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– Twenty years ago, Al Vannett had a vision for a long-term business called the Great Plains Directory Service.

Twenty years later, that business is still going strong. Vannett and Great Plains Directory Service are celebrating 20 years of producing plat books this week with an open house Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Jamestown Business Center.

Vannett has made his business successful by producing small plat books — which identify who lives on land and who owns land throughout a county. Vannett used to work for a company that produced large plat books, but decided there was a better future in producing smaller books that were easier for people to carry in their vehicles

“There was a competitor that made a smaller one and I felt this was much more practical and cheaper and it would probably be something people would want more,” Vannett said. “That’s kind of the inspiration I had when I started.”

Vannett envisioned his company producing plat books for all 53 counties in North Dakota. Twenty years later he has almost accomplished that goal, producing books for 48 North Dakota counties and five counties in South Dakota.

He currently has four full-time and two part-time employees on staff. The company also produces wall maps of counties, but its bread and butter is the small plat books.
Vannett said the majority of the books are sold to farmers, but in recent years oil companies in western North Dakota and hunters have bought more books than in previous years.

“There is a lot of people that use the book,” he said. “Primarily to start with the farmers, and then a lot of hunters use them. Now with the oil industry (growing), that’s been a big boom for us.”

The books cost anywhere from $42 to $49, depending on the county.