2023 State of the City spotlights city projects, Ukrainian immigration

Allison Engstrom, The Dickinson Press, N.D.
·3 min read

May 18—DICKINSON — Local leaders gathered to discuss the region's growth, goals and priorities at the 2023 State of the City Luncheon hosted at the Trinity High School Gymnasium on Thursday, May 18.

Mayor Scott Decker gave the opening address to a room full of Dickinson community members and leaders. He provided updates on city finances and several ongoing city projects including the Dickinson Legacy Square, Dickinson Readiness Center and a new terminal at the Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport.

"Our hope as a commission is that we can provide the right tools and guidance to afford everyone that is working for the City the opportunity at a solid deposition and that we craft rules and regulations that benefit everyone living within the city and the surrounding area so that they may fulfill their goals," Decker said.

Decker looks forward to the grand opening of the Dickinson Legacy Square on Saturday, June 24. He mentioned a few of the headliners and upcoming events scheduled for the new venue. The City expects to expand the Dickinson Museum Center, adding space for things like additional laboratory space and room to properly store specimens, which is now a necessity as the museum is a federal depository.

Funds for the Dickinson Readiness Center, a National Guard armory, have been approved. Construction is expected to begin around July, with completion anticipated in July of 2025. Decker is in the process of getting the center named after fallen soldier and Dickinson native

Jon Fettig,

as a way of honoring and paying tribute to his legacy.

"I'm really excited and I know the soldiers are and I hope the community is excited that the Dickinson Readiness Center will begin its construction really soon," Decker said.

Decker eagerly announced that the Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport is working on plans to add a new terminal to their facility in an effort to accommodate travelers, which he noted will be a great asset to the airport.

Dickinson drivers can expect to see the city's first ever roundabout as reconstruction takes place on the West Business Loop in the coming months; the improvements include an expansion to three lanes, a walking path and new lighting.

As the keynote speaker for the event, Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, discussed several challenges faced by the oil industry. The most pressing of these is the shrinking workforce and resulting labor shortage, leading to a push for immigration recruitment in the Bakken.

Currently, North Dakota has 42 available workers for every 100 jobs, leaving over 26,000 job openings and a 69.2% labor force participation rate, as presented by Ness.

The North Dakota Petroleum Council plans to recruit 25 workers from Ukraine by the end of July, 100 by the end of the year, and nearly 400 over the next 12 months. According to Ness, the effort will undoubtedly take community support addressing needs such as Ukrainian language interpreters and English language classes.

"They are very loyal workers. They are very hard workers. And like I said the first question they're asking is 'How much overtime?' Those are traits we are just not finding in America's workforce today and they will help hopefully raise the level of all employment as we know that our ancestors did," Ness said.