Applied Digital helps Ellendale, ND, with partnership for housing
Mar. 29—Editor's note: This story and accompanying photo are advertorial content in the 2025 "Moving the Community Forward" special section of The Jamestown Sun.
ELLENDALE, N.D. — Applied Digital Corp. is helping a rural community by partnering with the city of Ellendale, the state of North Dakota and Headwaters Development to build 20 homes and a 38-unit apartment complex.
"Since we're bringing in a large new workforce, we need a place to have rentals for a period of time," said Nick Phillips, executive vice president of external affairs for Applied Digital.
He said 18 of the 20 single-family homes for Ellendale Acres are nearing completion and the other two are constructed but not permanently anchored to a foundation. He said those 18 homes will be move-in ready any day.
He said work on the 38-unit apartment complex is expected to begin in June or July.
"The anticipation is that that will also be available this year as well," he said.
Applied Digital develops, builds and operates next-generation data centers and Cloud infrastructure. Applied Digital has blockchain sites that support cryptocurrency mining about 7 miles north of Jamestown and 1 mile west of Ellendale.
Phillips said the housing project leverages dollars from the North Dakota Industrial Commission's Rural-Workforce Initiative to Support Housing (R-WISH) pilot program.
The program utilizes up to $10 million of Bank of North Dakota capital to complement the work done by the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency and the North Dakota Housing Initiative Advisory Committee, according to Bank of North Dakota's website. The maximum amount from the R-WISH fund is the lesser of 30% of the project costs, $3.5 million or the matching contribution from the company.
"In our case, we committed to invest $3.5 million," Phillips said. "Bank of North Dakota will match that through the program. The city of Ellendale is doing a TIF (tax-increment financing) district, which will help with some of the infrastructure improvements, roads, etc. And then obviously we had to find a developer to come in and do this."
Applied Digital's data center was annexed into the city of Ellendale in January.
Headwaters Development will own the homes and apartment complex and rent them to Applied Digital employees.
Once those employees find a different living arrangement, those residences will be available for new employees, Phillips said.
He said Applied Digital is asking its employees to move to Ellendale and the city needs help in order to grow and accommodate that.
He said Applied Digital's partnership with the city of Ellendale and its businesses and the state of North Dakota is vital.
"Having good working relationships is vital," Phillips said.
He said Applied Digital's community involvement in Ellendale is important. He said Applied Digital partnered with businesses for a new $200,000 pin setter for the bowling alley, helped the Ellendale park board by bringing in truckloads of dirt for a park, provided movie nights for families and donated art kits to elementary students in Ellendale.
In Jamestown, Applied Digital has donated to the Two Rivers Activity Center for the outdoor pickleball courts and has participated in other fundraisers. The company also purchases memberships at TRAC for its employees. When Applied Digital officials are in Jamestown, they take employees to local restaurants. The company also donated to the University of Jamestown's sports programs after student-athletes helped unpack items for Applied Digital's facility.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A Homebuyer In Escrow On A $720K House Just Discovered The Insurance Is 'Astronomical.' Realtor Claimed Earlier That It Wouldn't Be An Issue
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. A homebuyer in California thought they were on their way to closing on a $720,000 property in a semi-rural area. But after entering escrow, they were hit with a surprise: the insurance quote was between $14,000 and $17,000 per year. The buyer, who shared their story on Reddit, said they had asked about insurance earlier in the process but were told not to worry. "My realtor claimed it wouldn't be an issue," the person wrote. "Lesson learned, it takes 10 minutes to run a few quotes on a house before putting an offer." Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Invest Where It Hurts — And Help Millions Heal: The two quotes they received were 'astronomical,' $14,000 annually with a $20,000 deductible, or $17,000 annually for a $2,500 deductible. The only option available was California's Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, which many homeowners in high-risk zones are forced to rely on due to the lack of private carriers. California homeowners and industry pros in the thread pointed to the growing wildfire risk, regulatory delays, and insurance companies pulling out of the state as major reasons for rising premiums. 