Legislation Watch

Your guide to North Dakota’s 61st Legislative Session
By the end of the sixth week of the 2009 legislative session, state lawmakers were whittling down the workload, passing some bills for the business environment and failing others.
A set of energy-related bills passed the Senate unanimously. They include:
• SB 2031, which extends the property tax reduction on [...]

Clean(er) Coal: What North Dakota companies are doing to achieve it

By Gwen Bristol
The nation is wondering if clean coal technology is real.

With more than 50 percent of the country’s electricity coming from coal, it’s no wonder that the question has come up. In the past year, the issue has been visited by prominent media businesses, including Newsweek and CBS News. Recent television advertisements have pushed [...]

CO2 Sequestration in North Dakota: Making history

By Gwen Bristol
Carbon sequestration has been paying off for Basin Electric Power Cooperative since the late 1990s, when it began selling the greenhouse gas to help with enhanced oil recovery in Canada. For clean coal enthusiasts who want to see carbon capture at power plants as well, it’s a step in the right direction.
The carbon [...]

A day at the BEACH

Business booms in small-town North Dakota
By Tina Ding

Emanuel Culman sought a change of pace. An Englishman, he and his wife settled in Los Angeles for a number of years before committing to a lifestyle change. Enlisting an astrologer friend’s help, they discovered they were suited to live along the 48th parallel – which brought them [...]

Adding value to oil: Refining the state’s energy industry

“How many stories are you going to write?” asked Lynn Helms after an early morning discussion about marketing the state’s oil.
A lot. The story of adding value to the state’s oil is as dynamic as the market itself. This is the first in an ongoing series of what state and regional leaders are doing [...]

Your guide to North Dakota’s 61st Legislative Session

North Dakota begins its 61st legislative session with a surplus amid a national economic slump. For the business community, legislation that fortifies the state’s relatively strong economy makes sense.
Several issues play a key role. They include property tax relief, developing a strong and skilled workforce and strengthening the energy industry. Initiatives in several other areas [...]

Striking Gold:North Dakota grows its millionaires

During the past several months, reports of oil-made millionaires in North Dakota have reached national headlines as well as local ones. It’s a real-life Cinderella scenar io in which ordinary, hard-working people finally get windfalls.
According to Kathy Strombeck, a research analyst at the state tax department, the number of measurable millionaires in North Dakota rose [...]

Little city, big oil: Watford City

Seven miles west of Watford City, an old school-house turned bed and breakfast has become more of a boarding house than a weekend destination.
Initially, Milt Hanson rediscovered the charming, historical school building on a trip ‘home’ from South Carolina. Purchasing it for one dollar in March 1998, and agreeing to a few conditions, Hanson was [...]

Business Briefs

Real estate prices stable
Home prices may have dropped over the past year across the nation, but not in the Dakotas. The states with the largest price jumps between the third quarters of 2007 and 2008 were North Dakota, at 4 percent; South Dakota, at 3.9 percent; and Texas, at 3.2 percent.
Federal data show that home [...]

A bright future for Harvey

By GWEN BRISTOL, For Business Watch
In January, the little town of Harvey looks like a greeting card. Sunlight dances across glittering fields of snow and tall golden prairie grass. Pheasants and farmsteads meander along its edges, casting cheery shadows under a bright blue sky.Part of Harvey’s charm is its location. The town of close to [...]