What changed • Who it affects • Why it matters
Statewide Business Pulse
▲ Moving: North Dakota’s special session moved four business-relevant bills through committee yesterday. The regulated-kratom bill and the bill scheduling certain concentrated/synthetic kratom derivatives received do-pass recommendations, while the proposed restriction on government NDAs involving data centers and industrial projects received a do-not-pass recommendation. The property-tax calculation bill advanced without a recommendation. Floor sessions begin at 8:30 this morning.
▬ Stable: No new broad North Dakota tax, credit or utility-rate change surfaced in this morning’s scan that clears the relevance threshold for inclusion.
▼ Down / Under Pressure: National private-sector hiring slowed considerably in August. Employers added just 38,000 jobs, while manufacturing lost 17,000 and professional/business services lost 16,000. Construction, however, added 12,000. The numbers don’t establish the direction of North Dakota hiring by themselves, but they add evidence that employers should not assume every industry is moving together.
Watch: Skilled electrical labor is becoming something worth watching around eastern North Dakota’s large projects. Current IBEW Local 1426 listings include open calls for data-center electricians in Harwood and lineworkers around Fargo and Grand Forks, including a long-running call for 29 journeyman wiremen at the Polaris Forge data-center project.
Today’s Signals
1. Special Session: Yesterday changed the odds—but none of these bills is law yet
What changed
North Dakota lawmakers convened Wednesday and referred the special-session bills to joint committees. Four measures we’ve been following because of their business implications received substantially different treatment.
HB 1628 — regulated legal kratom market
The Joint Policy Committee amended HB 1628 and recommended passage 8-1-1.
The bill would replace the current prohibition with a regulated system for qualifying kratom products, including age restrictions, product and labeling requirements and state licensing of processors and retailers.
This is the proposal containing the significant $10,000 initial license fee for each business location.
The amendment will be before the House as the bill moves forward.
SB 2408 — concentrated and synthetic kratom derivatives
The committee also amended SB 2408 and gave it a unanimous 8-0 do-pass recommendation.
This is the companion issue businesses need to distinguish from HB 1628: it addresses specified kratom alkaloids and derivatives as Schedule I controlled substances rather than banning all ordinary botanical kratom.
SB 2406 — government NDAs and industrial projects
This one moved in the opposite direction.
After being amended, SB 2406 received a 6-2 do-not-pass recommendation.
The proposal would restrict state agencies and political subdivisions from entering nondisclosure agreements involving data centers and other industrial projects. Its broad definition of industrial projects made it potentially relevant to manufacturers, utilities, energy companies and other developers—not only data centers.
A do-not-pass recommendation doesn’t kill the bill. The full Senate can still vote differently.
SB 2405 — property-tax calculation
The committee reported SB 2405 back 8-0 without a recommendation.
The bill would change the calculation order so North Dakota’s 5% early-payment property-tax discount is applied before the primary residence credit.
Who it affects
Kratom retailers and processors; convenience and specialty retailers; homeowners who qualify for the primary-residence credit, including business owners and self-employed North Dakotans; data-center and industrial developers; manufacturers; utilities; economic-development organizations; and local governments.
Why it matters
Yesterday was primarily about positioning the legislation for today’s floor action, not producing final law.
That’s an important distinction for businesses following the session.
A strong committee recommendation tells us considerably more than an introduced bill does, but businesses should still wait for final House and Senate action—and the actual enrolled language—before treating these proposals as new compliance requirements.
NDBU will update the Special Report after the Legislature determines what survives.
Source links:
HB 1628 — current official status
SB 2405 — current official status
SB 2406 — current official status
SB 2408 — current official status
North Dakota Legislature — September 2026 Special Session
2. Workforce: The national labor market is cooling—but not evenly
What changed
Private U.S. employers added only 38,000 jobs in August, according to the ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday.
The industry breakdown is more useful to North Dakota businesses than the headline number.
Gaining jobs:
- Education and health services: +45,000
- Leisure and hospitality: +16,000
- Construction: +12,000
- Financial activities: +6,000
Losing jobs:
- Manufacturing: -17,000
- Professional and business services: -16,000
Economists had expected approximately 48,000 new private-sector jobs.
Who it affects
Employers considering hiring, expansion or wage changes—particularly manufacturers, contractors, professional-service firms and businesses competing for skilled workers.
Why it matters
A slowing national labor market doesn’t automatically mean North Dakota employers will suddenly find workers.
The industry split helps explain why.
Construction is still adding jobs nationally while manufacturing and professional services contracted. At the same time, North Dakota continues to have major construction and infrastructure projects competing for skilled trades.
One current North Dakota example is particularly telling.
IBEW Local 1426’s current job board lists multiple open electrical and lineworker calls in eastern North Dakota. That includes work at the Harwood data center and a standing call for 29 journeyman wiremen at the Polaris Forge Data Center. Other open calls cover transmission and utility work around Fargo and Grand Forks.
For employers, “the labor market is cooling” may therefore mean very different things depending on the worker you’re trying to hire.
Source links:
Reuters — August private payroll report
IBEW Local 1426 — current North Dakota job calls
3. Technology / Utilities: Cybersecurity risk is moving closer to physical infrastructure
What changed
A new Reuters review published this week examines how artificial intelligence is being used to increase the speed and sophistication of cyberattacks against electric and energy infrastructure.
The issue is particularly relevant to smaller and rural utilities because many operate with smaller cybersecurity staffs while managing increasingly connected equipment and older systems.
Utilities are simultaneously adding digital controls, remote monitoring and other connected technology to improve efficiency—which also creates additional points attackers can attempt to reach.
Who it affects
Electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, energy companies and businesses that depend on uninterrupted electricity and communications. It also matters to IT firms and cybersecurity providers serving rural North Dakota organizations.
Why it matters
For most small businesses, utility cybersecurity isn’t something they control.
Business continuity is.
North Dakota businesses already plan around weather-related outages. A prolonged technology-related interruption can create many of the same problems: lost internet access, disabled payment systems, refrigeration problems, production shutdowns and employees unable to work.
This is therefore less about asking a business owner to become a cybersecurity expert and more about asking a practical question:
If electricity or internet service disappeared for a day, what part of your business stops first?
Businesses that haven’t answered that question may want an offline payment procedure, accessible customer and vendor contacts, backup connectivity where practical, and a written process employees can use when normal systems aren’t available.
Source link:
Reuters — AI-enhanced cyberattacks and energy infrastructure
Risk / Opportunity
Risk: Businesses affected by the special-session bills shouldn’t act on introduced language—or even yesterday’s committee recommendations—as though they are final. Floor action begins today, and amendments can still materially change what businesses ultimately have to comply with.
Opportunity: The North Dakota electrical job calls provide a useful real-world signal beneath the broader workforce statistics. Major data-center, transmission and infrastructure work is already creating demand for skilled trades. That’s opportunity for workers and contractors, but it can also tighten the labor pool for smaller employers competing for those same people.