances, celebrating the different ways of life that make the Pacific Islands and Asia diverse. But, the group welcomed everyone from any background to join the celebration.

“That’s all that matters, that we can enjoy each other and different cultures by food, by music, by dance, and that’s all that matters in today’s society,” said Moses Timaly, member of the North Dakota Polynesian Club.

The hope is that this event, and the club, can create a sentiment of unity between the people of Bismarck-Mandan, regardless of where they’re from.

“Not a lot of people out here have resources or friend groups, so this is like an opportunity to kind of get together and know your neighbors and know the community,” said Lamyuen.

A “Best Dressed” Award was also given to whoever wore their cultural regalia or traditional clothing the best.

The group also enjoys working with a variety of nonprofit organizations, such as Bismarck Global Neighbors.

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