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Demand may benefit our community [UPDATED]
Published 10:12am Monday, September 24, 2012 Updated 12:14pm Monday, September 24, 2012The idea by a group of Fergus Falls residents to take a 450-mile trip to the Oil Patch in western North Dakota is certainly a good one.
The fact is, the oil boom has created demands for products and services in an area where none had previously existed.
Because the oil boom occurred in an area with low population, the private market has had difficulty providing the most basic services to new employees in the area — food, clothing, housing — despite the fact that employees have money to spend. There are certainly many other products and services in demand that haven’t even been thought of.
While Fergus Falls is certainly a long way from Williston — about seven hours, to be exact — the city is a long way from a lot of places. And the hardships of providing products or services to an area so far away might ultimately be a small price to pay for the economic benefits that may exist.
In the end, nothing may come from the trip to the oil patch. But it’s a risk, and a drive, absolutely worth taking.
