In addition to donations to local food pantries, various work places and individuals set up food donation stations.

North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Oct. 30, the day before SNAP payments ceased, directed more than $1.5 million in state funds to support food assistance programs while urging residents to consider donating food or money to their local food pantries. The state provided $915,000 in contingency funds to Great Plains Food Bank, which supplies food and supports a network of nearly 200 partner food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens across the state.

Great Plains Food Bank also launched an emergency fundraising campaign to collect an additional 1 million pounds of food for statewide distribution, doubling its normal distribution.

The state Industrial Commission approved a short-term, low-interest loan program for North Dakotans who were furloughed federal government employees or members of the U.S. Armed Forces stationed in North Dakota. Some Minot banks also offered loan programs of their own.

Residents gather along Broadway in downtown Minot on May 1 to rally in protest of federal administration policies. The summer and fall brought a series of rallies around the country, state and locally.

Data from the Council of Economic Advisers, released by the White House, stated about 9,000 federal workers or 2.2% of North Dakota’s workforce were furloughed or worked without pay during the 43 days of the government shutdown that began Oct. 1.

During the course of the shutdown, nutrition program benefits were impacted, affecting an estimated 57,000 SNAP beneficiaries in North Dakota, including 22,000 children, the report stated. Another $7 million in Small Business Administration loans were delayed and $23 million in federal contracts were cut in North Dakota.

Changes at the federal level were impacting North Dakota even before the shutdown.

In the spring, the federal AmeriCorps Agency terminated agreements with four North Dakota organizations, including Souris Basin Planning Council in Minot.

SBPC’s Community Builder Program consisted of the AmeriCorps program through Serve ND and a separate AmeriCorps VISTA program. The AmeriCorps VISTA grant was terminated, effective April 25, followed by a notice that the Serve ND subagreement also had been selected by AmeriCorps for termination.

SBPC was successful in moving its Serve ND-funded members into an AmeriCorps program administered through Strengthen ND, which did not experience a termination of its program. SBPC’s AmeriCorps funding going forward also has not been affected.

Tariffs were another issue affecting North Dakota directly and indirectly. Farmers felt some impacts over the summer as tariffs influenced foreign purchases of commodities, although interrupted markets began to return later in the year.

Federal tariffs and threats of tariffs on Canada was a factor in keeping many Canadians from traveling south this past year.

Border crossings for personal vehicles into North Dakota from Canada were down about 25% through October compared to 2024, according to North Dakota Tourism. As of October, the state estimates $41.3 million in lost Canadian visitor spending. ND Tourism noted other northern border states experienced similar impacts.

Visit Minot reported Canadian traffic was down 20-25%, but overall tourism numbers were steady due to increases in other segments.

Stephanie Schoenrock, executive director at Visit Minot, said Canadian traffic fluctuated, dropping early in the year after national political headlines about tariffs but bouncing back by mid-summer before reacting again to tariff headlines in the fall.

“We’re still seeing about a third of the credit card spend coming from people outside of Ward County. And so, we are still seeing that significant economic impact from visitors on our market,” she said. “We did see good tourism numbers this summer. We had people again from all 50 states and 27 countries sign our guest book in the visitor center by mid-summer.

“What we are seeing more than anything is the people that are coming into town are spending a little bit more time,” she added. “We want to cross promote as much as we can because once we get them to town, we want to retain them and get them to see as much as they can in our community. We also know that when people spend more time in the community their satisfaction goes up.”

Meanwhile passenger boardings at North Dakota’s eight commercial airports combined to set an October record despite the government shutdown’s impact on air traffic control and transportation safety workers around the country, according to the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission.

Minot International Airport boarded 14,582 passengers, up from 14,477 in October 2024 for a 0.73% increase.

However, in early November, the Federal Aviation Administration announced 40 major hub airports nationwide would face temporary capacity reductions due to air traffic controller staffing shortages. These national airspace constraints resulted in increased delays and flight cancellations, with rural and connection-dependent airports, such as those in North Dakota, being particularly affected, the aeronautics commission stated.

During November, 54 airline departures were canceled statewide and about 70% were directly linked to the federal government shutdown and associated FAA staffing constraints.

The past year also brought monthly protest rallies against policies of the federal administration across the country and state, including in Minot.

In March, Light for Democracy rallies took place, kicking off a series of similar monthly rallies that had local residents standing along Broadway with signs. The May 1 rally on International Workers Day focused on workers, and future rallies took a “No Kings” theme. The final rally of the year was on Oct. 18, which was estimated to have drawn about 300 people in Minot.