Story Published:
Feb 20, 2012 at 6:58 PM MDT
Story Updated:
Feb 21, 2012 at 1:48 PM MDT
BILLINGS - Bryce Baker moved to Sidney to become the general manager of the new Best Western Hotel. The facility opens April 1 and will have 72 rooms, but he still doesn't have a place to live.
"My wife and two children will move out whenever we get a place to live," Baker said. "But the housing market here is nil. We didn't see a single house for sale, and everything else is out of our price range."
Officials said rumors of hotels in Sidney being booked three to five years in advance are false and are discouraging some from doing business in the Bakken, but the town is still feeling the strain. Hotels like the Richland Motor Inn are filling to capacity almost every night in the Bakken region. Sidney is opening three new hotels in the spring, doubling the amount of rooms available in town.
Executive Director of the Sidney Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, Wade VanEvery, said understaffed businesses are struggling to keep up with the demands of the increasing population.
"Everyone's working as hard as they can and they certainly want to take care of everybody and they feel that that's a burden on them too, in a way," VanEvery said.
The Department of Labor and Industry lists nearly 240 job openings in Sidney.
"But now we've got jobs right out of high school that pay more than professionals, and so we're keeping our young people in the community and in the oil business with those kinds of opportunities," VanEvery said.
Housing is keeping many from moving to the area to work. An average one- to two-bedroom apartment in Williston costs between $2,300 to $2,500 a month, causing some longtime residents to leave. Local officials estimate they have lost 1,000 core residents since 2004 when the boom kicked off, but thousands more are flooding to the area.
"You've got a lot of hard working people up here trying to make a living," said Shawn Wenko, the assistant director of Williston Economic Development. "A lot of people that have come from distressed areas. A lot of families have moved up to the area."
Wenko said Williston needs about $540 million in infrastructure upgrades, including improving the waste water treatment plant and expanding a landfill. They also have several housing developments in the works.
"As we get more housing, we're going to continue to see more of the families come into the area and hopefully that will open up some of the problems that we're seeing with secondary workforce," Wenko said.
Meanwhile, people like Baker are staying hopeful about tapping into the Bakken boom.
"Everything looks very positive," said Baker. "The economic development is looking excellent for us. And we're just excited about the opportunity to help Sidney."
Stay tuned to learn how Billings business leaders are trying to connect the Bakken with business in the Magic City.
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