'Semi-rural California = fire country,' one person wrote. Another said, 'Farmers [Insurance] here for 32 years without a single claim. Cancelled.' An insurance adjuster chimed in: 'This is the exact problem. Florida has the same problem in reverse where everyone accounts for the risk of storms. But because everyone just litigates and sues for any and everything it's not worth the risk.' Others criticized California regulators for blocking or delaying the use of catastrophe models that would allow insurers to price risks more accurately. "The risk is now too great to insure," one commenter wrote. Trending: This Jeff Bezos-backed startup will allow you to . Commenters were also critical of the role of real estate agents. "Stop trusting your realtor," one person said. "Their ultimate goal is to get paid fast and move on." Another warned, "Don't use your realtor's broker. The last two houses I bought, different realtors convinced me to call their engineer, their inspector, their engineer... all those people gave the realtor kickbacks and none had my interest in mind." One California broker advised buyers to exercise the insurance contingency clause in contracts. Others added that in many cases, simply being more than five miles from a fire station or not having a hydrant nearby can result in astronomical premiums or outright denial. The FAIR Plan also doesn't offer comprehensive coverage. "OP doesn't even realize that [it] is only partially insuring him or her. They will need additional policies to cover the gaps," one user wrote. Another said their friend had to abandon a home purchase in California once she realized she couldn't afford the insurance: "After 2 years of making offers, a friend finally got an offer accepted. She had to back out of the deal when she realized she would not be able to afford insurance."For many, this is now a core part of the buying process. One Redditor said, "Literally, every time we were looking at touring a house, I'd email the address to my insurance agent for a quick quote." Other states like Florida, Louisiana, and Colorado are facing similar problems. Some say they were quoted $9,000 to $15,000 annually for homes with minor risk factors. Buyers across the country are now urging others to do their own due diligence. That means getting insurance quotes early, asking sellers who they use, and avoiding agents who downplay the risk. . With over $1 million in dividends paid out last quarter and a growing selection of properties across various markets, Arrived offers an attractive alternative for investors seeking to build a diversified real estate portfolio. In October 2024, Arrived sold The Centennial, achieving a total return of 34.7% (11.2% average annual returns) for investors. Arrived aims to continue delivering similar value across our portfolio through careful market selection, attentive property management, and thoughtful timing in sales. Looking for fractional real estate investment opportunities? The features the latest article A Homebuyer In Escrow On A $720K House Just Discovered The Insurance Is 'Astronomical.' Realtor Claimed Earlier That It Wouldn't Be An Issue originally appeared on Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Is Amazon Paying $4 Billion to Break Up With UPS?
Amazon is planning to spend up to $4 billion to enhance its ability to deliver in rural areas. The e-commerce giant has forged a partnership with FedEx on the delivery front. United Parcel Service is dramatically reducing its relationship with Amazon. 10 stocks we like better than Amazon › Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is an online retail powerhouse, selling and delivering its own products and acting as a middleman for other retailers. The company's delivery trucks are ubiquitous in some areas of the country. But it has even bigger aspirations when it comes to getting products to customers. So why did United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) decide to stop handling as many Amazon deliveries? As with any good breakup drama, the story between Amazon and UPS, as United Parcel Service is called for short, is hard to call. UPS says that the Amazon business it was doing was high volume, but low margin. That meant that it didn't add enough to the bottom line to make it worth the top-line benefit. UPS says it plans to step away from half of the business it does with Amazon over the next couple of years. That effort is in keeping with UPS' goal of improving the quality of its business. But management highlighted that it will still work with Amazon on some things. Notably, Amazon is increasingly good at delivering its own wares, but it doesn't have a strong handle on returns. With a large retail store network, UPS can still provide return services to Amazon at an attractive return for UPS shareholders. So the relationship isn't dead -- it's just different. Or, you could say, they will still be friends. UPS' decision to put limits on its relationship with Amazon is a problem for Amazon. While it is true that Amazon has been growing its distribution capabilities, it now has to step up more quickly than it might have planned. To that end, Amazon recently