A Conversation With North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong · Fargo INC!
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A Conversation With North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong
Governor Kelly Armstrong is the 34th governor of North Dakota, taking office on December 15, 2024, after serving nearly six years as the state’s at-large member of the U.S. House.
In shortNorth Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong, who took office December 15, 2024, outlines his administration's focus on energy, agriculture, AI/data centers, workforce development, and keeping the state business-friendly.
3 things to know
1Armstrong frames growth around value-added ag, energy, and emerging sectors like AI and data centers, citing North Dakota's climate and natural resources as assets.
2He pushed cell-phone-free school legislation to rebuild soft skills employers seek, with buy-in from teachers, principals, and both parties.
3Armstrong says North Dakota has between 10,000 and 13,000 open jobs and takes a holistic approach to business recruitment focused on workforce and housing.
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About Kelly Armstrong
Governor Kelly Armstrong is the 34th governor of North Dakota, taking office on December 15, 2024, after serving nearly six years as the state’s at-large member of the U.S. House. A lifelong North Dakotan from Dickinson, Armstrong is a lawyer by training and previously represented District 36 in the North Dakota Senate and chaired the North Dakota Republican Party before his time in Congress. As governor, he has framed his administration around keeping North Dakota business-friendly and competitive— emphasizing tax relief, workforce development, support for core industries like agriculture and energy, and continued growth in emerging sectors. He has also stressed showing up directly in communities across the state to gather input and build partnerships, positioning his office as a practical, accessible resource for local leaders and employers.
Q: What Do You See As The Biggest Opportunities For Growth In North Dakota In The Next 5 To 10 Years?
A: I think the same things that have always been in North Dakota’s wheelhouse, which is value-added ag, energy, the synergies between the energy industry and the agriculture industry. You know, just today, we were at the Bank of North Dakota talking about the Bakken West to East pipeline, and having the ability to really match up those natural resources with these communities. We spend a lot of time talking about workforce. We spend a lot of time talking about housing. But for every community, big or small, in North Dakota, before you bring in economic development, the two things you have to have are power and water. And we have plenty of those to spare, and we just have to match the right resources with the right communities.
Q: What do you see as some of the emerging industries in the state?
A: The AI space is really interesting. The data centers require a lot of power. I mean, cold and windy is not usually a really good attribute for recruiting people, but it turns out for data centers and that type of facility, North Dakota’s climate, North Dakota’s business climate, North Dakota’s natural resources are actually exactly what they’re looking for. And I think the other side of that, that we sometimes forget about, is that the next generation of North Dakotans want to work in technology. They want to work on autonomous vehicles. They want to be touching that really cool new emerging technology. So we have the natural resources to do it. We have some of the smartest kids anywhere on the planet. And matching that up also gives us an opportunity to keep more North Dakota graduates in North Dakota.
Q: What specifically would you say to future entrepreneurs that you’re trying to keep in the state? Why should they build a business here instead of elsewhere?
A: Well, I think there’s two sides, right? One, there’s keeping them, but the other part of being young is leaving. And, I mean, that happens everywhere, right? Seniors in high school in New York think New York is boring. But we also want to create the environment for them to come back. I think there are a lot of things that are draws here. I think if you love the outdoors, North Dakota is a great place. We’ve got to create more access to the types of things that North Dakota is really good at.
Once you decide that maybe you don’t need five-star restaurants every night, or Broadway shows, and you want to raise a family, this is as good a place in the world to do that. The communities here will support you. Your state will support you.
Being in DC for six years, the misconceptions about North Dakota are pretty prevalent. Our communities are sophisticated, our entrepreneurs are sophisticated. And more importantly, I think one of the great things is, no matter how big the community you live in, in North Dakota, it still has that small town feel, and that we support each other.
Q: What do you think were some of the misnomers about north Dakota in DC?
