Saturday, January 28, 2012

Some "Feel Good" Stories -- Much Needed -- And Appreciated -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

Link here to Dickinson 7.

The link will be broken sooner or later ... but that's okay ... it's a great story ....
Oil-field work can be dirty work. The oil, grease, and dirt can coat the skin, cover your clothes, and really mess up other clothing in your washing machine.

But one Williston family saw this as an opportunity, and because of it they more than doubled the size of their business.

Now Village Laundry employs 25 workers, and its owners say it’s one of the few shops like it of its kind. They have a special boiler, as well as agitators and soaps to get the oil out.

They also have laundry machines that can hold up to 160 lbs of dirty clothes. They say as the business continues to grow, the plan is to add even more.

6 comments:

  1. Wow congratulation to this family for seeing the opportunity, acting on it and now they employ 25 people. They are the kind to admire instead of those complaining about the disruption they may experience due to this rapid development.

    I'm sure there are all kinds of new small service business finding a niche in servicing the oil companies. The untold story.

    No doubt about it small business is a major job creator.

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  2. Unless things really changed in the past 45 days since I was there, which I doubt, it appeared to me that overall things were moving along a lot better than some would gather from the recent spate of negative stories.

    My hunch is that the shorter days, less sunlight, is leading to the usual amount of increased depression at this time of year, and come spring, things will, in general, look a lot more promising.

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  3. Nothing to do with the Bakken but it shows that the positive side is alive and strong in our country.

    St. Louis hosting 1st big parade on Iraq War's end

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ_WAR_PARADE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-01-28-18-50-19

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  4. Yes, I saw that.

    In addition, I have two wonderful women friends who have ties to St Louis. But that's another story for another time.

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  5. IIRC, a PA version of this was reported 1 or 2 years ago. A woman road circuit to the rigs to pick up and return laundry Might have started with the washer in her home. Still a small operation back then.

    anon 1

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    Replies
    1. I saw a mobile car wash/truck wash operation in Williston.

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