Pembina County Job Development Authority

10/06/2026

Congratulations Pembina County Memorial Hospital for being named a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital!

Congratulations to the North Dakota hospitals named to a Top 20 CAHs list for 2026!

Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals list:
CHI Mercy Health Valley City
CHI St. Alexius Health Carrington
Pembina County Memorial Hospital
South Central Health

Best Practice Recipient – Quality
Towner County Medical Center

Read more: https://ruralhealth.und.edu/news/1094

10/05/2026

A high-quality workplace training is coming to Grafton - something employers in our rural region don’t often get so close to home.

Join TrainND Northeast for Creating a Positive Work Environment on Tuesday, October 27, from 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. at the Grafton Armory Gymnasium.

This interactive session will give employers, supervisors, and team members practical tools to strengthen communication, teamwork, relationships, and workplace culture - helping create an environment where employees want to do their best work.

Early-bird registration is $119 through October 9; regular registration is $149.
Register today to save your spot - https://dthr.short.gy/PositiveNEND

10/02/2026

🛒🥬🥒🍅 A grocery store is more than a place to shop - it is essential infrastructure for rural communities.

Pembina’s D & K Grocery is helping strengthen local food access, support residents, and keep an important service close to home. Read how the Hagers are making a meaningful difference in the community with the assistance of North Dakota Dept. of Commerce's Rural Grocery Sustainability Grant program.

Located in the northeastern-most corner of North Dakota, the Pembina grocery store has long served as more than a place to pick up essentials. For owners Kevin and Deanna Hager, D & K Grocery is a community lifeline—one they have operated for more than 20 years.

09/25/2026

Employers in Pembina County are hiring! Visit the Real. Good. Northeast ND Job Board to find out more - https://jobs.realgoodnd.com/jobs

Enduraplas Woodside Industries

Big opportunities are waiting in Northeast North Dakota!
With 200+ openings, great pay, and a rural lifestyle people love, now is the time to make your move. Visit jobs.realgoodnd.com.

Nelson County Job Development Authority Pembina County Job Development Authority Walsh County, ND - JDA

09/24/2026

Yesterday, I attended the Governor’s Workforce Summit in Bismarck - an important reminder that workforce development and economic development must move forward together.

North Dakota is taking meaningful steps to strengthen its talent pipeline, including a new Department of Workforce Development, a statewide Apprenticeship Office, and the launch of NDWIN.gov, a one-stop resource for job seekers, employers, and workforce partners.

A few takeaways that stand out for our county:

📈 North Dakota’s unemployment rate is just 2.2%, while labor-force participation is 69.6%—the highest in the nation.

👥 The challenge is not that people do not want to work; it is that nearly everyone who can work already is.

🎒 Our future workforce is in today’s classrooms, making career exposure, work-based learning, apprenticeships, and strong employer-school partnerships more important than ever.

🎓 Growing our county means continuing to support businesses, attract new residents, connect employers with talent, and create clear pathways for young people to build careers here.

Strong businesses need workers, and strong communities need quality career opportunities that encourage people and families to stay, return, or make our Pembina County home.

One quote from the day captured it well: “Economic development and workforce development are the same thing; they need to be lock-step.”

Pembina County already has a strong foundation to build on. In recent years, we have added the North Valley Career & Technology Center continued efforts like Manufacturing Day and launched Real. Good. Northeast ND - a regional talent attraction campaign.

These investments give us a valuable head start on retaining local talent, recruiting new workers and families and helping employers grow. As the state works to streamline workforce resources and expand opportunities, it is up to us to keep building on that momentum!

Now it's back to work - finding new ways to help Pembina County grow!

09/18/2026

Hello, Pembina County!

With a week and a half under my belt as the new Executive Director of the Pembina County JDA, it is time to introduce myself.

I’m Kristi (Hardy) Kasprick. While I am new to the JDA, Pembina County has always felt like home. I grew up in South Walhalla - on our family farm just 1¼ miles from the county line (in the Cavalier County), graduated from Walhalla and Mayville State, and then spent 25+ years in Fargo and West Fargo.

Even while living in the city, rural life kept pulling at me. My early work with Hospice of the Red River Valley connected me with rural communities throughout North Dakota and Minnesota, and I later spent 17 years in real estate marketing, technology, and business ownership. During the COVID years, my husband and I found ourselves spending more and more time "up north". What started as weekend escapes to a camper just below the Hank's Corner hill eventually led us to open an Airbnb in Walhalla —and we quickly learned that others love this area as much as we do.

Two and a half years ago, an opportunity with Real. Good. Northeast North Dakota brought me back to the region through the Red River Regional Council in Grafton. My work focused on promoting workforce and quality-of-life opportunities across Nelson, Pembina, and Walsh counties. More recently, I supported Rural Health Transformation Program grant opportunities for communities and providers throughout the region.

When the PCJDA position became available, it took about five minutes to decide to apply. The opportunity to help shape the place that raised me - and reconnect with so many people I have known my whole life — felt like the right next step. There is nothing quite like one of your first days at the office and having your first-grade teacher, Mrs. Paton, walk down the hall to give you a hug! She is pictured here volunteering on the Pembina County Backpack Project, helping make sure kids across the county have food for the weekend. ❤️

My first priority is to listen: meeting with businesses, communities, partners, and local leaders across the county to better understand needs and identify opportunities. PCJDA is here to help connect people with resources, funding tools, partners, and practical next steps that support business development, workforce initiatives, community projects, and quality of life.

If you have a business idea, an expansion in mind, a community project, a grant question, or simply want to connect, please reach out. I am excited to be here, ready to listen, and looking forward to helping move Pembina County projects from “we should” to “it’s happening!”

09/17/2026

📢GRANT OPPORTUNITY: Choice Bank is accepting applications for its Child Care Grant. To learn more about eligibility and the application process: https://bankwithchoice.com/childcaregrant/

👉REMINDER: Pembina County JDA can help prepare or assist with grant applications

05/04/2026

Exciting stuff happening in Cavalier! Cavalier Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Bd3DTMyyq/