New Geography

Author: Doug McDonald

  • No Quit in Fargo

    You could hear it in their voices – dejection, resignation and anger. Late last week, the National Weather Service announced a second crest of the Red River of the North, with predictions of a 75 percent chance the Red would crest at 41 feet and a 25 percent chance it will hit 42.8 feet in the second half of April. Not good for a community that through hard work and personal and community sacrifice averted a major disaster by continuing to sandbag, dike and fight an epic flood while not caving to a suggested mandatory evacuation of the community.

    But this community/region is nothing if not resilient, tough and plain old stubborn. As people get back to work in the city (with commerce being shut down for roughly two weeks), they drive past and around semis continuing to dump clay to build and bolster dikes to hold back a projected second crest that could surge higher than the previous high-water mark. Led by an unflappable Mayor, flanked by a trauma physician Deputy Mayor, and supported by a community that cares about where they live, they seem to have put behind them the despair and with a new week comes new vigor and resolve to overcome this new threat.

    This can-do approach and community drive is repeated in communities (Valley City, Olso, Drayton) up and down the valley as they confront record flooding. Starting with record fall rains, an early and deep freeze (prompting fast runoff) and heavy winter snows these communities and this region continue to see record high water levels and the threat of flooding. There have been losses – hundreds of homes reporting flood damage in Cass and Clay counties – and there may be more, but not without a fight.

  • Fargo Moorhead Flood Fight: Stand and Defend

    The flood fight is on in Fargo/Moorhead as the cities work to stem the flow of the raging Red River of the North. I was in north Fargo this morning (Friday) where crews continue to haul clay and sandbags to bolster dikes and protect critical infrastructure. Fargo Mayor, Dennis Walaker, said this morning that they “wouldn’t go down without a fight” and these two communities are putting up a herculean fight against all that mother nature can throw at them including record flood levels, a snow storm and continued cold temperatures. The two communities currently are in what they are calling a “stand and defend” position – strengthen and monitor existing dikes and levies and protect as much of their community as possible.

    I went to Fargo with my 17 year-old Nephew who just last night was sandbagging in north Fargo, and had arrived in Grand Forks at 8:00 am this morning. When he heard I was heading to Fargo he asked “do you need help”? The resilience, energy and concern exhibited by this, and many, of the youth and young adults in this fight has been unbelievable and from my perspective, one of the major stories of this struggle. The overwhelming assistance – from junior and senior high students to the several colleges and their students from throughout the region – has been astounding.

    Even former ND Governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schaefer is driving a dump truck hauling clay. He said he came across a driver who had been driving for 27 hours straight and Ed figured he could use a break.

    The endplay of this flood has yet to be written, but when it is all said and done the residents of Fargo/Moorhead along with an army of students (our best and brightest) will hopefully be able to slap each other on the back and say “job well done”. Stand and defend Fargo … stand and defend.

    —

    Here’s an amateur video on the flood fight making the rounds on youtube:

    Minnesota Public Radio’s Bob Collins has been chronicling the story of a few families in Moorhead fighting to save their homes, even after their neighborhood has been evacuated and they’ve been cut off by a secondary dike.

  • Why Fargo and the Midwest Rocks

    It was eighteen above zero and snow in Fargo this morning. Record high flood forecast on the Red River of the North in the Southern Valley. I went down to Fargo, from Grand Forks (70 miles north), to help my sister’s family empty out their basement. They live in the southern subdivision of Osgood. The blare of heavy equipment resounded throughout the neighborhood as I pulled in, feverishly building an earthen dike as a secondary defense roughly six to eight blocks North of their house. In hurry up mode here, you only move what is irreplaceable – family pictures, cherished belongings of your children when they were young, personal belongings from your life – the rest (TVs, furniture) is just stuff.

    As I was leaving the Osgood neighborhood, a steady stream of volunteers marched into the area to bolster the sandbag dikes. Young and old alike working side-by-side to accomplish a greater good – save their community. But for many it wasn’t even their community. Volunteers from throughout the region came to this community to help in its time of need. There is often no reason to be there other than “I heard they needed help”. No questions, no bitching.

    Heading to North Fargo, my other sister lives about 8 blocks from the river. The secondary dike there is roughly 2 blocks away from her house. She is heavily involved in emergency preparedness through her work at the local hospital and had her basement cleared out. I was dropping off an emergency generator, submersible sump pump and other supplies hoping that they won’t be needed. Parked in their driveway I saw buses filled with volunteers coming down the clay and snow covered street joined by others walking to the area. Don’t impede emergency vehicles and semis loaded with sandbags – other street traffic was at a minimum.

