(KXNET) — Kevin O’Leary says North Dakota has been overlooked by a lot of people for a long time, however, six months ago, he started seeing potential in our state and so are other investors.
“My job is to find deals and invest capital. That’s what I do. I’ve been doing it for 30 years. I’ve never considered North Dakota as an option, that’s changed,” said O’Leary.
Kevin O’Leary says North Dakota is catching the eye of investors because of its stable policy and taxes, which makes it a competitive state.
“I think it’s very healthy that there be competition between states. I think good policy should be rewarded. I’m not into politics, I’m agnostic to party. I care about policy,” said O’Leary.
Now, House Bill 1158 is gaining attention, the bill which would eliminate state income tax for the lowest 60% of earners and implement a 1.5% flat tax rate for everyone else. Making the tax rate the lowest in the United States.
“All of a sudden there is this competition, there is this focus on what states are competitive and then the word gets out which is recent that you are going to do a 1.5% state tax, well that’s really interesting,” said O’Leary.
O’Leary is now working closely with Governor Doug Burgum and Josh Teigen, the commissioner for the North Dakota Department of Commerce.
And O’Leary and Governor Burgum have something in common.
“We came up at the same time in the same industries: software. I’ve known him a long time. Hadn’t seen him in a long time. When I talked with Josh, I felt pretty comfortable because I knew he’s an entrepreneur,” said O’Leary.
O’Leary says he considers governors the CEO of the state, and it’s so important to work with government officials, who have actually run businesses.
“I prefer to do business with politicians of any side of the aisle that have made payroll at least once in their life. That have actually made payroll. That have actually gone under the pressure to be responsible for payroll. Because they generally understand how hard that is to do,” said O’Leary.
O’Leary is looking to help North Dakotans directly by building a permanent office here in the state.
“I would like to set up office here, I think you’ll hear an announcement shortly, to help support the entire region, other states around here. We can do business out of North Dakota,” said O’Leary.
