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Committee backs $5 million matching request to expand Great Plains Food Bank distribution capacity
Summary
House Bill 11 43 received a due-pass recommendation and was referred to Appropriations. The bill seeks a state appropriation to support construction of a larger statewide food-distribution facility for the Great Plains Food Bank; the bank and local partners described growing need and a capital plan with private and federal funding components.
Representative Brandy Pyle introduced House Bill 11 43, describing the request as an infrastructure appropriation to support food distribution across North Dakota. "This bill represents an infrastructure bill that will serve as the backbone to every county to our state," Pyle told the Senate Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee.
Doug Goring, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner, testified in support and described prior Department of Agriculture food‑purchase and distribution programs that reached hundreds of pantries and tens of thousands of individuals. "We've seen this program benefit well over a 45,000 individuals in the state of North Dakota," Goring said.
Melissa Sobelik, chief executive officer of the Great Plains Food Bank, told the committee the food bank serves every county in the state and has reached capacity in its current facility. She said the current Fargo warehouse is 45,000 square feet on about 3.1 acres and has structural and code issues; the food bank’s board concluded expansion on the current site was not feasible. "We learned that we are built on the original Fargo landfill" and that extensive site work would be required to remain there, Sobelik said. She described a proposed new 70,000‑square‑foot facility designed to last decades and to increase pallet capacity, loading docks and volunteer space.
Sobelik provided fundraising and budget details: she said the full project cost is approximately $30,500,000; the Great Plains Food Bank purchased a nine‑acre site with a $2,000,000 CDBG‑CV grant and $900,000 in reserves; the organization has raised about $1,200,000 to date and plans to sell the current facility for roughly $2,500,000. She said the board expects new markets tax credits could provide about $4,500,000. House Bill 11 43 requests a state appropriation (testimony cited $5,000,000) with a dollar‑for‑dollar private match.
Testimony from food‑pantry and community partners emphasized rising need: Sobelik said the bank distributed nearly 16,000,000 pounds of food in 2024 and that 156,479 people received food assistance in 2023. Shirley Kilzer of the Amen Food Pantry in Dickinson described mobile pop‑ups that served 500 people in two hours and the pantry’s quarterly mobile distribution; Jim Barnhart of Dream Center Bismarck said his organization received over 1,000,000 pounds of product from the food bank last year.
Business partners and volunteers also testified in favor, describing volunteer capacity and community benefits. Amy Mazigian of Gate City Bank told the committee her bank contributes volunteers and that the proposed facility would more than double volunteer capacity to 100 people at a time and expand repack capabilities.
Senators voted to give House Bill 11 43 a due‑pass recommendation and to re‑refer it to the Appropriations Committee. The clerk recorded affirmative votes from the committee.
