Williston Economic Development

by Barb Peterson

A Williston family is trying to attract new retailers and restaurants to the City. 

Dale Branson, his daughter Ronica Branson-Harger and her fiancé James O'Dwyer are partners in Triland Holdings, LLC. The group is planning to break ground on the first phase of the Badlands Town Center June 24th. 

The village-styled shopping center will be located on the northwest corner of 9th Avenue and 42nd Street West. It will have walkway access to 1,500 to 2,000 apartment units in the Roseland Subdivision.  Read More.

Williston Economic Development

by Barb Peterson

 

The Renaissance on Main project has reached an agreement with the Williston City Commission to purchase an aging City-owned parking lot to build a state-of-the-art multi-use building. The developer anticipates the project will help kick start the revitalization of downtown.

"Downtown Williston looks tired. It needs a facelift. This is a building that will set the tone and direction," says Nancy Kapp, President and CEO of The Renaissance Companies.  Read More.

Williston Herald

by Jerry Burnes

The Williston Planning Department will be hosting a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18, at the New Armory.  City Planner Rachel Ressler explains, "We want to find out what people want downtown and what will get them downtown more often."  Read More.

KUMV-TV

Williston's Buffalo Wild Wings was the number one selling BWW in the country during its first seven days.

The new restaurant officially opened its doors on Monday, May 27th, and it's been busy ever since.
"The exciting thing is that we`re in Williston, North Dakota and we`re competing or beating stores in California and Florida, and areas all across the country," said local franchisee Dani Reicheneerger.  Read More.

Build a Better Tomorrow Campaign

Don't let the size of Williston make you think there is nothing to do - especially when it comes to theater or the arts. Look no further than Entertainment, Inc!, a non-profit arts organization in place since 1981, providing unique shows on a grand stage for audiences year-round.

"We never, ever duplicated a show for the first 25 years," said B. Michael Quale, artistic and executive director for Entertainment, Inc!.  Read More.

Oil Patch Dispatch

by Amy Dalrymple 

David Hiney of Williston poses for a photo with Miss North Dakota finalists Cally Musland of Jamestown, left, and Laura Harmon of Grand Forks, recently in Williston, N.D. Amy Dalrymple/Forum News Service

 A table full of women - let alone pageant contestants - is a rare sight in this male-dominated oil boom town, enough to prompt guys to get out their camera phones.

"It just made lunch so much better," said Nathan Tuckfield, a construction consultant from Sidney, Mont.

The women are Miss North Dakota contestants, who came to Williston from across the state to compete in the annual scholarship pageant today through Saturday.  Read More.

Oil Patch Dispatch

by Amy Dalrymple

I seriously considered phoning this assignment in.

I feared that driving from Williston to Watford City in heavy rain recently on a deadly stretch of Oil Patch highway to a press conference on road safety might make me another statistic.

But with 48 traffic fatalities so far this year - 12 of those in McKenzie County - there is no topic that deserves more news coverage in western North Dakota than highway safety.  Read More.

Bismarck Tribune

by Lauren Donovan

The McKenzie County Commission may take the unprecedented step of forcing all oil field tankers and other trucks off county roads if spring rains continue.

The commission decided Wednesday, June 5, it would reduce the road weight limit to 20,000 pounds - the equivalent of a service pickup - if rains continue Saturday as predicted.  Read More.

Reuters

Column by John Kemp 

North Dakota's residents have received an enormous income windfall from the shale boom, but strong local demand for trucking and fracking fuel has left them facing the highest gasoline prices in the mainland United States.

Only insular Hawaiians pay more to fill up at the pump.  Read More.

American Enterprise Institute

by Mark J Perry

The BEA reported today on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by state for 2012; Not surprisingly, the "economic miracle state" of North Dakota led the country last year with an eye-popping growth rate in real GDP of 13.4%, more than five times the national average of 2.5%, and almost eight percentage points higher than No. 2 Texas's growth rate of 4.8%.  Read More. 

Dickinson Press

by Bryan Horwarth

The development of Dickinson's west side got another shot in the arm after a developer agreed to pay more than $1.3 million dollars for a plot of land near Interstate 94's Exit 59.

The 34 acres of real estate that will represent about one-third the land mass of a large-scale, mixed use development, said Five Diamond spokesman Brian Hymel.

"We believe this is the best piece of property in all of southwestern North Dakota," Hymel said after the auction.  Read More.

Bismarck Tribune

by Lauren Donovan

Arnegard's schoolhouse is for sale for $2.5 million, or slightly more than $100 per square foot. That's for not only the brick schoolhouse with its wide, creaky stairways and hallways, en suite bath and bedrooms in former classrooms, tall windows and science lab-turned-kitchen, but also the two gymnasiums, the newest and largest alone adding 7,000 square feet. That "newest" by the way, is relative; it is nearly 60 years old.   Read More.

New Town News

A strip mall that will have room for five businesses will be open for business this summer in downtown New Town.
Frank Sillitti is developing the project. He said the foundation will be poured in a week or two as the final architectural details of the building are finalized.  Read More.

INFORUM

Fargo officials decided in 1999 to place 90-minute limits on most street parking downtown, thinking that consistent rules would be less confusing for drivers and easier to police, says Joe Nigg, a Fargo Planner.

"The downtown's different (now)," he said. "There's a number of other dynamics at play, and I think we probably need to start looking at how we can better utilize some of those on-street spots."  Read More.

Rapid City Journal

South Dakota is getting more aggressive in its attempt to lure oil-related jobs to the state, and a Rapid City consulting firm will play a lead role in the newly energized effort.

Rapid City-based Black Hills Business Strategy won a state contract worth up to $225,000 over the next 14 months to complete an exhaustive study of the fast-growing oil and gas industries and to look for ways to create new jobs in South Dakota to service them.  Read More.

Rapid City Journal

Direct flights to Houston will start June 6 from Rapid City Regional Airport.

For the second summer, United Airlines will continue the daily nonstop flights from Rapid City to Houston's George Bush International Airport until Aug. 26.

Airport Director Cameron Humphres said adding the option could bolster Black Hills tourism, connect the North Dakota oil boom to Texas oil brokers and allow local travelers more flight options.  Read More.

FuelFix

It might be the only theme more ubiquitous in reality television than housewives.

Oil field antics have become a regular on the small screen; but one Houston-based producer feels reality TV hasn't done the oil field justice, muddying the truth and triumphs of life in the patch with contrived drama and negative stereotypes.  Read More.

06/06                Williston Vector Control District Board Meeting

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at Castle Cafe in the Williams County Court House.

06/18                Plan Downtown Williston Public Hearing

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the New Armory in Williston.