Building Bottineau County a 21st Century Workforce

Having motivated and qualified workers in our community is a pillar of the Main Street Program. It’s easy to see why this is elevated as an important goal for communities like ours in North Dakota.

Having the right amount of qualified workforce can make or break a community. With the right amount, we all thrive. With too little, businesses are understaffed. Too much, and unemployment begins to sting.

Building a workforce that has positive momentum is easier said than done. This is a stool with many legs. Workforce requires accessible training, amenities that support a healthy quality of life, opportunities for all members of the family to be employed, adequate housing and the ability for optimism to thrive. This is a pillar affected by environment, economy, the nation and the world.

With so many legs of the stool to build, we as a Main Street community have been focusing on a few key areas.

The Bottineau EDC has been working to build partnerships to have amenities that improve the quality of life in our County. From events in the summer to bring people to the Lake or town, to promoting outdoor activities year round. This includes highlighting some of these activities on social media to engage people close-to-home and across the state.

We are also offering various trainings for our members. We provide training at most of our meetings and listen when employees or business owners request training to meet their needs. Come in and ask us how we can help improve your skills and workforce today.

We also support and encourage local education and training efforts. I was impressed to see the report that programs at Dakota College were highly rated in a recent study by Intelligent.com, as reported by the Courant. Their recognized programs including medical coding and photography. What a great testament to the high-quality education we have right here in our midst.

We are also building partnerships within our community to provide resilience for local businesses. Bottineau EDC is so grateful to have groups like the Chamber and Retail Alliance to partner with in supporting all businesses in the county. The more we can do together, the more prepared our community is to prepare and engage the workforce.

Do you have ideas for workforce recruitment, development and retention? Let us know your thoughts. Whitney Gonitzke is the Executive Director of the Bottineau County Economic Development Corporation and can be reached at whitney@bottineauedc.com or at 701-228-3922