Fargo INC! May 2016

EDITOR

Starting a dialogue W

hen we first threw out the idea of doing a cover story on Millennials in the workplace, you could almost hear the collective eye roll from the rest of the room.

“What could you possibly have to say that hasn’t already been said?” they asked, almost in unison.

And that’s when we realized.

Maybe that’s the problem, that we’re always the ones doing all the saying.

From columnists to radio hosts to cable TV panelists, we know where the media stands on the enigma that is the Millennial employee. But what about Millennials themselves? Or

nate@spotlightmediafargo.com 8

MAY 2016

their older coworkers? Or their bosses?

So we got them all in the same room. To talk. Face to face. Two Millennials and two Baby Boomers—the bookend generations of the 2016 workforce—were given six prompts, each a generally accepted opinion about Millennial employees, and asked to discuss.

the conversation with a good amount of common ground and united in the belief that both sides had plenty to offer in the quest to create a workplace that works for all.

Nate Mickelberg Editor, Fargo INC!

They each got to offer their own opinions on the topics, but probably more importantly, they gained a better understanding of where the others’ beliefs and attitudes come from.

They agreed to disagree about a few things, but for the most part, they ended

NateMickelberg

linkedin.com/in/natemickelberg

This month’s roundtable is the first installment of what we’re hoping becomes a Fargo INC! series. If there are any topics you think might work well for this format or if you would be interested in participating in a roundtable discussion yourself, please feel free to reach out to me directly.

MAY 2016

Volume 1 Issue 5

Fargo INC! is published 12 times a year and is available at area businesses and online at fargoinc.com.

Publisher Mike Dragosavich

drago@spotlightmediafargo.com

General Manager Brent Tehven

brent@spotlightmediafargo.com

CREATIVE

Editorial Director Andrew Jason

andrew@spotlightmediafargo.com

Editor Nate Mickelberg

nate@spotlightmediafargo.com

Graphic Designers Sarah Geiger, Ryan Koehler, Soda Tran

Head Photographer J. Alan Paul Photography jesse@jalanpaul.com

Photographer Paul Flessland Contributors Hailey Colbrunn, Marisa

Jackels, Nate Mickelberg, Craig Whitney, Mike Allmendinger

Copy Editors Erica Rapp, Hailey Colbrunn

ADVERTISING

Senior Account Tracy Nicholson Manager tracy@spotlightmediafargo.com

Marketing/Sales Paul Hoefer

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Paul Bougie

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Tank McNamara

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Jenny Johnson

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Business Heather Hemingway Operations Manager Administrative Nicole Houseal

CIRCULATION

Delivery Mitch Rapp

Fargo INC! is published by Spotlight Media LLC. Copyright 2016 Fargo INC! & fargobusiness.com. All Rights Reserved. No parts of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission of Fargo INC! Fargo INC! & spotlightmediafargo.com will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions found in the magazine or on fargobusiness.com. Spotlight Media LLC., accepts no liability for the accuracy of statements made by the advertisers.

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To learn more about Spotlight Media, go to spotlightmediafargo.com

CONTENTS

MAY 2016

ADDITIONAL CONTENT

18

Homeschooled

How Kilbourne Group is turning a century-old school into downtown character apartments

40

Work hard, play hard: 10 ways to help you and your employees blow off steam 44

Part man, part mule

In a follow-up to March's hugely popular "Failure" cover story, H2M COO & partner Dan Altenbernd opens up about the struggles of being a stubborn entrepreneur.

50

22

COVER STORY

TALKIN' 'BOUT MY GENERATION In this first installment of Fargo INC!'s roundtable series, we hosted a conversation among four members of the FM business community. The goal was simple: to find out what they really think about Millennials in the workplace.

16

MAY 2016

Admiral of the sweet: a conversation with American Crystal Sugar Pres. & CEO David Berg David Berg talks GMOs, chairing the FMWF Chamber of Commerce's new agribusiness committee and why he can't wait to stop checking his watch

56

Office Vibes: Onsharp 62

Local Leader: Bell State Bank's Rock Messerschmidt Whether you're a startup or an established business looking to expand,

there's nothing more important than securing financing.

Commercial lender Rock Messerschmidt answers a number of essential commercial lending questions.

66

Ludicrous mode

Emerging Prairie's Marisa Jackels recounts her experience of going 0-60 in 2.8 seconds in a Tesla Model X.

70

Craig Whitney on the state of agriculture in the Red River Valley 72

Today's leaders fueling tomorrow's progress

We take a look at an FMWF Chamber of Commerce leadership program aimed at developing not just yourself but also your community.

76

Forward fashionistas

This month's Startup Spotlight features a Fargobased e-commerce company that's trying to be more than just your favorite place to shop.

82

Business Event Calendar 85

Go Fargo Jobs!

18

MAY 2016

DOWNTOWN

Kilbourne Group’s partners in the Woodrow Wilson project include Enclave Development and ESG Architects.

NEXT ADVICE 19

22

MAY 2016

A roundtable on how Millennials are changing the workplace

We figured you were sick of hearing what the media and pundits had to say about it, though, so we're passing the mic.

To get a more ground-level view of some of the changes happening in the workplace, we wanted to hear from the oldest and the youngest generations currently in it. So we found two Millennials and two Baby Boomers, gave them a handful of topics and let them take it from there.

They dispelled a few myths, cleared up some misunderstandings and found a lot more common ground than they were probably expecting to.

