Ryan Lambert wants to reap the benefits of the
booming Bakken oil region of western North Dakota — but he doesn’t want
to live there.
“Do my time and get out, that’s about how I play it,” Lambert said,
standing in the kitchen of his Spearfish home on one of his two-week
breaks last month.
Lambert is one of a growing number of oil-field workers who make
their living in the Bakken but live in the scenic Black Hills, one of
the closest population centers to the oil patch that’s benefiting —
directly and indirectly — from the highly lucrative boom.
Real estate agents say there’s a housing shortage in the region as
workers and retirees buy up homes. Local officials say commercial and
residential projects are on the rise. And businesses looking to cater to
oil-patch companies are setting up shop in Spearfish and Belle Fourche,
hoping to get the business without the headaches.
“You hate to … make your star brighter by making the other guy’s
black, but in some sense, the disadvantages of the boom there have
(contributed) to the opportunities down here,” said Doug Cole, who
started Black Hills Fiberglass more than two years ago in Belle Fourche.
Cole, a retired legislator and construction worker, said it was a
smart business decision to base his company that makes 400-gallon
fiberglass oil and water tanks out of the Black Hills, which is about
300 miles from key oil cities in the region, namely Williston.
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