Pure Energy to build in Minot

By JILL SCHRAMM, Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com
An oil-field service company that projects having 80 employees in Minot in three years made a formal announcement Thursday that it will be building in the city’s new Energy Park this summer.


Pure Energy Services, based in Calgary, Alberta, in Canada, presently employs about 45 people in Minot. It is leasing an office in east Minot, near where it will be building a $1.3 million facility.


Pure Energy president Paul DeBonis said the company chose to locate in Minot because of the city’s welcoming reception. He said North Dakota is unusual in the degree of focus it places on attracting energy companies.


“We have always been kind of looked at as sort of a threat or maybe not really the most welcome type of industry to come into a city like this especially, or even a state. We really appreciate that welcome,” he said.


DeBonis said the company chose to come to the Williston Basin because it was looking for a place with an emerging industry where it could do business over the long term. It also wanted to diversify from its work in other states in the natural gas industry.


“So it is a perfect fit. You couldn’t make it work any better,” DeBonis said.


Mike Mahoney, the company’s U.S. operations manager, said Pure Energy looked at several locations in different states before deciding on Minot.


“It’s kind of unique that the last stop I made was in Minot and the warmest reception I have ever received from a city was from Minot. It didn’t take us long to figure out that this is where we wanted to call it home,” he said.


Gov. John Hoeven spoke about the state’s efforts and tax incentives to increase energy production in areas from wind to oil and to increase its refining and pipeline capacity.


“As long as we keep our eye on the ball, we work hard to develop the best business plan we can, we are truly aggressive about economic development and we connect with quality companies like Pure and say we are going to help you do business and we want you doing business here, I think we can keep building and we can keep growing,” he said.


Jerry Chavez, president of the Minot Area Development Corp., said more companies could be making announcements about coming to Minot in about two weeks. The petroleum conference in Minot this week helped MADC to make connections with companies interested in coming into the area, he said.


In addition to the two lots in the Energy Park that Pure Energy is acquiring, about seven remaining lots in Phase I are all but spoken for by prospective energy companies, Chavez said. MADC now is working with additional companies on land in Phase II.


The Energy Park includes about 110 acres, and lots are around 5 acres each in Phase I. The park is located east of Minot along U.S. Highway 2.


Pure Energy plans to start construction sometime this summer. The company is investing $133 million and will have an annual payroll of $6 million. The average salary will be about $80,000 a year.


Pure Energy provides services to oil companies to aid them in drilling and completing wells.


“We have developed technologies that are environmentally sound, reducing emissions, keeping fluids off the ground and helping the wells actually produce at a much higher, prolific rate,” DeBonis said. “A traditional bore well without these technologies wouldn’t produce.”


Pure Energy has more than 260 employees in its U.S. operation. It originally incorporated in the United States in North Dakota in 2004 but then decided to establish operations in Wyoming and Colorado.


DeBonis said 30 of the company’s 45 employees in Minot also live in Minot. Others are from Canada or other states and are staying in hotels. Most are in the process of establishing homes here, he said.


The Minot MAGIC Fund is providing Pure Energy with a $200,000 grant and $150,000 to buy lots in the park. The company will receive a $250,000 loan that will be forgiven if employment criteria are met.