PAUL RICHARD Sanford Fargo

TYLER FISCHBACH FMWF Chamber of Commerce **All statistics from PricewaterhouseCoopers report, "Millennials at work: Reshaping the workplace" 23

There is no more working ‘for’ people, only ‘with.’ Millennials want a coach, not a boss.

PROMPT

Mary Beth Burns: I find that to be true from my research and people I’ve worked with.

If there’s been dissatisfaction, then the reason they’ve left is because they felt like they haven’t had enough mentoring, coaching and development.

They not only want it, they demand it, and if you can’t give it to them, they’ll leave.

Josh Teigen: To an extent, that’s true, but I still believe there’s just as much a chain of command and a CEO role as ever. Millennials don’t want to work in the same workplace format as 50 years ago, but I’ve also seen many times these flat organizational structures not be effective.

There has to be a clear boss.

And it’s not as much a boss but more leadership. Someone who

Millennials currently account for

25%

of the workforce in the U.S. By 2020, they'll make up 50 percent of the global workforce.

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says, ‘I’m gong to make the decision, everyone’s going to live with it and you’re just going to have to trust my judgment.'

This flat structure everyone’s trying to go toward, it’s more altruistic than it is practical.

Paul Richard: What I would say is that what you’ve described as working ‘with’ someone instead of ‘for,’ that’s the betterfunctioning organization. And as I’ve watched the organization evolve, in my mind, it’s a much more effective organization at engaging people in whatever its goals are if people feel valued and secondly, that they are part of a team and that their contributions are valued and sought out.

I haven’t found that being really directive in things—and there are times that you have to be—but being very directive and non-inclusive or not seeking input is just not very helpful. So I would say that, while most of our generation probably started in whatever business we’re in in a very hierarchical structure, I would say that most of us have found that it is much more effective and companies are more effective if it’s ‘with’ versus ‘for.’

Teigen: I don’t see Millennials saying, ‘I want to work alongside (leadership).’ It’s that they see a leader or someone they view as a visionary, and they say, ‘I want to follow that

person.’ Which still kind of has the same hierarchical structure as traditional models, but it’s a different thought process.

They’re more likely to follow a dynamic leader figure and say, ‘I want to help that person achieve their vision.’

Richard: In healthcare, we have a lot of situations where there isn’t a lot of debate about what needs to happen, and things are very structured. But at the same time, you have to try to have an open conversation about why things are the way they are.

I find that, regardless of which generations are in the workplace, if you take the time to talk about why things are the way they are, even if they disagree with it, they can usually at least be comfortable with it and accept it.

Burns: As long as it’s not, ‘Because I said so.’ Instead of, ‘This is the reason,’ or ‘This is the background (info) you didn’t know about.’

Richard: A few days ago, I was speaking with new employees.

And I try to, with all of them, at least create the invitation to have a conversation. I will say, ‘All of us who have been walking the halls for a long time may very well have normalized our surroundings or how we do things.’ And so when we have new employees—and

38%

of Millennials believe that older senior management does not relate well to younger employees. 34 percent believe that their personal drive intimidates older generations.

Millennials are probably the biggest group we’re hiring— they’re the freshest pair of eyes and ears that we have walking the halls and really looking at how we do things.

I’m not concerned with hierarchy. I’m more concerned about the information and that I can do something with it. Because I don’t have the insight on all the details that go into a hospital with 480 beds.

What you can create is an environment where, regardless of how new or seasoned people are to the organization, they can express their views in a way that will be listened to. And I don’t think Millennials or anybody else expects their views are always going to be right.

Burns: They just want to be in the conversation.

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Teigen: I would echo that and say that even if Millennials are brought to the table and allowed to voice their opinion and even if a decision is made against that opinion, they still feel that the person making the decision knew what they had to say. It’s

just being able to get to that stage that’s the main thing. It’s not that they need to be right all the time, it’s that they had the opportunity to share their opinion.

Tyler Fischbach: Even if asking

them is a complete waste of time and it’s just an act—I’ve had many bosses, and the ones who do that, maybe even unintentionally, it just makes you want to show up to work just because they care and you’re not just another number to them.

Millennials are more productive than previous generations, but the quality of their work is lower. Millennials are less concerned with details.

PROMPT

Fischbach: I agree. I think, for me, having three jobs and schools, sometimes I feel like I’m 85 percent at each because I’m mentally somewhere else or I’m tired. So, in a sense, I’m being productive, but I can see how maybe a specific job isn’t getting done as well as it could be if that were the only thing I was doing.

Teigen: When you first read it, I thought, ‘I think I’d disagree with that.’ Because I’d say the generation before us was more productive. But it’s hard to measure because how do you define productivity? I think Millennials appear to do more, but I think they actually accomplish less. And maybe it depends on what you consider an accomplished task. If you have a great social media following, did you accomplish something with that?

Richard: I think where I struggle with that statement—and I have to put it in the context of the Millennials I see every day 26

MAY 2016

Nearly

more in less time. And I don’t know if it’s technology or what it is, but I just get tired. They can go from task to task. Now, does that mean any one particular task is less quality? I don’t know.

of Millennials say that access to technology they like makes them more effective in the workplace.

Fischbach: Not always, but I can definitely feel overwhelmed at times.

80%

working—they are focused on their job, and as far as I’m concerned, they’re productive and their work ethic is strong.

Generally, I would say they’re a great workforce.

