KX NEWS

Inflation is impacting North Dakota — so how are small businesses faring?

Inflation and supply chain issues are still hitting the economy hard, and North Dakota is no exception.

“Just getting products in or maybe like a pump or a foundation bottle,” said Desirae Earl, owner of Desirae’s Makeup and Beauty Lounge, who added it can be hard to get supplies in right now due to supply the chain issues.

Now, inflation is affecting her business.

“Every year we might see a dollar or two raise, but honestly, I don’t feel like it’s been that much different this year than it has been in typical past years,” Earl said.

While Earl says inflation hasn’t affected the costs in her business very much, Brian Ritter, the president and CEO of Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC, says the costs of goods and services have definitely gone up.

“Inflation for economies like Bismarck-Mandan is traditionally not a very good thing because that means the average citizens across Bismarck and Mandan, they might be making more money, but their buying power actually decreases the cost of whatever they’re going to buy has increased faster than their wage,” explained Ritter.

It’s not just a few people being affected by this issue either.

“Inflation impacts everyone differently, but it still impacts everyone across the economy. What I mean by that is a small business is impacted by inflation differently than a big business is. A consumer is impacted differently than a supplier would be. But the bottom line is this, when prices go up, everyone in the economy will feel the impacts,” said Ritter.

So how do we fix this problem? What’s the solution?

Congressman Kelly Armstrong explained how he believes we can stop inflation from increasing.

“We also have to quit supercharging the entire economy by printing more money we don’t have because that is driving inflation as fast as energy prices is. We absolutely have to quit printing money. We have to figure out a way to get people back to work. We have to get the supply chains back open,” said Armstrong.

From your next trip to the grocery store to getting your hair done, the rise in inflation will continue to impact you. But hopefully, changes will be made to combat this in the future.

To measure the average consumer’s cost of living, government agencies conduct household surveys to see how much items cost over time to see if it changes. According to the U.S. Labor Department, right now, used cars, gas and grocery items are impacted the most by the current inflation.