A: Most people thought of North Dakota farmers and ranchers, as guys wearing overalls with a piece of straw in their mouth. And, you know, our ag producers are some of the most sophisticated small business people anywhere in the world. I mean, inputs are higher, commodity prices are lower. The economies of scale in farming have just changed so dramatically. I used to tell people we’re going to solve autonomous vehicles with a combine in the Red River Valley way before we ever solve it on a highway in Florida.
Q: What do you think are some of the underutilized resources or programs that small business owners should be aware of?
A: It’s important to make sure people know about the programs that exist and where they’re at. It’s important to know about the Commerce Department, and it’s important to know what’s available in your community. I think some of the best groups that exist are the young professionals groups. Grand Forks has a really good one. Fargo has a really good one.
I think they’re really important for when you graduate from college. In college, you have a social life. However, when you leave, it doesn’t matter if you’re working at a bank or starting your own business—as young professionals, particularly young professionals starting families—it’s hard, especially if you’re moving from Dickinson into Fargo or Bismarck to Minot or wherever it is. It’s hard to crack into that social scene. And I think the good young professional groups can do a lot to help recruit and retain workforce.
Q: You spoke a bit about getting young professionals to come back to the state. How do we keep them here in the first place?
A: One thing that’s underutilized in North Dakota—though higher ed is starting to move this direction—is stronger synergy between our business community’s workforce needs and our universities and tech schools. If you’ve interned or worked for a company for two or three years while you’re in college or earning a certificate, it’s a lot easier to take that job afterward. You already know your boss, you’ve broken bread with your coworkers, and you feel like part of the company.
And I think we can start that earlier— sometimes as early as high school. Matching industries to students better, sooner, would be really impactful. We’ve done a pretty good job in some areas—the oil boom did that in western North Dakota, and there are really cool things happening with Grand Farm, Grand Sky, and Grand Forks. But there’s always room to improve.
Q: Forgive me for not knowing this, but how involved are you with those sorts of efforts?
A: We talk about them all the time. On both the higher ed side and the K–12 side, we’ve been focused on this. We just brought in a new DPI superintendent, Levi Bachmeier, and our CTE schools are really good at matching kids with skills that employers in their communities need.
Where we’re still not great is communication. Sixteen-year-olds aren’t necessarily going to a website and digging through dashboards to find programs—even if those programs exist. And if you’re a parent with your first 17-year-old, you don’t always know how to navigate it either. So being able to communicate these options better to high school and college students is where the state can really help.
We talk about it a lot across CTE, K–12, and higher ed. And you can already see how the pieces are in place here. You’ve got the tech park in Fargo and Grand Farm, and that means you’re going to need robotics engineers and robotics technicians. You’ve got NDSU, NDSCS, K–12, CTE programs, and companies like Bobcat, John Deere, and others.
They all want to educate kids in a way that lines up with real employment opportunities. And we’re also trying to retain and retrain North Dakota students and workers. If we combine public sector, private sector, K–12, and higher ed in a more intentional way, everybody has more buy-in—and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
Q: What Pieces Of Legislation Are You Most Excited About In The Business Realm Right Now?
A: One thing that I think will help— maybe in an unexpected way—is the push to get rid of cell phones in schools. When you look at what employers are seeing, kids score really high on education and technical skills, but fewer and fewer score high on soft skills like dealing with conflict in the workplace, negotiating, selling a product, communicating well.
This might sound silly, but reducing phones in schools helps force eye contact and real interaction. We outsource a lot of communication to those supercomputers in our pockets. A lot of the skills employers want to promote or hire for can be learned better in an academic setting when everyone isn’t staring at a screen all day
Q: I appreciate that—it feels like a long-term health outlook, too.
A: Exactly. There are mental health reasons, academic reasons—lots of reasons to get focused back on education. But one we don’t talk about as much is that kids will naturally learn soft skills just by being in real-life situations like loud lunchrooms, busy hallways, figuring things out face-to-face.
Having to meet people at your locker to plan lunch is different than sending a group text. It takes more organization and problem-solving. Those are skills that carry a long way.
Q: How did that legislation come to be? Was it something teachers wanted, or parents?
