Oil boom's ripples reach far
The hundreds of Flathead Valley residents journeying across the Hi-Line to find jobs in the North Dakota oil patch aren’t so different from the pioneers who settled the desolate prairie well over a century ago. It is a promised land whose harsh terrain and climate stands to make or break folks.
Those who have found good-paying jobs in Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana know it’s not an easy life. Many sleep in tight quarters, in crammed campers or man camps; others find rest on the friend of a friend’s couch. The hours are grueling, with reports of some workers pulling 100-hour weeks.
The weather is unrelenting as many who have just arrived there will learn as winter settles in. The wind rarely stops blowing.
Families have been pulled apart in the Flathead as a lingering economic downturn here forces more and more people into a long-distance cross-state commuting situation.
But for those willing to stick it out and make it work, the opportunities are everywhere. Our comprehensive report on the oil boom, and its effects in the Flathead Valley, begins today and continues for the next several days. You’ll read about the modern-day pioneers and inventive entrepreneurs who are “going east” to take advantage of the same kind of opportunities that led earlier generations “out west.”
Flathead economic development leaders are wise to be monitoring the situation in the Sidney particularly, where city leaders are working hard to get out in front of the growth in a proactive, not reactive manner. As Flathead businesses open branch operations in oil-field towns — and we know that’s already happening with local contractors — it stands to strengthen our own economy.
At least for now, a lot of the money being made by Flathead folks in the oil fields is coming back and being spent locally.
Industry experts project this boom will last 15 to 20 years, and it remains to be seen how big a draw that will have on the population here. Many families may choose to relocate eventually if there aren’t job opportunities here where they’d rather live. For now, most are hoping these are stopgap jobs to get them by until the economy improves here.
Opportunity doesn’t always come knocking in pretty places like the Flathead Valley, but most who have found oil-field jobs count themselves as lucky.
Flathead Valley native Shawnee Barge, who weathered last winter in a tiny camper in Culbertson, summed it up best: “We feel so lucky to have this opportunity. It’s not always a bowl of roses, but we are determined to have a positive attitude and deal with the challenges one at a time.”