Gov. Kelly Armstrong, left, speaks next to Workforce Development Commissioner Katie Ralston Howe during the 2026 Governor’s Workforce Summit at Bismarck State College on Sept. 23, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO) – Gov. Kelly Armstrong announced Wednesday the creation of the Department of Workforce Development to streamline workforce programs under one roof.
The department will combine staff and resources from the Department of Commerce’s Workforce Development Division and Job Service North Dakota; the Department of Public Instruction’s adult education program; and the Department of Health and Human Service’s vocational rehabilitation program and Office of Refugee Resettlement.
“One of the things we recognize is we need to better align the systems that North Dakota already has,” Armstrong said during the Governor’s Workforce Summit at Bismarck State College. “I think right now, anybody who is honest about it knows it’s too fragmented.”
The workforce environment is rapidly changing, he said, and the new department will be able to operate with the “speed and urgency” necessary to keep up with those changes.
The first commissioner of the new department will be Katie Ralston Howe, who serves as deputy commissioner of the Department of Commerce and director of the department’s workforce development division.
“The work starts today, and we are working with these partners starting now to build a framework for this agency,” Ralston Howe said.
She added a recent workforce ecosystem study the agency conducted with stakeholders last year led to the discussions that formed the new department.
“What we heard from that is that the system would benefit from a unified strategy and a single entry point,” Ralston Howe said.
Armstrong said he plans to ask state lawmakers to formalize the agency during the 2027 legislative session.
“The people that are looking for work in those legislators’ communities are going to like this,” he said. “We can do some of this without the Legislature, but we really are going to need their help to get it set up the way where it will work the best.”
The combined agency is expected to operate with about 300 total staff members. Armstrong said he doesn’t anticipate any new hiring because staff are going to be moving from positions within other state agencies.
North Dakota’s unemployment rate reached 2.2% in August, second lowest in the nation behind South Dakota’s 2% rate, according to a preliminary report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The preliminary unemployment rate for August in the United States was 4.1%.
Armstrong said consolidating workforce programs under one agency will create a “front door” for all of the state’s workforce initiatives.
“If you are really busy, you don’t have time to negotiate seven different drop down tabs on nine different websites, trying to figure out how all of that works,” he said.
The state launched a new website called the North Dakota Workforce Information Network for job seekers, employers and other partners in support of the state agency.
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