    Why does this region rock? If you saw the resolve of these volunteers, National Guard, Red Cross and emergency personnel and their willingness and ability to work together, help their neighbors and work collaboratively to defend their community you wouldn’t need to ask.

  • Doug McDonald

  • Railcars as Economic Indicators

    With the nation locked in the firm grips of recession, one indicator of our country’s import demand and manufacturing capacity is being stockpiled in Montana. Just south of Great Falls, along the Missouri River, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Co. is stockpiling flatbed container cars – a lot of flatbed cars. By some accounts, there are about 1,500 railcars, or 1.5 percent of the North American flatbed fleet and roughly 5 percent of the BNSF fleet, parked between Great Falls and Helena suggesting that Americans are buying and importing less from foreign manufacturers and manufacturing less for foreign consumption. If and when they are brought back into rotation will depend on freight demand – driven by American consumption.

  • Paper to Paperless: Realigning the Stars

    The paper and pulp industry has been good to Wisconsin, the number one papermaking state in the nation. Wisconsin produces more than 5.3 million tons of paper and over a million tons of paperboard annually. The pulp and paper industry employs more than 35,000 people in the state representing roughly eight percent of all manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin. These are good jobs with good benefits. Papermakers earn over 20 percent more than the manufacturing sector average and over 50 percent more than the average wage in the state.

    The paper and pulp industry has been a major driver of the economy in the Wisconsin Rapids area – located about 100 miles north of Madison – since the 1800s. The Wisconsin River, whose powerful flow and easy access lured fur traders and loggers from as far away as Quebec, runs through the area. It served both as the “highway” for raw product coming and the energy source for mills.

    Through the later part of the 19th and the early 20th century, Wisconsin Rapids and neighboring communities of Stevens Point, Nekoosa and Port Edwards all benefited from this access through increased trade and commercial opportunities, concentrated in lumber operations. These locations became part of a series of paper and pulp mills that remain part of the region’s economic landscape.

    Today, as in many smaller communities, the long-time economic bastion faces major challenges. The paper industry nationally is confronted with reduced demand resulting in plant and machine shutdowns. Globalization plays a factor as foreign competition from other countries such as China, Korea and Malaysia – where production costs are significantly lower and demand for paper is rising – now are seizing larger market share. Consolidation, through mergers and acquisitions by international firms, has played a major role as paper and pulp companies have struggled to gain market share and rationalize assets.

    These challenges and obstacles have become a stark reality in the Wisconsin Rapids area. In June of this year, one of the major paper companies – Domtar – closed the mill in Port Edwards putting 500 people out of work. In virtually any community, the loss of an employer this size would be cause for alarm – and particularly so for a small community far from any large metropolitan area.

    Although still committed to keeping its leading role in the paper industry, the community needs to diversify and grow its economy. One rising star – often the Holy Grail for rural community economic developers – is information technology, specifically software design and support. Wisconsin Rapids is home to Renaissance Learning Systems a leading provider of reading software for K-12 students in the United States and Canada. The company employs over 700 people and its software products are used in approximately 50,000 classrooms across North America.

    This is a success story that we at Praxis Strategy have encountered in other smaller communities, from Fargo, N.D., to Wenatchee, Wash. Small technology companies – far from the light and luster of Silicon Valley – are finding rural locales ideal for nurturing growth and attracting talent. Instead of being a primary driver, in this case the water and land resources of the region serve as critical amenities for workers seeking a “slower paced” and physically attractive place to raise their families and call home.

    Renaissance is not alone. Sami Saydjari, president of Cyber Defense Agency, a virtual company that deals with “defending critical cyberspace,” is also headquartered out of Wisconsin Rapids. “(It’s) not Ground Zero,” Saydjari says, describing one competitive advantage the area offers. It is far away from major population centers and areas prone to natural disasters – key for disaster recovery and conducting mission critical defense work.

    It may not have the allure of Silicon Valley or Boston’s 128, but for a growing number of nascent knowledge-based IT companies, rural and small town areas are showing surprising appeal. Since 2000 virtually all the fastest growing regions for information jobs have been found among small towns and cities, ranging from Springfield, Mo., to Grand Forks, N.D. It’s a trend that could reshape more and more of small town and rural America over the coming decades.

    Doug McDonald is a Senior Associate with the Praxis Strategy Group, a development firm specializing in economic development strategies and initiatives for small to medium-sized metropolitan areas and urbanizing rural regions.