In a business where pruning the suitors to find the ultimate match is all in a day's work, two site selection specialists had their work cut out for them Tuesday.
Should the choice be New Rockford, a community described by its developer as warm and fuzzy and only a little bit showy like a purple coneflower? Or should it be Bowman hardy and nice to look at, like alfalfa?
The North Dakota Commerce Department brought two nationally known business location advisers to Minot to participate in a remake of The Dating Game at the Governor's Rural Community Summit Tuesday. Community and economic developers from three towns smaller than 7,000 and from three towns larger than 7,000 competed separately for a "date" with one of the advisers.
Laughter ensued and shoes flew off the stage during the light-hearted take on the serious subject of selling a community to site selectors, sometimes sight unseen.
Paige Webster of Foote Consulting in Phoenix, Ariz., lobbed Diane Olson an easy hit when he asked Botttineau's economic director for her favorite flavor of ice cream. It opened the door for bragging about Bottineau's Pride Dairy and its Cow Pie. (Cow Pie is a Juneberry ice cream dipped in chocolate and served on a stick.)
Olson also had the opportunity to describe the success of a salt-water shrimp farm and talk about its future potential.
"Shrimp flavored ice cream?" Webster suggested.
"It could happen," Olson replied.
In the end, Webster selected Bowman, represented by Ashley Alderson, director of the Bowman County Development Corp. Alderson, who showed a sporting sense of humor in the competition, won over Webster in describing Bowman in a word as "banana" for its tendency to be several degrees warmer than much of the state in the winter. She also highlighted the community's recreation opportunities, energy sector, young professionals and transportation systems.
Amy Wobbema, economic development director in New Rockford, showed skill at turning negatives into positives. Asked by Webster about her city's challenges in meeting his client's needs, Wobbema responded that lack of available buildings is the city's weakness.
"But we can certainly address that by building to suit in our 117-acre industrial park," she said. "We can work with you to turn them (challenges) into opportunities for our community and your company."
She also highlighted a project to install fiber optic communications throughout the community and touted the individualized business assistance available to companies.
In the second round, developers Ellen Huber of Mandan, Chris Schilken of Devils Lake and Connie Ova of Jamestown competed for a date with John Castro with Maximus Alliance in Dallas. They fielded questions about whether vacations in their towns would be relaxing or adventurous and about the most surprising features of their cities.
Even an answer to a less serious question could turn a bachelor's head. Asked if she would rather be a bird or fish in her community, Ova charmed Castro when she choose the flying bird "so I can spread the word about the great state of North Dakota."
Ova was selected for the date. Both Ova and Alderson had the chance to learn more about how to make their communities attractive to site selectors in dining at 10 North Main in Minot with their dates last night.
North Dakota's potential work-force crunch with its low unemployment rate was mentioned by both out-of-state bachelors as a matter of importance in seeking a date.
Wobbema talked about a project in New Rockford that involved running a job-related advertisement for three weeks to gauge employment interest for a prospective company. Olson mentioned that Bottineau has an ability to attract people from around the region for jobs and a college to provide training. Bowman also is working on a project to train workers in cooperation with area universities.
Huber indicated that Mandan's presence in a growing metropolitan area with higher education opportunities tempers any concern about lack of workers. Schilken cited a labor study showing 10,000 potential job seekers, only to be upped by Ova claiming 17,000 potential job seekers in a labor study.
"She's lying! Half of that was our study," Schilken interrupted. Schilken's and Ova's good-natured rivalry throughout the competition ended when they huddled in anticipation like Miss America finalists as they waited for the bachelor's decision.
The flying shoes, by the way, belonged to Wobbema, who kicked them off before displaying her dance skills. Both bachelors gave questions that had contestants dancing or playing air guitar, which they judged by audience response.
