US When Murad Al-Katib decided to build the biggest chickpea processing plant in North America, he looked to North Dakota, an economic anomaly in the US and now its chickpea capital.
Most states have been struggling with falling payrolls and rising foreclosures. However, wintry North Dakota has been an oasis of relative stability, welcoming displaced workers and using its budget surplus to recruit overburdened companies with attractive tax incentives.