I have three kids who are all Millennials. When I look at my own kids, when they’re in the workplace, my sense is that they are much more able to multitask.

They seem to be able to do

Teigen: I think the generation before us was more deliberate and thorough. I think Millennials are more likely to say, ‘Yeah, I can take on these five things.’ And you know how to do one of them and you figure out the other four and you don’t quite do it as well as someone who would say, ‘Yeah, I can do these two things, and I’m going to do them really well.’

Burns: But what gives you the belief or feeling that you can do it? Is it because your parents told you how wonderful you are?

Because that’s the stereotype.

Fargo INC!: Oh, we’re going to get to that.

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PROMPT

Millennials see less value in punctuality than previous generations.

Teigen: I do think there’s a generational aspect to timeliness at work. I feel like your generation was there on time and left on time and it was much more scheduled. And for Millennials, we feel like as long as we get our work done, we don’t need to be there at nine.

And not with brick and mortar things obviously, but I know that if I get an email at 11:30 p.m. and I’m awake, I’m going to answer that email. where I might not go into the office until 9:30 a.m. But I feel like I’m 20 percent working all the time.

Richard: So when you say that, how do you, as a generation, then go into a career or job where you do have to show up at a specific time, work a specific shift and other people are relying on you to be there?

How does that work? Because a lot of people in your generation (do go into those careers).

Teigen: Oh, absolutely. But see, that’s different to me, and that is something I don’t understand. I don’t know if I have the answer to that.

Burns: Do you have staff who have to be there at a certain time and open the doors and do the production part of things?

Teigen: Yeah.

Burns: And are they different than you?

Teigen: If they’re not there on time, they’re not going to be there.

Burns: See? Teigen: I certainly think that there’s whatever percentage of Millennials who are like, ‘Well, yeah, I was 10 minutes late to open up the store today. What’s the big deal?’

Well, to me, that’s a big deal, but I don’t know where that disconnect is. I don’t know if it’s generational.

Perhaps surprisingly, only

20%

of Millennials cite a job's working location(s) as a factor in accepting the position.

Fargo INC!: What’s your theory on that, Paul?

Richard: I guess it must be generational because the thought that you would take a job that has an expectation of start and stop times, and the idea that that’s just somehow kind of a guideline. The idea of that is so foreign to my generation.

You know that shiftwork is shiftwork, and so I’m not really sure how you think that works with, ‘Oh, 20 minutes late is fine.’ And so if that’s the disconnect, I don’t know how you connect it with the reality of the workplace.

Fischbach: It is crazy. Where does it come from? Because I can’t figure out where the mindset comes from. For example, at the shoe store I work at, we had an employee—I don’t know his age, maybe 22 or 23—who showed up 15 minutes late and went out and smoked. When is that ever okay?

Richard: Well you’re making it

sound like it’s not okay.

Fischbach: It’s not.

Richard: But you’re a Millennial.

So explain that to me.

Fargo INC!: I think it goes back to the value they place in getting the job done, not necessarily in a certain allotted amount of time.

Now, that obviously varies on the industry. For myself, I come in at different times depending on the day, but I’m also staying late many days out of the week and I’m working at home and I’m working remotely. And I feel like if it balances out and I get the stuff done, then it’s not as important.

Burns: But your job isn’t defined by the hours.

29

Fargo INC!: Right, so maybe it’s an industry thing.

Teigen: I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive because I actually think the reason that people (at brick and mortar operations) feel that flexibility is because, for our generation, there are so many jobs out there where you can work from home and you can work flexible hours.

Your generation, you did your work at work. You didn’t take your laptop home. And so they see jobs where you can do them at flexible times and locations, and it’s kind of spilled over into retail, manufacturing and other shift work. They’re like, ‘If my friend, who’s a graphic designer, can come into work at 10 a.m., why can’t I show up 10 minutes late? What’s the big deal?' And I come back to Silicon Valley, which has kind of glorified and tainted this cultural element, and it’s kind of spilled over into other places.

Fischbach: It is pretty awesome, though. Like last night, I was at home on the couch putting together photos and videos, and

I was on the clock.

Fargo INC!: Paul, is there a happy medium for you, or do you think it has to be all or nothing?

Richard: No, no, no. There are certain jobs in every organization where there’s shift work where you absolutely have to be there on time because other people are relying on you and expecting to get off. Every organization, including our own, has to try to find—if flexibility is an important factor to attract someone to us as an organization—then the real question is: how do we engage in a conversation with the next generation of what a different way of approaching work would be?

The problem with so much of what we do today is the thought about how you approach work is that it’s the way things have always been done. And what we have to do, as new generations come into the workforce, is try to have the conversation around: what are the non-negotiables? What are the absolute must-haves in this

work. And then, if everything else can accommodate more flexibility, then you have to have a conversation about it.

Burns: I do think, too, that our generation showed up on time because that’s what you just did.

Because that’s the example our parents set, and you do things ethically and what you think is right. Where I think the younger generations didn’t have that because maybe we didn’t raise them that way. But you have to tell them the reason why, because they don’t know. They need more of the reasons why and not just because they were told so.

Richard: I do think you have to be careful not to always be stuck in this paradigm that it always has to be done this way.

Burns: And what does flexibility mean? I think with some of the more mundane or less exciting jobs, you bring games in and contests and you try to engage people that way. So that it doesn’t seem like the same old thing every day and it’s not too flexible and strict.

Millennials are less committed to a singular career path than their predecessors. They’re more willing to jump ship if they’re dissatisfied with their professional situation.