A: Teachers wanted it. Principals wanted it. Principals wanted school boards to do it. School boards wanted the legislature to do it. A watereddown version of the bill got amended into something even more watereddown, and with help from legislators from both parties in both chambers, we decided not to wait. We pushed it through quickly and got it done.
It came together because people knew it was the right policy, and there was enough political aggression to move it—plus real buy-in from everyone.
Q: What about your role as governor has surprised you in a positive way?
A: I ran statewide as the only representative from Congress, so I wasn’t fully prepared for how excited people get when the governor shows up. I went to tons of events as a congressman, but a fourth-grader doesn’t really care that a congressman walked into class. They care that the governor did.
It’s been really cool to see how many people get excited when the governor shows up at regular, everyday activities.
Q: How do you think about attracting new businesses while also supporting the ones already here?
A: I’m the first governor in my lifetime who didn’t campaign on jobs. Every governor I’ve known, from both parties, campaigned on jobs, jobs, jobs. But we’ve got somewhere between 10,000 and 13,000 open jobs in North Dakota right now. That’s not unique, but we’ve been working hard to bring it down.
Since the North Dakota oil boom in 2008, we’ve had a hot job market and a hot economy. So when we recruit businesses now, we take a more holistic approach. If you want to move into a community and create jobs, how are you developing workforce? How are you addressing housing? How are you going to be part of the community?
Because if you move into a small town and create 20 jobs by stealing 20 employees from that town, that’s not sustainable. I don’t want new companies poaching teachers, cops, nurses, and everyone else.
Recruitment really starts locally— chambers, EDCs, local businesses and industries. If they roll out the carpet, we can help close the deal with programs and state tools. But locals bring businesses 80–85% of the way there. We’re always ready to help on that last 15%
And beyond recruitment, my job is to build infrastructure for everybody. We need high-speed internet, power, water, linear infrastructure, rail and highway connections, strong schools, health care, and law enforcement. If we build that base, communities can attract what they want
New Rockford has the bisonprocessing facility. Ellendale has Applied Digital. Every community decides what fits. The state’s role is to make resources accessible, not put our thumb on the scale. We want to give communities the chance to recruit what makes sense for them.
Q: How can businesses better interact with you and their representatives?
A: A lot of businesses belong to trade organizations, and those groups do good work advocating in Bismarck. But politics has changed. The days of introducing a bill on day one of session and moving it quickly are mostly gone.
So invite your legislators in the off season. People forget that even though the legislature meets for 80 days every two years, there’s no real off season anymore. If you have an idea that matters for your business, industry, or community, you’ll build far more support by working it early with your local legislators and asking who else you should be talking to.
Trade groups like the home builders or Bankers Association are great, depending on your industry—but direct relationships matter. Start early. Contact your local legislators as soon as you can.
Q: Anything you want to say directly to business readers across the state?
A: First, let us know what you need. It’s always easy to beat up on federal regulations, and there’s always ways to streamline, but we want to be responsive and find a way to say yes. One frustration I had in DC for six years is that the default answer is almost always no, and then you waste time and money trying to figure out what that really means. We want to get to yes.
Second, take a chance. Take a chance on a kid who isn’t experienced. Take a chance on someone who had addiction issues ten years ago and has been in recovery. Take a chance on someone coming out of jail or DOCR who’s trying to turn their life around
The people who earn those chances often work the hardest to prove themselves. And if you’re struggling with workforce—and a lot of people are, here and everywhere—there are real ways to solve it if you’re willing to step outside your comfort zone.
Lastly, North Dakota has done a lot of good things. Government doesn’t create jobs—government creates infrastructure and a framework that lets people risk their capital here. Whether you’re in oil, agriculture, or a small tech startup, we want to make sure the state is supportive and that the structure is there to give you the best chance to succeed.
Editor of Fargo INC! — covering the founders, companies, and ideas shaping business in Fargo-Moorhead. Eleven years in, still no opinions, no politics, all business.
