Press Editorial: ‘Mad Money’ means more coming to ND; search on for key to affordable housing

Western North Dakota doesn’t need Jim Cramer and his “Mad Money” to know there is an oil boom, unemployment is low and the state is among the most economically stable in the country and, in his words “is kicking the rest of the country’s butt.”

He says states could learn from this “boom we can only hope it infects the rest of the country.”

The host of the CNBC show let more than North Dakota know about the land of oil and honey while taping on location at a pumping unit outside Killdeer. His national program aired at least twice Wednesday.

“The recession could still beckon in part because the price of oil is way too high,” Cramer says. “Hey, good for the 660,000-some people who live here, in the great state of North Dakota, but not so good for the 310 million other Americans who don’t.”

The show was just one more way for people to know that it isn’t hopeless, there are jobs to be had and Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who Cramer invited on as a guest, let the world know this is a hot spot.

When Cramer asked about the “magic formula for growth” and “to find out what the heck is going on here,” Dalrymple said, “You’ve got to focus on job creation. In our whole orientation for the last 10 years has been creating jobs in North Dakota and let everything fall into place behind that.”

There are 31,000 jobs available in North Dakota in all sectors, the governor says, and most of them are in the Red River Valley in the eastern portion of the state.

Cramer asked if the state can handle an influx of workers.

“We’ve got people coming this way every day,” Dalrymple said. “They’re finding great jobs and we’re finding places for them to live and things are going very well.”

We can agree with some of this. There are great jobs and some things are going very well, but “we’re finding places for them to live?”

Housing is a challenge for those in the oil industry and outside of the oil industry. Housing is not falling into place behind job creation as the governor implies.

If the state can help find housing there are likely many who will take advantage of this service — like the man who erected a tent in a small cove of trees off of an Interstate 94 ramp last week, the family of four living in a camper and the people who reside in an apartment building in east Dickinson who got a surprise letter a few days ago that states their rent has been bumped up $150 per month.

Maybe the state is helping find places to live, but what about affordable places?

Part of what Dalrymple was referring to was the Department of Commerce’s services for those interested in relocating, Jeff Zent, the governor’s spokesman, said Friday.

The DOC will direct people (and walk them through the site if needed) to www.experiencend.com. Here they can get information about job resources and input on finding rentals and homes for sale.

The Dickinson Chamber of Commerce distributed 66 relocation packs in July and received 436 calls — 90 percent of them regarding relocation, according to Chamber staff.

The Dickinson Press gets calls from out-of-staters wondering where they can find housing. It’s likely a number of other businesses do, too and are facing the same challenges — how do we pay an employee enough money to keep up with rent. Rent is sky-high and increasing.

Renters will do their share of waiting if on a low income housing waiting list in the area. A person is fortunate to find apartments that cost less than $800 per month and many one-bedrooms go for more than $1,000 per month.

There is this euphoria about how great things are in the oil patch and it is easy to get caught up (maybe even more so when you are sitting behind cameras and a film crew follows your every move) and we believe the governor got caught up in it.

“Mad Money” has made an impact. The DOC has fielded calls from viewers over the past few days regarding jobs, Zent said.

If people come piling into North Dakota to get one of these 31,000 jobs mostly in the eastern part of the state, what will housing be like there? It is not pretty here.

There needs to be a balance as western North Dakota is on a fast track to change, but there should also be an option for current residents who want to keep their way of living. There are many stories of those who are leaving to find reasonably priced places to live.

We will be grateful if the rest of the country learns from North Dakota’s successes. But let’s also make sure the Roughrider State learns from those coming in with a fresh set of eyes.

We can only hope someone relocates here and figures out a long-overdue solution to a housing crunch that is kicking western North Dakota’s butt.

Dickinson Press Publisher Harvey Brock and Managing Editor Jennifer McBride are on The Press Editorial Board.