PROMPT

Richard: The thing that interests me the most about this conversation is not so much about being committed to a path. It seems that this Millennial 30

MAY 2016

generation has no intent to stay in the job. In other words, they take a job with the expectation that they’re probably going to be there for a few years.

Burns: ‘I’ll check it out.’

Richard: So what about that?

Because the investment in you is so huge in that first year or two

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of Millennials cite an opportunity for personal development as one of the reasons for accepting their current position.

of employment, with orientation and training. And to do all of that as a company and then, gone. Now, I understand if you don’t like working there or it’s something else, but the idea that you would take a job with no intent to stay...

Teigen: I think part of it comes from them feeling like they’re just another employee, and I think mentorship brings an extra dimension to that. And I think Millennials have a strong drive for personal development. They probably sacrifice on timeliness or productivity, but they have a strong drive for personal development.

And I think (it helps) if you have a mentor at work. I’ve always said that my biggest learning experience was nothing that I ever did, it was observing the people who I worked with, in their jobs, and figuring out what made them good at what they

did. I feel like if Millenials felt the employer they were at was really focusing on developing them, then you bring that turnover rate way down.

Richard: So I’m curious, for you guys, if you’re in a job, what would you expect out of a mentor?

Fischbach: Maybe just for the mentor to recognize how important they are, as potentially shaping the employee’s future.

It’s tough because you can watch somebody and try to learn, but if they don’t turn around and welcome that and try to (engage you).

Burns: Like, ‘What did you learn from that? What did you observe from that?’

Say you have a company where the CEO is 28 and you’re 50 and a software developer. It seems like the generations ahead of us are much more willing to say, ‘You know, it’s not going to be exciting. It’s not going to be fun.

But if that’s what’s best for the organization, then that’s what I’m going to do.' And I think Millennials are much more like, ‘This old guy’s trying to tell me what to do. I want to work on the cool and exciting thing!’

Millennials don’t always see that sometimes there’s a lot of value in those accounting and financetype jobs. Those more menial, less sexy tasks that make the business run.

Teigen: Yeah, it’s the constant feedback loop.

Fargo INC!: Let’s zoom out for a second. We’ve talked a lot about ‘Millennials want this’ and ‘Millennials want that.’ Is it naïve and self-absorbed to think that the work you do should be so meaningful and fulfilling? A lot of the work that needs to be done in the world is not sexy and is about more than just yourself.

Teigen: Yeah, and it goes both ways, too. I think that Millennials should learn from our parents’ generation because it’s interesting to see how the Baby Boomer generation acts with Millennials as their boss.

Because there’s that situation a lot of times (now), and I feel like it’s completely different.

More than

25%

of Millennials expect to have six or more employers throughout their career, compared with 10 percent in 2008.

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Millennials’ insistence on work-life balance is the result of watching their parents and grandparents struggle with the same thing.

PROMPT

Teigen: Everyone asks, ‘Why didn’t you go into medicine like your dad?’ And I’m like, ‘My dad’s life sucks. Why would I want to do that?’ And I told him that. He said, ‘Josh, you’d make a good doctor.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, maybe, but I’ll never know because you have set a very poor example about what that looks like.’ Because he worked constantly.

Burns: There wasn’t worklife balance when you were a Boomer. Boomers worked

95%

of Millennials say that work-life balance is important to them.

70 percent believe it's very important.

way too many hours, and so Generation X said, ‘I’m not going to be like those people.’

And then there were buyouts (at companies), and it’s not stable anymore. And they saw no loyalty to the employee, and that’s why they said, ‘Why should I be loyal to the company if the company’s not going to be loyal to me?’ And so the next generation said, ‘I want some balance.’

I mean, my mom walked me to the first day of first grade.

Now you get on Facebook, and you’ve got the first day of senior year and moms are taking pictures. It’s like, ‘Really?’

Fargo INC!: Maybe it’s a pendulum. Maybe it swings to the two extremes and then eventually balances out in the middle somewhere.

Burns: It seems like we’ve gone from one extreme of being too strict to, ‘Oh, you’re beautiful, you’re wonderful, here’s a trophy. You’re just the most beautiful child.’ But it always swings, and it will get back to more balance.

Fargo INC!: I also think that overcompensation toward balance has had some unintended effects on Millennials.

Fischbach: That’s so true. I can think of more than one friend I have who’s been from job to job because he’s not going to be running the place in a year and can’t stand being a peon.

So he just consistently bounces around, and I don’t know what makes him—I can understand it to an extent—but I don’t know why he thinks it’s going to be his shindig so soon without putting in the time.

Richard: Growing up—and, of course, there weren’t as many media options—but I don’t ever remember seeing someone the age of Zuckerberg running a billion-dollar company. And to a certain extent, there’s kind of a disconnect. Even the ultrasuccessful Boomers put years and years into whatever their craft was to get to the pinnacle.

I’m a very different person now than I was when I was 22. And when I was 32. We’re all a product of our life experiences and years prior. And all those experiences teach you different things in your life. And you’re not done.

Teigen: I would absolutely agree with what you’re saying, Tyler. People in our parents’ generation would never walk in and even work somewhere for five years and think, ‘Well, jeez, I’m not the CEO yet. Time to go somewhere else.’ It just would never cross their mind.

Teigen: And I would argue that you guys aren’t done either. And I think that kind of gets back to the mentorship thing. Millennials want access to that kind of insight.

