Grand Forks looks to woo Oil Patch companies

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GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — A city committee in the eastern North Dakota city of Grand Forks has approved a plan to woo businesses in the western North Dakota Oil Patch.

The City Council is expected to vote Monday on the proposal to spend $75,000 in city sales tax dollars. The city's Bakken Initiative also calls for another $50,000 to be raised from private and other sources for the public relations campaign to convince oil companies to set up shop in Grand Forks.

City Council President Hal Gershman says Grand Forks isn't trying to get companies to relocate but to expand. He says civic leaders in the western cities of Dickinson and Williston are on board with the plan.

Gershman says dozens of Grand Forks businesses already are doing business in the oil patch.

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