While the rest of the country faces uncertainty, the Bakken is still keeping their small business owners busy.
“Most of the customers I work with on the oil and gas front are staying very busy,” said Keith Olson, Regional Director of the North Dakota Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). “Right now it’s a constraint of labor. I think everyone I know that I work with has openings for multiple positions.”
He continued saying in Williston it seems to go in cycles.
“At times we have people trying to buy their own trucks to go do their own thing whether its hauling water or crude or frac sand,” Olson said. “Earlier in the year we had a lot of people coming in and doing that and in the past several months that’s really tapered off.”
Olson said it’s tapered off mostly because of a combination of labor shortages and supply chain issues.
“Finding good used trucks is even a challenge right now,” Olson said.
Through all the challenges, it’s a good problem because their office continues to stay beyond busy.
According to World Population Review, Williston is the state’s 6th largest city with about 32,000 people. Fargo, the state’s largest city, is 130,000. Right now Williston’s SBDC has as many, if not more, business files (cases) than Fargo.
“We are very similar to Fargo in terms of clients,” Olson said. “They were just short of 400 clients last year as well.”
The WSC SBDC office covers northwest North Dakota which includes Divide, Burke, Williams, Mountrail, and McKenzie counties. The office is open to help new and existing business owners with all facets of owning and operating businesses including business plans, cash flows, loan preparations, research, and many other small business items.
Interviews are sponsored in part by TrainND Northwest – It’s a competitive world. Train for it.
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