PROOF OF A GROWING COMMUNITY

BY BRIAN RITTER

Consumer confidence was one of the most recent challenges facing the business community in Bismarck and Mandan in North Dakota. For a time last winter, it seemed as though low commodity prices had caused residents and businesses alike to reconsider whether our economic future was as bright as originally believed. Despite a litany of positive economic indicators, they needed physical proof that our community was still growing.

Enter the Bismarck-Mandan construction industry.

It’s impossible to quantify every single construction project underway in this one article, but we have numerous examples that illustrate our continued growth. Take for instance a couple of expansion projects in our growing technology sector. National Information Solutions Cooperative in Mandan is nearing completion of a new 33,000-square-foot building that will include office space, meeting rooms, a dining facility and fitness center. As a result of this $7.5 million project, this company expects to add another 70 full-time employees over the next five years. In Bismarck, Dakota Carrier Network is already expanding its network operations center by adding another 30,000 square feet of space. The $6 million expansion will provide 12 times the current server floor space, provide state-ofthe-art security and be built to “Fort Knox”-like specifications that allow it to withstand F4 tornado-force winds.

At the same time those expansions are happening, another one of our major employers is expanding and renovating its facility as well. Basin Electric Power Cooperative provides electricity to 2.8 million members across nine states, but its headquarters is right here in Bismarck-Mandan. With more than 550 employees in our community alone, Basin has started work on an expansion and renovation of its headquarters, which will add more than 90,000 square feet to the existing facility while providing an updated, modern work space for its employees.

As our community grows, so too does the demand for educational opportunities and no place is that more evident than the University of Mary, where three large projects are under construction. The first is a new 276-bed residence hall for freshmen students. The second is a new fieldhouse to accommodate on-campus activities such as intramural sports, NCAA-sanctioned activities and more. And the third is a renovation of the current fieldhouse into a campus center that will serve as the center of campus life, encouraging students to socialize and participate in campus activities while also serving the greater community.

While our economy continues to expand and add new jobs, community leaders are working to enhance our already-envious quality of life so that Bismarck-Mandan remains a place where employees want to live. For instance, Sanford Health and the YMCA have partnered to develop the new Family Wellness Center. Located in Mandan, this $13 million facility will offer numerous amenities including a large gymnasium, a suspended indoor walking track and wellness center with workout equipment. Farther west, work continues on the new Starion Sports Complex which will include a two-rink hockey arena, gymnastics facility and an outdoor track and field. This voter-approved, $22 million project is expected to be complete by September 2017.

These are all strong signs that our economy is still growing, but they’re not the only ones. There are still more than 2,000 open jobs throughout the metro area, the community’s unemployment rate is below 3 percent, our manufacturing and retail sectors are growing and the number of passengers flying through the Bismarck Airport continues to increase. Suffice it to say, yes, our economic future remains very bright and our tremendous community of contractors is helping us show it.

Brian Ritter President and CEO Bismarck-Mandan Development Association Bismarck, N.D. britter@bmda.org