Seven (7) New Hotels Permitted in Williston in 2011; Build Baby Build; New Eateries in Williston; Trappers Kettle Sold; Alaska Oil Patch Workers Moving to North Dakota

From the latest issue of the "Williston Wire," some data points and some links.

Housing units permitted in 2011 in Williston:

• Single family: 310
• Apt complexes: 25
• Apt units: 1,017
• Manufactured homes: 113
• Hotel units: 691

Hotels permitted in 2011

• Holiday Inn Express
• Value Place 1
• Value Place 2
• Motel 6
• Best Western
• Hampton Inn
• Mainstay Suites

Williston launches new marketing campaign: "Build, Baby, Build."

Williston Economic Development is asking that developers, builders, investors, and families in Williston build and invest for the long-term future of Williston. 

Trappers Kettle bought by After Midnight Group Company.

• Cowboy Jacks to occupy former Trappers Kettle north of Williston
• Parent company headquartered in Minnesota

Three Amigos Restaurant opens -- I may have posted this earlier; link to Williston Herald

The owners of the new restaurant 3 Amigos Southwest Grill, scheduled to open 5 a.m. Wednesday on the corner of Main and 11th streets, are planning to let their customers set the hours, according to Aaron Parker, co-owner with Cam Holt. This idea is the result of their research into Williston’s restaurant options. Parker said many places aren’t open long enough to adequately serve customers.

“The later people come in at night, the later we’ll stay open. If people are coming in at 5 o’clock in the morning we’ll keep our hours at 5 o’clock in the morning. We didn’t establish hours. We want our customers to set the hours for us,” Parker said.

Tioga prepares for busy construction period

• Power Fuels to build four 4-unit apartment complexes
• Neset's planned office and shop complex along ND 40, north of town, was approved
  
• Annabel Homes was given approval for up to 30 campers to be used for construction workers
  
• Original source hard to read -- errors and omissions likely

Sewer and water upgrades planned for Sidney, Montana, link to Sidney Herald  

As oil slowdown continues in Alaska, those workers moving to North Dakota; link to Alaska Journal of Commerce 

Alaska’s once-bustling oilfield fabrication shops are now empty, CH2M Hill’s among them. ASRC Energy, which also operates a fabrication shop in south Anchorage, reports a similar situation.

Last year the welders, pipe fabricators and electrical technicians were busy building things for the oil fields. Not this year.

NANA/Colt Engineering operates a facility in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and Flowline Inc. does fabrication as well as pipe-coating at its Fairbanks plant.

Everyone is in the same boat, Maloney said.

“I’ve never seen things so bad. Even in 1988, oil prices dropped to $10 a barrel but we were still busy. That’s because people were optimistic, and planning new projects. They knew the oil price would go back up,” Maloney said. “Now prices are almost $120 a barrel and we’ve got this pessimism. We’re losing our key workers to North Dakota where oil work is booming.”

Comment: example of how the administration's slow-rolling the oil and gas industry is hurting everyday folks.

Short article (no link) of Statoil leading a cleanup along Highway 2