And, Paul, you would look at that and say, ‘I have 30 years of experience. You have­­three.

Why would you ever think that way?’

Teigen: Yes. Because I have all these tools at my disposal, but the thing I’m missing is all those years of experience. We want to tap into that.

Fischbach: We want to be you guys.

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Millennials lack the interpersonal skills that are necessary for successful business relationships.

PROMPT

41%

of Millennials say they prefer to communicate electronically in the workplace instead of face to face or via telephone.

business context, I was thinking of one statistic in particular I read. 40-plus percent of Millennials prefer to communicate electronically at work, as opposed to face to face or even over the phone. Do you all think that’s had a significant effect on the workplace?

Burns: I do. We email the person in the room next door to us.

Before, you had to actually get up. It’s a lot harder to disagree with someone face to face and figure out a way to negotiate and share your feelings.

Fargo INC!: What, specifically, is the value in that, though, from a business standpoint?

Fischbach: We’ve been called the look-down generation many times, which I don’t necessarily disagree with. I mean, spend 10 minutes on any college campus.

Teigen: I don’t know if it’s as much a lack of skills. I think it’s a movement away from scenarios where those skills come out. The scenarios just aren’t as common as they used to be.

Burns: Think about the family unit, too. Now, there are more divorces, people are separated, every kid has to be in about 12 activities. And you don’t get to sit down and have conversations eye to eye and share things.

From sports to politics to just, ‘How was your day?’

Fargo INC!: To keep it in a 36

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Richard: I think it depends on the context of the communication.

There are communications that absolutely can occur through email, but there are communications that are done by email that should never have been done by email. There are many things that go on between people in the workplace where you have to look someone in the eye and have a conversation, and I think email is often used to avoid the difficult conversations.

Teigen: Absolutely.

Fargo INC!: As someone who does this every day for his job, I think you can really use the human psychology of faceto-face interaction to your advantage. When I can get in a room with someone and look them in the eye, maybe, at first, they’re a little more hesitant, but they open up much faster

compared to when I’m just talking to them on the phone or emailing them.

Richard: Even FaceTime isn’t the same. We do a lot of meetings by video, and depending on the nature of the meeting, I’d just as soon get in my car and fly to a meeting point and be in the room with everyone else. Because the amount of non-verbals you miss, even on video. Or the eye contact, the facial context, they’re huge communication tools we all use.

Most times involuntarily.

Technology is the right thing for the right purpose, but it is the wrong thing for things that really dictate face-to-face communications.

Burns: It’s a tool.

Richard: Though one of the things I admire about the younger generation is that you’re much more willing to have an honest conversation about what’s bothering you. You're much more willing to just tell it the way it is. And maybe it’s indelicate sometimes, but I know where you stand. I may disagree with it, but at least you’re talking about it.

Teigen: That’s interesting. I’ve never thought of it that way. I remember doing things with my dad, and I’d be like, ‘Okay, why are we doing it this way?’

And my dad would say, ‘If I ever asked my dad that, he would’ve smacked me.’

Burns: You’re not intimidated by authority.

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Escape Rooms

Escape rooms have become a great way to encourage teamwork among your employees. While locked in a room, players must work together to either escape a room or solve a puzzle. FargoMoorhead now has two options for you to choose from.

Fargo Escape Room Located in West Fargo, the Fargo Escape Room offers two different rooms for you to solve. Can your team work together to solve these challenging puzzles? fargoescaperoom.com 2220 Main Ave. E, West Fargo

Valley Paintball

Puzzled FM Located in the Black Building in Downtown Fargo, Puzzled FM has one room open at the moment and will be opening two more in the next couple of months. puzzledfm.com 118 Broadway N, Suite 806, Fargo

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This is the ultimate way to blow off steam. With special pricing available for private groups, Valley Paintball can handle groups of up to 200 people. Located in Wheatland, N.D., Valley Paintball is about 30 miles from Fargo. This is a popular corporate event, with participants ranging from small businesses to large teams from Microsoft. valleypaintball.com 3576 151st Ave. SE, Wheatland, N.D.

TEAM BUILDING

Character Challenge Course

Travis Guida and the team at Character Challenge Course, just north of Park Rapids, Minn., will work on tailoring their events directly to your company’s needs. This fun aerial adventure complex usually does two types of corporate events. For one, Character Challenge Course will work closely with the company on solving specific areas of concerns. For example, if communication between departments is an issue, Character Challenge Course will do activities that encourage communication. They also offer plenty of fun activities on their low and high ropes. Go to characterchallengecourse.com for all the information. characterchallengecourse.com 13218 Co. Hwy. 40, Park Rapids, Minn.

Corporate Cup

As one of the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce’s most popular events, the Corporate Cup brings together 50 teams that are divided into recreational or competitive divisions. Each team can have between eight and 15 people. These teams will compete in events ranging from basketball to laser tag to tug of war. The event is sold out this year, but registration will open in February for the 2017 event.

Registration usually fills up in a day or two, so make sure you mark your calendar. fmchamber.com/corporate_cup

Sky Zone Fargo

Jump away the stress of work at Sky Zone. This indoor trampoline park will provide the greatest workout your team has ever done.

