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Greetings All!
The ND Cowboy Hall of Fame in Medora, ND played host to the June 13, 2013 meeting of the Vision West ND Consortium last week. Among the several agenda items was a presentation from Alfonso Wenker and Maggie Arzdorf-Schubbe of the Bush Foundation. The two provided information on the Foundation's new Community Innovation grant programs that are centered on inspiring and enabling communities to create innovative solutions to the challenges they face. Applications for these programs are now open, providing an opportunity for organizations to be awarded funding of up to $500,000. More information on the Bush Foundation's Community Innovation grant programs are available at www.BushFoundation.org/CommunityInnovation.
Housing, wage rates, and availability of labor are all constraints to a growing population in North Dakota's Bakken oil region according to NDSU researcher Dean Bangsund. "We have a huge challenge ahead of us to meet these needs," said Bangsund while delivering a presentation on Bakken region population estimates to Consortium meeting attendees.
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NDSU researcher Dean Bangsund describes the methodology behind his research team's work on population and workforce estimates in the western portion of North Dakota.
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In the last few years, Bangsund and others within the NDSU Dept. of Agribusiness and Applied Economics have been conducting studies on population growth, employment growth, and K-12 student growth throughout western ND. Subsequent population forecasts are driven by rig count, according to Bangsund, and the state needs to do additional analysis regarding newcomers to the state in order to assess how many are most likely to permanently locate in North Dakota. Most population forecasts predict the year 2020 as the peak for temporary and permanent workforce.
A copy of Bangsund's presentation is available by clicking on this link. A link to the research conducted by NDSU, Williston Basin 2012: Projections of Future Employment and Population North Dakota Summary, is also available.
Gregg Greenquist, with SRF Consulting, also spoke to the group about an upcoming free public webinar that will focus on enforcement of planning and zoning ordinances. Though the date has not yet been set, the webinar will provide an opportunity for viewers to email questions they may have on common planning and zoning issues to members of the webinar panel.
Towards the end of the meeting, Vision West ND Consortium members had the opportunity to break off into a small group session in which each of the top five western ND issues were discussed. Those top five issues include housing, child care, transportation/roads, emergency services, and water. Small group members first defined each issue itself and then defined the problems associated with that issue. Finally, Consortium members brainstormed what potential solutions might look like, creating a starting point for forming a "vision for the future" within the Vision West ND Regional Plan.
As work toward that Regional Plan continues, we will continue to provide updates on its progress. The next Vision West ND Consortium meeting is scheduled for July 18, 2013 from 10am to 3pm CDT at the RTC Building in Parshall, ND. Potential agenda items may include further work on each of the top five western ND issues. Informative speakers having deeper knowledge of those issues may be asked to join the Consortium and have their expertise folded in to the Regional Plan as well.
County Plan Directors are reminded to create a Drop Box folder through the invitation email sent directly to them and Steering Committee members on May 22nd. The Drop Box folder contains Plan Implementation Workbooks and the action steps that were created by each county's Steering Committee for the selected economic strategies and quality of life initiatives in each county plan. Also included in the Drop Box folder is a copy of the latest version of each county's Strategic Plan.
In addition to their own Drop Box activation, it's also recommended that all Vision West ND Plan Directors contact their Steering Committee members and urge them to accept the Drop Box invitation if they have not already. Many have done so, but a majority have not. Those that do not have their own Drop Box folder already established, don't worry. You may contact Vision West ND Plan Facilitator Brian Cole at bc@buildingcommunities.us, and the process of getting one started is quite easy!
Thanks for reading the latest edition of the Vision West ND Newsletter. Please stay tuned for future news on how the counties of western North Dakota are working toward a completed regional plan.
Have a great rest of the week!
The Vision West ND Team
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