announced that it was making a capital investment of up to $4 billion to enhance its ability to make rural deliveries. And it inked a deal with UPS' peer FedEx (NYSE: FDX), where that carrier will handle larger packages for Amazon. The market saw all of this as a win for FedEx and a loss for UPS. For Amazon, it wasn't too big a deal, noting that the stock is widely adored on Wall Street right now. While Amazon's stock is about 15% below its all-time high, its price-to-sales and price-to-earnings ratios are both above their five-year averages. And they are both fairly lofty on an absolute basis, as well. Still, it looks a little like Amazon is scrambling to take on the distribution services that UPS is willingly giving up. So what about UPS? The company's stock has lost more than half of its value since hitting a peak in 2022. In fact, it made the Amazon announcement just as it appeared it was getting its business back on track following a period of weakness that led to a corporate overhaul. Indeed, revenue had started to grow and margins appeared to have stabilized. Moving away from low-value Amazon business was a preemptive move made at a time when UPS had shifted from business weakness to business strength. In other words, UPS is being proactive because it sees the writing on the wall. Its Amazon business was going to keep shrinking anyway, so why not get ahead of it? The costs Amazon is incurring to make up for the loss of UPS as a delivery service is a sign that this was a big deal. But it will be a bigger deal for Amazon than UPS, since UPS was clear that the business wasn't very profitable. In fact, UPS could end up the big winner if the ability to slim down allows it to further improve its margins, even if the top line of its income statement shrinks along the way. Wall Street loves Amazon, and perhaps for good reason. But the stock is trading with a premium price tag. UPS, which could actually end up being the big winner in its breakup with Amazon, is deeply unloved. Notably, its price-to-sales and price-to-earnings ratios are well below their five-year averages. The stock's dividend yield, meanwhile, is historically high at around 6.7%. There's no question that UPS has extended the length of its turnaround by breaking up with Amazon. But the near-term pain could be exactly what it needs to rise up again. Contrarian investors, dividend investors, and value investors should all be doing a deep dive into UPS today with the idea of adding this unloved delivery service to their portfolios. Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Amazon wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $668,538!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $869,841!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 789% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and FedEx. The Motley Fool recommends United Parcel Service. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is Amazon Paying $4 Billion to Break Up With UPS? was originally published by The Motley Fool
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
Summer kicks off with a new corporate perk aimed to ease employees' stress
Summer kicks off with a new corporate perk aimed to ease employees' stress Companies looking to ease employees' stress over the summer are offering a new perk -- discounted summer camp and childcare. Show Caption Hide Caption More men are becoming family caregivers Men face a unique set of challenges when it comes to stepping into the role of a caregiver. Kids might be excited about the end of the school year and for summer to begin, but many working parents who don't know how to fill their kids' long summer days may be feeling some dread right about now. AT&T is trying to change that. The third largest U.S. wireless carrier is launching an onsite summer camp at its Dallas, Texas, headquarters in June to give its employees more convenient options for reliable childcare during the school break. Childcare outranked any other perk including mental health support, paid maternity/paternity leave and tuition reimbursements as a benefit employers aimed to offer their workers last year, according to a survey of corporate-suite and human resource leaders. One in 5 employees said they had left a job because their employer didn't provide family care benefits, and a lack of childcare benefits topped the list of reasons they sought another job. 'The summer camp was in response to specific asks and pain points our employees had,' said Matt Phillips, AT&T assistant vice president of benefits. But childcare isn't the only caregiving people ask for nowadays, he said. People want help caring for every important person, or sometimes pet, in their lives, he said. What's different about summer? 