Re-inventing Watford City

Watford City, N.D, invested a lot of time and money to reinvent itself in the mid-1990s. The old oil and ranching community tried a path that many rural communities are turning to these days- technology.

Gene Veeder had returned to Watford City in the mid-1990s and became the job-development authority for McKenzie County, where the local economy had fallen on pretty hard times. He didn’t know a “T1 line from a T-bone steak” but decided to get informed after hearing a telemarketing company that was considering relocating to the area talk about this new-fangled technology. The community and school district worked together to set up T1 internet service to local government offices at a fraction of the typical costs. This expanded into service for residents as well. By the time the state economic-development officials came to Watford City to promote their own rural internet strategy they found that this little town of 1,400 people, 3 hours from the nearest city of 50,000 or more, was already gigabytes ahead! Watford City resisted the rural stereotypes and become one of the most wired small towns in America.