Keeping Business Healthy
Bringing a new business to town in North Dakota is cause
for celebration. But it's keeping businesses and helping them
expand that gets the best economic development results, says
Kathy Tweeten, NDSU community economic development specialist.
"Businesses we worked with said to us, `No one's ever
come to us before and asked us what our concerns are and what
we need,' " says Bobbi Kukla, Dunn County treasurer and
a participant in the North Dakota Business Retention and Expansion
Program.
Tweeten, a certified instructor and consultant in the program,
says it is designed to help local communities identify strengths
and weaknesses, and address both. The national program is
implemented in North Dakota by the NDSU Extension Service.
"The goal is to support local businesses. Studies show
that 40 to 80 percent of all new net jobs are created from
existing businesses," she says.
The Dunn County program began in 2000 with a survey of businesses
in the county. The project was the first undertaken by the
fledgling Dunn County Job Development Authority.
Kukla and Linda Kittilson, city auditor of Dunn Center, were
members of the authority's board of directors and helped implement
the Business Retention and Expansion Program. They were among
the local volunteers who visited each of the participating
businesses to develop a picture of their concerns and problems.
"The visitation program is really a needs assessment
of the existing businesses. It provides the process and structure
for the rest of the program. It helps us formulate responses
to issues and concerns," Tweeten says.
"The businesses were all very willing to have us in
and express their concerns as well as their opportunities,"
Kittilson says.
Those volunteer visitors identified businesses that needed
immediate assistance and scheduled follow-ups to address those
needs, Kittilson says. Other needs, like technology training,
were more general among businesses. Members of a countywide
youth organization assembled by the Job Development Authority
provided the training.
"We had youth teaching our business leaders the latest
in technology. We were one of the first communities in the
state to take that approach," Kittilson says. More than
80 people have taken technology training.
Results from surveys and the business visits were analyzed
and organized by agricultural economist Larry Leistritz. Leistritz
has built a career at NDSU assessing the economic impact of
factors as diverse as the Conservation Reserve Program, Fusarium
head blight, alternative crops, potato processing and hospitals.
In his Dunn County report, he identified key issues. The local
task force outlined an action plan to respond.
"Without the Extension Service, we would not have had
access to that expertise and resources," Kittilson says.
She says the project wouldn't have gotten off the ground without
Tweeten and NDSU extension agent David Twist. "Our Job
Development Authority was just getting started, and this was
its first project. We would never have been able to accomplish
it on our own without their help in coordinating and providing
direction." Recently, Twist arranged for the NDSU College
of Business Administration to bring a professor to the area
to work with business managers to improve their skills.
Kukla says the program has helped drive several economic
development happenings in the county. Local leaders are working
with a power company to explore potential for wind generation.
Local businesses are taking a more serious look at tourism.
One community, Dodge, was named North Dakota City of the Year
for 2002.
"The project got everybody rallied around economic development,"
Kukla says. In the past, she says, communities in the region
focused on their own issues and problems, often at the expense
of neighboring communities. "We still compete to some
degree, but now it's gotten to where we're all working together.
"We still have problems, but we've learned some things
that allow us to help our businesses and make real progress,"
she says.
For more information: Kathy Tweeten, 701-328-5134, ktweeten@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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