With jump zones, dodge ball tournaments, basketball dunking and plenty more, Sky Zone has plenty to offer for a fun and healthy team activity. Businesses can rent out the facility at a variety of times. Call Sky Zone at 701-478-8484 for more information. skyzone.com/fargo 940 40th St. S, Fargo

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TEAM BUILDING

Thunder Road

The Fargo classic, Thunder Road, offers more than its share of thrills with mini golf, go karts, bumper cars, batting cages and laser tag. They even offer special group prices, which are all available on their website. thunderroadfargo.com 2902 Thunder Rd. S, Fargo

Golf Addiction

Hit the links with your team, even on a rainy day. This fun indoor virtual golf bar and grill can customize what they offer for your party. Able to handle parties of up to 150, Golf Addiction prices even go down in the summer months, so this might be the perfect event for your group. golfaddiction.biz 4474 23rd Ave. S, Fargo

2016 United Way Day of Caring

October 13, 2-5 p.m.

Why not give back to the community that’s given so much to your business? United Way’s Day of Caring is taking place on October 13 from 2-5 p.m. This special day, organized by United Way, matches hundreds of volunteers with local senior citizens in need of help with projects at their homes. For questions, contact Kelly at UnitedWay@unitedwaycassclay.org unitedwaycassclay.org

FM RedHawks

The FM RedHawks offer some great corporate ticket packages, including season tickets and flex packs. Group tickets can be purchased for as little as $4 per person. There is also the Armadillo Party Pavilion and Third Base Party Deck, which offer all-you-caneat options and discounts on beer. Watch for their business day games on June 23, July 14 and September 1. fmredhawks.com Newman Outdoor Field 1515 15th Ave. N, Fargo 42

MAY 2016

FAILURE

FAILURE SERIES:

By Nate Mickelberg Photo by J Alan Paul Photography

PART MAN, PART MULE

W

hen H2M COO and partner Dan Altenbernd was 5 years old, his dad, a sugar beet farmer in Sabin, Minn., told him, “You’re not going to be a farmer, so you better find your own way.” Altenbernd never did join the family business, but he’d be damned if his father or anyone else for that matter was going to tell him what he couldn’t be.

“It’s a family trait that we’re a little stubborn,” he says. “I have a path in mind, even when there are good people giving me good advice to go a different direction. I have a tendency to stay in a certain mindset maybe a bit too long.”

While his hardheadedness has no doubt helped him achieve success in the professional world, it has also held him back at times. Here are five of Altenbernd’s failures and why he says they all played a part in making him the successful business owner he is today.

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Altenbernd’s first brush with failure was at his first job after college, at a small print shop in West Fargo. It was less of a failure, really, and more of a lesson in patience, he says.

No.1

“Here I had gone for all this Macintosh training,” says Altenbernd, who had just gotten an associate degree in graphic design and commercial art from Alexandria Tech in Alexandria, Minn, “And I took a huge step backwards. All of a sudden, I’m working on this Typemaster 2000.

“But I was pretty realistic about it. I said, ‘It’s my first job. I know this is just one of a series of stepping stones. I just need to work.’”

“My skills as a designer were not where they needed to be,” he says. “I really thought I was going to be a great designer, but I realized quickly that if you’re not great at it, you’re probably going to go broke at it.

“And this is my stubbornness coming through again, but when I was young, there was a big part of me that wasn’t admitting I was a bad designer. I don’t think I saw the forest for the trees. I’m sure I was blaming everybody else around me. I remember leaving International Falls and blaming more of the workplace and the town itself than me. ‘How could it be me?’ I’m awesome.’”

No.3

After moving back home to Sabin

FAILURE

No.2

Altenbernd’s experience at the print shop helped him land a gig at a newspaper-owned custom design business in International Falls, Minn. But after taking the job in the fall, he never saw spring in the northern Minnesota border town.

“with his tail between his legs,” Altenbernd got a job at a different print shop, this one in Downtown Fargo, and after a while, repaired his confidence to the point where he decided to open a small design studio with some friends.

While Altenbernd says they “ate what they killed” and saw moderate success with the venture, the studio folded a while later when his partners decided to pursue teaching jobs. Red Alert Design, as it was called, was a great lesson in finding out just how little he knew about the ins and the outs of running of a small business, he says.

“Talk about a young guy with no business experience,” he says. “I didn’t take any business administration classes at all. I just thought, ‘I’m going to be a designer, I’m going to make my own business and the rest will take care of itself.’”

READ MORE

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FAILURE DAVID BERG

5 THOUGHTS ON FAILURE FROM H2M’S DAN ALTENBERND

NEXT

1. You are going to fail, but make yourself get over it fast. And be confident in yourself.

If arrogance or stubbornness is going to help you keep going, then fine, use that.

Empower yourself with that.

2. Don’t let your failures make you fumble for six months. Have your week. Have your pity party. But then go to your mentors, your parents or whomever you really trust, and move forward.

3. Don’t ever buy your own hype. I started to believe my own press at Vtrenz. I was in the paper, people were starting to talk about what we were doing.

And I was like, ‘Oh, we’re kicking some serious ass now.’

4. Always be careful about how you treat people or speak to them.

You have to know they're going to carry it with them.

5. When I was trying to close deals at Vtrenz, I would take such an emotional blast when I didn't land one. Now, I work hard as heck to get opportunities and make people aware of us, but if I can't bring it home for the team, I honestly am able to tell myself: I did the best I could on that.

And I move on to the next challenge.

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Determined to make his design dreams work, a little while later, Altenbernd landed at Fargo ad agency G.L. Ness doing both production work and traffic management. He says it was a great wake-up call on multiple fronts.

