Western Montanans Moving to MonDak Oil Patch -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Even now, Rauschendorfer says he gets weekly calls from western Montana residents. He’s also getting calls from out of state such as from Washington state where five contractors are looking to set up shop, and Virginia where parties there are interested in truck driving opportunties and investment properties. These businesses say if they don’t move, they’ll be bankrupt.

“I’m hearing too many people say they’re going to be bankrupt in two years,” Rauschendorfer said, which leads him to believe that “we’re not in a recession, we’re in a depression.” That means many more could flood the MonDak region. Rumor has it that as many as 90,000 newcomers could flock to the MonDak region as soon as next year.

When it comes to tracking businesses on the move, unfortunately it’s impossible to verify for sure if western Montana businesses are actually flocking eastward. Neither the Montana Department of Labor and Industry nor the Secretary of State’s office track that kind of information. All one can go on is by sight, either by those who are advertising or the logos on vehicles.

It seems, however, many businesses making their way to Richland County are construction related – Meadowlark Log Homes, from Libby; Crazy Cabinetry, Livingston; Markovich Construction (constructing the new hotel on Central), Butte; and Kamp Construction, Lewistown, whose owner, Greg Kamp found work in one hour after arriving here, among them. But then there are the plumbers and electricians from the same areas hired by the contractors who are already doing work.

Go to the link for the full story. Something tells me we're in the very early innings of this boom.