Group gathering input on North Dakota housing needs

Mary Steurer
·3 min read

An apartment complex advertises vacancies in a residential area of Bismarck. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Montior)

A new committee appointed by Gov. Doug Burgum seeks solutions for North Dakota’s housing crunch.

The group, called the North Dakota Housing Initiative Advisory Committee, this year is conducting listening sessions to gather information about housing needs across the state. 

The committee will use those findings to put together policy recommendations for the 2025 Legislature, according to an announcement from the governor’s office.

“One of the themes that I am pretty sure will characterize this whole conversation is really built on this idea that our state is growing, employers are investing, but unless you have a workforce, that growth stops,” said committee member Jessica Thomasson, who is the state’s executive director of human services. “So people are really, I think, connecting the dots that housing is a workforce issue.”

The Housing Initiative Advisory Committee last week hosted its first two listening sessions, one in Fargo and one in Bismarck.

In each session, they spoke with a private group of local leaders and industry representatives, Thomasson said.

“We tried to bring together a group of people to have a pretty targeted conversation over about 90 minutes, but we have other opportunities for a broader voice to be captured,” she said.

North Dakota’s housing problems may not be as pronounced as other parts of the country, but in many communities across the state, the demand for housing still outpaces supply, Thomasson said. 

“Sometimes it’s about the variety of housing that’s available,” she said.

Thomasson said the committee is shooting to have its recommendations submitted to the Legislature by the fall. While future listening sessions have yet to be scheduled, the group wants to visit at least two other communities, she said.

The state has launched a website for the Housing Initiative which lists several housing-related resources — including a link to an anonymous housing needs survey, which asks respondents about their living situations and housing issues in their communities.

There are also several links to North Dakota housing data reports, as well as recent housing plans adopted by local governments across the state.

Burgum first announced the initiative in his 2024 State of the State Address in January.

“We want to hear from renters and homeowners and developers and community leaders, housing providers and anybody who’s got a future in the future of the economic success of North Dakota,” he said during his speech.

He mentioned a 2022 study by North Dakota State University that found the state will need over 9,000 additional housing units by 2025 to support North Dakota’s growing labor force.

“It’s workforce infrastructure, and we’ve got to create the right kind of incentives for the private  sector to bring capital and to help solve these problems,” Burgum said.

Here are the members of the Housing Initiative Advisory Committee:

State lawmakers and officials:

  • Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston

  • Sen. Dean Rummel, R-Dickinson

  • Rep. Mike Beltz, R-Hillsboro

  • Rep. Austen Schauer, R-West Fargo

  • Maria Neset, Governor’s Office

  • Jessica Thomasson, Department of Health and Human Services

  • Shawn Kessel, Department of Commerce

  • Dave Flohr, Housing Finance Agency

Local officials:

  • Chad Peterson, Cass County Commission

  • Steve Kemp, Williams County Commission

  • Nick Ziegelmann, city of Grafton

The committee also includes the following representatives from banks, real estate and utility companies, economic development organizations and nonprofits:

  • Nathan Berseth of Bell Bank

  • Kim Settel of Gate City Bank

  • Dave Mason of First International Bank

  • Angela Carlson of Slope Electric Cooperative

  • Matt Marshall of Minnkota Power Cooperative

  • Teran Doerr of Bowman County Development Corporation

  • Mark Lyman of Minot Area Chamber Economic Development Corporation

  • Brent Ekstrom of Community Works ND

  • Andrea Olson, Community Action Partnership ND

  • Janelle Moos, AARP

  • Daniel Erickson, Investors Management and Marketing

  • Nick Hacker, The Title Team

  • Jeff Sattler, Sattler Homes

  • Darren Schmidt, Oaktree Realtors

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