Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley, Bismarck

It was a pleasure to be in Bowman April 21 where I spoke during a meeting of the Bowman Area Chamber of Commerce. I always appreciate opportunities to personally thank the people living in our fastest growing region for the extraordinary role they play in making North Dakota the number one economy in America.

My message focused in a positive way on the many great economic advancements our state is making and the work underway to meet the challenges that come with rapid growth. In this era of economic expansion, the challenges we face as a state today are the challenges of prosperity as opposed to the problems of decline.

Unfortunately, the message I shared in Bowman has been mischaracterized in a recent letter penned by Dean Meyer of Dickinson and forwarded to newspapers across the state. In his letter, Meyer misrepresents the substance of my message, which is to be expected since he wasn’t in attendance for the speech.

North Dakota is an island of economic and social prosperity while the national economy continues on an anemic path. We have lowered taxes and invested heavily in roads, water and education. We’ve balanced these expenditures by also having prudent rainy-day funds for the inevitable natural disaster or commodity price fluctuation. It’s all been possible because North Dakota’s economy is more diverse than ever. High-tech development, energy innovation and advanced manufacturing have brought new career opportunities and new wealth to our state, while robust growth in production agriculture has kept our traditional economic base very prosperous.

North Dakota is producing jobs faster than any other state, and we’ve had the fastest growing incomes six out of the past seven years. Combined with our excellent quality of life, it’s no surprise to see North Dakota’s population rising faster than any state in the nation.

Our challenges were very different not so many years ago. Conversations were focused on avoiding school closures, dwindling capacity to support local businesses and public infrastructure and steady migration to our largest cities, or even to other states.

These are truly remarkable times that generations of North Dakotans have worked toward. Opportunity can flourish right here in North Dakota the greatest state, in the finest nation on earth.

To be sure, we have real challenges in this robust economy. In response, we have devoted unprecedented investments to expand and improve our water infrastructure, highways and roads, our schools and affordable housing. And, we know that there is much yet to do as we move forward.

In the weeks ahead, I look forward to meeting again with Bowman Mayor Lyn James and other leaders who are eager to continue moving North Dakota forward. As a fourth-generation North Dakotan, I know we are blessed with hard-working people who look to the horizon and count our state’s blessings. And, it is the people that are our greatest resource of all.