No.4

"The designers I worked with at G.L. Ness were really good," he says. "They were good designers. And I went, 'Wow, I'm not even close to them.'"

He says it was around this time that he realized, in the agency world, a better path for him was going to be on the accounts side.

"I was sitting with my boss," Altenbernd says, "And I said, 'I want to work into being an account executive.'

And he said, 'We don't hire anybody as an account executive unless they have an MBA.' And I was like, 'Whoa, I'm so far from that.'"

Altenbernd says that instead of recognizing that his skillset wasn't where it needed to be, he flat out believed his boss was wrong.

"What I did realize at that point," Altenbernd says, "Is that I was a long way from getting an MBA, and in order to avoid being stuck in a job— and to continue growing—I needed to find a new opportunity that would provide me with a big challenge and an opportunity for professional growth."

Frustrated and ever-determined to not let anyone tell him he "wasn't going to be a farmer," Altenbernd went for it.

No.5

A friend of his was in the process of putting together a startup—equal parts ad agency and software company— and Altenbernd threw himself into it.

He signed on at Vtrenz as the de facto creative director and invested not only his own personal money in the venture but also that of friends and relatives.

He says he'll never forget the feeling he had walking into their brand new office the first day.

"I questioned everything that I had just done," he recalls.

He was in over his head in the highstakes, fast-paced world of venture capital and seed rounds, and after watching his role in the company continue to diminish—with good reason, he'd add—and his name drop further down Vtrenz's org chart over the course of two years, Altenbernd was relegated to a sales position.

"I was learning this part of business and life on the fly," Altenbernd says.

"And at the time, it was hard to step back and learn from what was happening around me.

It was then that he had something of an epiphany.

"I felt I had lost all respect in the company," he says, adding that by this point they had all but done away with the ad agency side of the business. "Here I was now, a sales software guy with a headset in the basement of this building, and I was pitching companies in India to buy our software. It wasn't what I wanted to do. I did not want to be doing this job. My passion was marketing and advertising strategies."

When a venture capital firm eventually came in and bought them out, it was probably the first time Altenbernd exhaled in months. To this day, though, he insists that the hellish experience was ultimately a positive.

"For my life, it was definitely the right thing to do," he says. "Because it got me to where I am today. There's a reason I went through it. But if (beforehand) you had laid out a path and said, 'For a year, you're going to be on a headset selling software, I never would've bought into that.' I fell into it backwards."

H2M h2m.biz 320 5th St. N, Fargo

DAVID BERG

ADMIRAL of the SWEET A conversation with American Crystal Sugar Company President & CEO David Berg

T

By Nate Mickelberg | Photos by J. Alan Paul Photography

he first time David Berg set foot in the American Crystal Sugar building in North Moorhead, it wasn’t as an ambitious MBA grad but rather a broadcast reporter for WDAY TV. It was 1978, and he was set to interview an American Crystal executive about the effects of Coca-Cola replacing some of its sugar with corn syrup. And while the conversation itself may have been brief, its effect on him was not.

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Berg points to that interview as the spark for his interest in agribusiness and one of the reasons he chose to go back to school to earn a masters in agricultural economics. After a three-year stint at Minneapolis-based General Mills, the circle was complete as he was recruited back to American Crystal as an economist. Thirty years later, he’s still there, though not for much longer, as he’ll step down at the end of the summer as the company’s president and CEO. We sat down with Berg to talk about a variety of topics, including how NAFTA continues to affect the regional sugar beet industry, the ongoing debate over GMOs and what his role will be as chair of the FMWF Chamber of Commerce’s new agribusiness committee.

DAVID BERG

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but I’ll suffice it to say that most countries in the world, somehow, subsidize their domestic sugar industry. When you subsidize something, you induce more of it to be produced. And so there’s a surplus of sugar in the world market that just really doesn’t have a home.

Q&A

As you get ready to retire, I thought you had some interesting thoughts on the current state of productivity in the business world, especially considering you’re the CEO of one of the largest companies in the region.

David Berg: Do you know anybody who says, ‘Boy, I wish I had more things to do today'?

Everybody–and it’s because of the phones we carry in our pockets–has to do more. It’s expected of you. And because you can do more, you do do more. And so (when I retire), I’m looking forward to picking the things that I like to do and spending a little more time with them, instead of, ‘I have to be done with this in a half hour so I can get to the next thing.’ And that’s the scary part is, we do more, but I’m not sure we do it any better because we don’t spend the time to reflect on what it is we need to accomplish.

your development as a leader at the company.

DB: I had worked here for about 12 or 14 years, and my boss at the time said, ‘You have the potential to grow and be one of the top people in the company, but you need to learn the real nuts and bolts of what we do.’

And I said, ‘What would you like me to do about it?’ He said, ‘You should go work at the Moorhead factory for a year.’

And I went, ‘What do I know about running a factory?’ And he said, ‘Well that’s the point, is that you have to get out there and completely immerse yourself in it.’ So I went and left a job as vice president of business development in my cozy office in corporate headquarters.

Beets coming in the back of the factory, sugar going out the front.

We have protected ourselves from that through a sugar program for a long time, to keep all the subsidized, foreign, dump-market sugar out of the market. But when the border came down with Mexico, we no longer had that protection. So Mexico expanded its production, brought a whole bunch of sugar into the U.S. and crashed the price in the U.S. If you’re used to selling sugar for 30 cents a pound and the price goes to

During your time as the head of American Crystal, one of the biggest challenges you and the company have faced is trying to reverse the damage done to the domestic sugar industry due to the easing of trade restrictions with Mexico.