'When planning vacations and summer activities, there may be days sporadically that fall throughout the summer when people need some childcare,' Phillips said. To help ease worries of what to do with kids on those days, AT&T employees can register their children ages 4-12 for the 10-week onsite camp that runs weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Families have the flexibility to book one or multiple days whenever they'd like throughout the summer. There's no weekly sessions or commitments required. If employees use their backup care benefits, a day of camp would cost $15 for one child or $25 for two or more children. AT&T backup care allow workers up to 10 days of subsidized childcare if their primary care option is unavailable, and they can't take time off. They can choose center care for $15 per day or in-home care with a Bright Horizons caregiver for $4 an hour. Bright Horizons runs childcare centers and early education services nationwide. Additional days of summer camp can be bought at a discounted rate. Tell us: The caregiving crisis is real. USA TODAY wants to hear from you about how to solve it. What are other types of caregiving? Caregiving has typically meant childcare, but the COVID-19 pandemic, an aging population and rising costs have expanded the definition to include siblings, parents, grandparents and even pets. Gen Z through Gen X and even some of the youngest members of the Baby Boomers who expect to retire soon are demanding personalized benefits beyond retirement funds, salary and vacation days. Job seekers, even those fresh out of school, now have a 'holistic outlook,' said Blayre Riley, 22. 'We're not just looking at salary.' Riley doesn't have kids, but she has a 6-year-old kid brother. Her job benefits allow her to use so-called caregiver days, which are paid hours she can use to take care of a sick friend, relative or other loved one or take them to appointments, for example. With these benefits, if her little brother 'has a class party, I can go in the morning and come back to work in the afternoon, and it doesn't feel like a burden to my team,' Riley said. 'Or if he has a day off school and my parents work, I can spend time with him.' 'My dad always talks about when I was younger, his job didn't have this flexibility and when my mom was sick, he couldn't take her to doctor's appointments,' she added. 'Now, my job has it, and it can exist for everyone.' Education help: College applications are stressful. Here's how more companies are helping. New perks: Some workers are job hopping for fertility benefits. Employers are trying to keep up. What's at stake? The lack of available childcare alone costs the economy $122 billion every year, according to a 2023 study from the bipartisan Council for a Strong America. Yet, just 12% of all U.S. workers have access to childcare benefits through their employer, and only 6% of those who work part-time or in the lowest income quartile do, according to a Boston Consulting Group study published last year. Family caregivers ages 50 and older who leave the workforce to care for a parent lost $303,880, on average, in income and benefits over a caregiver's lifetime, according to a 2016 Families Caring for an Aging America study. The breakdown was as follows: $115,900 in lost wages, $137,980 in lost Social Security benefits, and conservatively $50,000 in lost pension benefits. Still, only 13% of companies offer eldercare referral services, and just 1% of companies offer employees subsidies for eldercare, according to SHRM's 2024 Employee Benefits Survey. Lack of support leads to caregiver burnout. Half of caregivers said caregiving increased their level of emotional stress, while 37% said it impacted their physical feelings of stress according to a 2023 AARP survey. What can companies do? Companies 'must address new needs, particularly around things like caregiving benefits, absence and leave benefits, and wellness benefits in all forms, as well as personalizing/customizing benefits to keep their workers happy,' said Bryan Hodgens, head of research at Life Insurance Management Research Association, or LIMRA, in a report. Comprehensive caregiving benefits like flexible work arrangements, paid leave, financial support, and access to education, consultations, resources, and digital caregiving platforms can improve workers' wellbeing and boost businesses. BCG found that childcare benefits alone deliver returns of up to 425% of their cost for companies across the U.S. Aside from caregiving, it's imperative companies also offer employees opportunities for self-care. Healthier habits help keep healthcare costs down for both employees and employers. AT&T, for example, offers a Wellbeing Choice Account to reward employees for healthy habits. Employees and their partners or spouses can each earn up to $750 annually for completing wellness activities like getting their annual physical. They can then use that money to go towards fitness classes, an exercise bike, student loan repayment, massages and facials, and healthy meal kits. 'It's like free money because you're getting paid to do things you should be doing anyway,' said Ryan Stafford, an AT&T employee who used his rewards to buy a nicer bike than he would have been able to afford. 'l had no guilt spending a little more,' he said. Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@ and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
