The New Normal: Dickinson sees resident and employee retention

There is a new phrase being uttered among the oil and gas producing counties – the new normal.  This is certainly a more positive way to look at low oil prices, volatile commerce and a somewhat nomadic worker force.

That phrase was used once again during my latest conversation with Dickinson city administrator Shawn Kessel.  Kessel said Dickinson is in a “slightly different” place than it was a year or two ago, but everyone is adapting accordingly.

“It is a slower pace, our economic activity has slowed,” Kessel said. “There is a lot of people within the city that are thankful for that. There are others that are not. And so we are adjusting to a new normal.”

Kessel was one of the consistent Bakken speakers, panelists and general boots-on-the-ground spokespersons for many of the energy and community building conferences.  Kessel often gave updates on the city’s debt, infrastructure projects and project partnerships.  Today, he sees the reverse ripple impacting nearly everyone in the growing community.

“That adjustment is being felt by residents in town, our apartment dwellings, retail establishments, restaurants, all of those types of commerce,” Kessel said.

Another unique issue Dickinson faced was employment.  Not only were good paying jobs plentiful, but service industry wages were known for paying double or triple the minimum wage.

“We dealt with 1% unemployment for many years in a row,” Kessel said. “So you go from high wage environment with lots of turnover to today our unemployment is a little bit higher and our wages are a little bit lower.”

Job jumping was an issue during high oil prices according to Kessel.  Job jumping is when a worker will leave one company for another often within a 24 hour period. The flow of money and minerals allowed for this behavior, but low oil prices have seemed to eliminate that issue of uncertainty.

“People had the ability to move between jobs on a whim, and often times make more money every time they did that,” Kessel said. “Now,  it isn’t quite as easy to jump jobs like it once was.”

The push for economic diversity has taken hold in Dickinson, at least within their manufacturing base.  Kessel said the growth in manufacturing has been a terrific transition or bridge for those impacted by low oil activity.

“The other thing we’ve noticed is our manufacturing base has really been able to take advantage  of the workforce that has been laid off,” Kessel said. “In some circumstances those people who were working in the oil fields and were laid off and were so inclined, applied for open manufacturing positions in Dickinson.”

Kessel said the city has three or four major manufacturers that distribute products in what he calls the ‘super-region’ or even nationally.

“They are all expanding and are really taking advantage of that workforce that they found so difficult to find a year ago,” Kessel said. “They are now there. They don’t have to contract out services, they don’t have to purchase buildings or a workforce in another community, they are finding that in Dickinson again.”