Throughout the good times and, more important, the bad of this new millennium, the cities of the plains—from Dallas in the south through Omaha, Des Moines, and north to Fargo—have enjoyed strong job growth and in-migration from the rest of the country. North Dakota boasts the nation’s lowest unemployment rate—3.6 percent, compared with the national average of 9.7—with South Dakota and Nebraska right behind it.
The trend has been particularly strong in urban areas. Based on employment growth over the last decade, the North Dakota cities of Bismarck and Fargo rank in the top 10 of nearly 400 metropolitan areas, according to data analyzed by economist Michael Shires for Forbes and NewGeography.com. Much of that growth has come in high-wage jobs. In Bismarck, the number of high-paying energy jobs has increased by 23 percent since 2003, while jobs in professional and business services have shot up 40 percent.
The primary drivers of this new growth are basic industries like agriculture and energy, according to Debora Dragseth, an associate professor of business at Dickinson State University. Salaries may be low by coastal standards, but so are living costs. And the prices of commodities like beef, soybeans, and grains have generally continued to rise, due in large part to growing demand from China, India, and other developing countries.
But the biggest play by far is in energy, including coal, natural gas, and oil, which exist in prodigious quantities from Texas to the Canadian border. Besides the vast reserves of oil that have made it the country’s fourth-largest producer, North Dakota possesses significant deposits of natural gas and coal, as well as huge potential for wind power and biofuels. These industries are drawing hundreds of skilled workers from places like California and Michigan, who are moving into Bismarck, the state’s capital, and towns to the west.
Nowhere is this potential clearer than in Fargo, which is emerging as a high-tech hub. Doug Burgum, from nearby Arthur, N.D., founded Great Plains Software in the mid-1980s. Burgum says he saw potential in the engineering grads pumped out by North Dakota State University, many of whom worked in Fargo’s large and expanding specialty-farm-equipment industry. “My business strategy is to be close to the source of supply,” says Burgum. “North Dakota gave us access to the raw material of college students.”
Microsoft bought Great Plains for a reported $1.1 billion in 2001, establishing Fargo as the headquarters for its business-systems division, which now employs more than 1,000 workers. The tech boom started by Burgum has spawned both startups and spin-offs in everything from information technology to biomedicine. Science and engineering employment statewide has grown by 31 percent since 2002, the highest rate of any state.
These jobs, and the people they attract, shower cash on the community's local businesses such as the busy bars and dining establishments in Fargo's Broadway Commercial District.
The full article, “The Great Plains: How Heartland Cities Like Fargo and Omaha Became the Nation’s New Boomtowns” by Joel Kotkin, appeared in Newsweek Magazine on August 12, 2010 (page 50).
The emergence of boomtowns in the “plains” appears to be a combination of happenstance and visionary steps by some business leaders. Agriculture was already big in the regions and then was the beneficiary of a pronounced rise in demand for commodities and a subsequent rise in commodities prices. It had untapped consumable energy reserves that have become more prominent (e.g., natural gas) as reserves in other areas of the world have dwindled. Though many of the high tech jobs were an outgrowth of changes in agriculture and energy industries, much of the high tech boom seems attributable to actions of visionary businessmen. What are the implications for Northeast Florida? The region does not have untapped energy sources and agriculture seems to be on the wane. It does not have an overabundance of highly skilled residents and producing such residents is not currently a priority of the regional higher education institutions. Thus, it is unlikely any cities in the region will emerge as boomtowns. What the region needs is general consensus on a vision for regional economy and strategic goals that will guide decisions and actions to fulfill that vision. In the absence of these things, regional economic development will be left to chance and the actions of visionary entrepreneurs.
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