Bismarck Mandan was in the spotlight and featured in a “boom town” story that aired Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 5:30 p.m. on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer.
The “boom town” story tells how Bismarck is booming and how job seekers are “flocking” here where unemployment is the lowest in the nation at 3.00% and 3000 jobs are available just in the Bismarck metro area.
“There was a wonderful flurry of activity preparing for ABC’s visit and a great opportunity to tell our story,” said Mayor John Warford. “We teamed up with the Bismarck Mandan Development Association, Chamber of Commerce and Job Service N.D. to identify two families that moved to Bismarck Mandan for employment, and two businesses - one that’s newly located here and existing businesses that are growing or expanding as a result of our community’s growth.”
ABC interviewed several local businesses including the Bismarck Airport, Cloverdale Meats, MAC Heaters, Dr. Bradley, Mid Dakota Clinic and Job Service North Dakota. They also interviewed Jeff Hruby and Mark Luna whose families relocated to Bismarck for business and employment.
Bismarck was selected due to our thriving economic growth, plentiful job opportunities, low unemployment and the metro area’s consistent record of “bucking national trends.”