$400 million gas plant plans announced  ONEOK has recently announced plans for another natural gas processing facility in McKenzie County. The Demicks Lake natural gas processing plant once completed in late 2019 will increase ONEOK's processing capacity in the Williston Basin to more than 1.2 billion cubic feet per day. The plant and its related field infrastructure is estimated to cost $400 million. This is part of a larger $2.3 billion national infrastructure build out plan by ONEOK. See more in this news release.

Watford City's Jessie Veeder featured on Lifetime project American media network Lifetime recently did a project called HerAmerica where they featured a woman from each of the 50 United States. For North Dakota they highlighted Watford City's Jessie Veeder! Find the essay here.

New travel plaza to open next week Last minute preparations are being made for the opening of the Corner Post Travel Plaza for Monday, March 19. It will include The Corner Kitchen quick serve restaurant, Pizza Pie on the Fly Express, and all the other amenities of a modern travel plaza. They are located on the east side of Watford City at 3408 4th Ave NE.

School district looking for 20 additional teachers As McKenzie County Public School District #1 transitions to Class A for the 2018/2019 school year, they are looking to hire an additional 20 teachers. Base pay is $46,350 with no teaching experience, and there is flexibility to include up to 20 years experience in salary schedule. For more information see flyer.

Cornerstone Bank promotes Monsen to market president Vicki Monsen is now the Watford City Market President for Cornerstone Bank. Originally from Watford City, Monsen joined the bank while still in high school through a vocational program with the Watford City High School. She returned to the bank as a full time employee in January 1989 and has served in various roles. She has been recognized as an Outstanding Woman in Banking by NorthWestern Financial Review and Prairie Business Magazine. See full release from Cornerstone Bank.

March Economy at a Glance released A couple highlights from this month's Economy at a Glance: City Sales Tax Distribution for Watford City is $234,191 higher in February 2018 than it was in February 2017. Restaurant/Lodging Tax Distribution for Watford City year to date is about $6,000 higher for 2018 than 2017.

Local startup provides efficiency solution to oilfield Automation.com Magnus Services LLC, an oilfield startup out of Watford City has recently released an oilfield water management solution known as H2Know. H2Know helps monitor and control the supply of water to fracking operations. “We needed a way to remotely control the water supply and monitor water usage, pumps, storage tank levels and overall operational efficiencies of our mobile units that are relocated from site-to-site and customer-to-customer,” said JR Ewing, CEO of Magnus Se rvices, “…[H2Know] has allowed us to begin doing just that.” Before this innovation, two to four additional employees were required to be onsite to physically monitor tank levels, turn pumps on and off, open and close valves, and notify trucking companies when trucks with water were needed. Read more in this article from automation.com

BT EDITORIAL: "Bakken seems to be in steady growth cycle" The Bismarck Tribune recently published an editorial where they see the Bakken in a steady growth cycle. It cites the slow but steady rebound in oil production, and large infrastructure investments in gas processing plants and pipelines. Read full editorial here.

Chamber/EDC annual meeting The Watford City Area Chamber of Commerce and the Watford City Economic Development Corporation will be holding their joint annual meeting starting at 5:30 on April 13 at the 360 Main building in Watford City. It provides an evening of networking, food, drinks and entertainment that generally attracts a couple hundred people. This year entertainment will be provided by Dueling Pianos. More information and tickets can be found here.

New Nail Salon Stella Nails & Spa is now open for business in the SouthPark Commercial Development next to Red Wing Shoe store (same complex as Cashwise). It is located at 113 6th Ave SE Ste 5600, Watford City ND and can be reached at 701-444-3000.

Upcoming drone workshop Vision West ND is hosting a one-day workshop addressing drone uses in the agronomy, energy, utilities, and local government fields. It will also cover entrepreneurial ideas, policies and security issues. This workshop will be held at the Mountrail County’s South Complex on April 3 from 8:30am-4:00pm CST. For more information or to register contact lydia@dlnconsulting.com

Employer registration now open for job fair The Job Service North Dakota Multi-Industry Job Fair will be held at the Rough Rider Center on April 26, 2018 from 11am-3pm. For more information: employer registration list of companies already registered

Life Light Festival to come to Rough Rider Center Sponsored by local churches and other organizations the Life Light Festival is coming to the Rough Rider Center. It will feature motocross, skateboard, BMX, concerts, inflatables and more all on April 28 from 2-10pm. Tickets are $5 in advance or $10 at the door.

Registration open for oil conference Expo booth registrations are beginning to fill up for the The Bakken Conference & Expo to be held July 16-18, 2018 at Watford City's Rough Rider Center. Participant registration is free for those who are operating producers, or from active drilling or completion companies.

Check out the upcoming events listed on our community calendar like the Silk Painting classes on March 15 and March 29.

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