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Kenmare maintains 20 years of economic stability...

In the past 20 years, Kenmare’s economy has had its ups and downs, but has maintained a stability of taxable sales and purchases, slowly increasing its value.

11/05/19 (Tue)

Going strong . . . An oilfield service rig owned by American Well Service of Kenmare, awaits maintenance at the MW Industries shop at Kenmare’s north side early in the morning of Oct. 8. Along with the agriculture sector, the oil industry remains an important contributor to the local economy.

By Marvin Baker

In the past 20 years, Kenmare’s economy has had its ups and downs, but has maintained a stability of taxable sales and purchases, slowly increasing its value.

According to the North Dakota State Tax Department, Kenmare’s taxable sales and purchases peaked in 2014 at $36.7 million, which was up $1 million from 2013.

The economy first hit $30 million in 2010, when it reached $31 million. In 2011, it was bumped up to $34.5 million, then to $36.2 million in 2012.

It’s clear the oil boom had a lot to do with those figures, according to tax commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger.

By 2015, the taxable sales and purchases had tapered off considerably to $27.2 million, just as oil was beginning to taper.

Figures aren’t yet available for 2019, however, 2018 statistics reveal an economy of $26.5 million, which was up 26 percent over 2017.

That number could be slightly skewed, however, as the local economy tries to play catch up with the oil boom years.

In 2017, taxable sales and purchases were $26.3 million and in 2016, the number had dropped to its lowest point since 2007 at $21.2 million.

Going back 20 years to 1999, taxable sales and purchases totaled $13.2 million, which was the second  lowest number in the past 20 years.

Kenmare hit bottom in 2003, when only $11.5 million was spent.

In 2009, as the oil industry was ramping up in the northwest, spending in Kenmare hit $28.6 million, a huge increase from 2007 when it was $19.2 million.

In 2014, ‘15 and ‘16, the tally continued to drop, annually and in each quarter until the first quarter of 2017 when it was up a modest 1 percent.

The third quarter of 2017 was the only three-month period that year when taxable sales and purchases tapered off and what followed was four consecutive quarters of growth.

In fact, in the third quarter of 2018, taxable sales and purchases jumped a whopping 97 percent in Kenmare, which easily made up for a 6 percent loss in the third quarter of last year.

The largest decrease came in the third quarter of 2017 when the economy tanked by 39 percent. And even though $26.3 million was spent in 2017, it represented a 1 percent decrease from the previous year.

In the fourth quarter of last year, there was a 6 percent decrease, however, it rose 19 percent again in the first quarter of 2019. There was, however, a drop in the second quarter from the previous year. See related article for details... Read EVERY WORD on EVERY PAGE of The Kenmare News by subscribing--online or in print!