Bill could help retain, recruit federal employees to North Dakota, Canadian border

WASHINGTON -- Nearly one in six jobs at North Dakota ports of entry are vacant, and the state’s junior senator hopes a new federal bill helps hire and retain workers along the Canadian border and in the Oil Patch.

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said she introduced the Flexible Hire Act on Wednesday with the intent that it would use federal resources to find “the effective, vibrant workforce needed to support local communities and businesses across the nation, particularly in areas where remoteness or unique economic circumstances create hiring challenges.”

Specifically, Heitkamp points to workforce shortages in the Bakken and Northern Border as issues impacting North Dakota.

“It’s a problem for all of us when Customs and Border Protection can’t recruit agents to patrol our Northern Border and when there aren’t folks to permit wells in the Bakken,” she said in a news release. “The growth in the Bakken is not the last time the federal workforce will respond to such a unique situation, and the remoteness of many rural communities isn’t going away. It’s critical that, as a nation, we prepare for the next time these challenges come up so federal workers are in place to support business and families.”

Read more: http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/news/north-dakota/4074290-bill-could-help-retain-recruit-federal-employees-north-dakota-canadian

[font color=330099]Aren't there other novel solutions to the problem--like building a wall?[/font]