Can you first provide a little background on the issue?

DB: NAFTA was passed in 1994, but we didn’t have free trade with Mexico The Hershey Effect until 2008.

When U.S. chocolate giant Hershey I went to work-three shifts a That means announced in 2015 it would be day in the Moorhead factory sugar coming transitioning some of its most well-known supervising about 30 people in unlimited products to GMO-free, Berg says the making sugar. The good news is quantities from sugar beet industry took notice. that I had people working for me Mexico into the on that shift who knew far more U.S. market.

“It’s an ongoing discussion,” he says, than I ever hoped to know about We could spend adding that about 90 percent of their it, and I just basically stood back the rest of today product is sold as industrial sugar to You had a pretty unique and watched them. It was really and all day major food manufacturers. “If we had experience about halfway good for me because I got to tomorrow talking 10 or 15 or 20 major customers who through your tenure at have my fingers on everything about why the (decided to go GMO-free)–we have bins American Crystal. Talk about that makes us money and sugar market of sugar that came from GMO sugar that and the role it played in everything that costs us money. is distorted, beets. If we can’t sell it, what’s the point in keeping on making it? We’d have to look at the possibility that, like it or not Red River valley sugar beet and whether think it makes sense, we growers who comprise have to make a product that people want Years Berg has worked American Crystal, which is to buy.”

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at American Crystal

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2,800

a cooperative

DAVID BERG 22 cents a pound, the returns to the growers go well below break-even.

What effect did this have on the regional sugar beet industry and the U.S. sugar industry as a whole?

DB: Farmers went from making money by raising sugar beets– and sugar cane in other parts of the country–to losing serious money. And it was at a point where, another year and two, and I think you would’ve seen major components of the U.S. sugar industry just completely go away for good. And the nature of the sugar industry is that if you don’t have the processing plant ready to run and take the crop, then it basically has no use. That means you have to keep the plant running, even in times of poor prices. And we knew that if we started losing areas of the country, they were gone forever.

What steps were taken from there?

DB: In 2012, we filed a case with the International Trade Commission, which is a branch of the U.S. government. And the frustrating part was that we were watching the damage being done, prices going down, farmers losing serious amounts of money, and we couldn’t do anything about it because, under U.S. trade law, you can’t win a case until you can demonstrate that there’s actually been harm done because of

what the foreign country is doing. So we had to stand by and it was almost like saying, ‘I’m going to inoculate you with a virus, and until you get sick, I can’t do anything about it.’

Well, farmers were getting really sick all over the place, and so then that was the evidence we needed to go to the ITC and say, ‘Look what Mexico is doing to us.’ And through two years of investigation, we demonstrated: 1) Mexico was violating trade laws by selling sugar cheaper here than they sold it at home, which is called dumping.

2) They’re getting massive subsidies from their own government, so we’re not only competing against the Mexican farmer, we’re also competing against the Mexican government.

And so once those facts were demonstrated, the ITC voted 6-0 to say, ‘Yes, the U.S. sugar industry has been harmed, and yes, we’re going to put duties against Mexico to stop them from dumping sugar in the market.’ So that’s the short story. It’s legal for Mexico to bring sugar under a free trade agreement, but it’s not legal for them to get the benefit of subsidies from their government.

And did the ITC’s decision resolve the issue or is it ongoing?

DB: It’s not completely resolved.

425,000

It’s not working exactly the way we hoped. Before, the house was burning down. Now, we just have smoldering embers to take care of. Before, though, it was unsustainable. I think, ultimately, if it had gone on the way it was, there wouldn’t be a U.S. sugar industry anymore. Some (sugar operations) would’ve gone sooner, others would’ve taken longer to go. But, ultimately, everybody would’ve gone out.

One of the most contentious debates right now in the food industry is over genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. It’s especially prevalent in the world of sugar beets, as pretty much the entire industry shifted to Roundup Ready beets in the mid-2000s.

Could you first explain what Roundup Ready beets are and why they’re preferable from a farmer’s perspective?

DB: Very smart scientists have figured out a way to put a gene into sugar beets that allows them to tolerate the presence of the chemical glyphosate, which is the generic name for Roundup.

When the gene is present in a beet, a weed will sprout next to it, the farmer goes down the row with Roundup in the tank of his sprayer, sprays it, and the weed

Acres the company processes sugar beets from

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13

dies and the beet doesn’t even know what hit it. Because the gene is completely tolerant of Roundup.

Weed control, generally, is the biggest problem for a sugar beet grower because the weeds will compete with the beets, cut the yield, cut the sugar content and just make them unprofitable. So when you can control weeds as effectively as Roundup does, that’s a very attractive thing for a sugar beet grower.

You said there’s an analogy you prefer not to use but that’s accurate, nonetheless.

DB: It’s like chemotherapy. It’s like when you whack a tumor with chemotherapy, you’re hitting the tumor but you’re also hitting the healthy tissue. That’s the case with other herbicides you spray on a beet field, but with Roundup, the beet doesn’t feel any effect at all. So the beet is much healthier after it’s been sprayed.

So why are GMOs considered a problem then?

DB: I’m not able to answer that question. We’ve been fighting this GMO fight for about 10 years now. There are a lot of people in this country–I would

Approximate percentage of the domestic refined sugar market American Crystal production and sales account for

I respect (antiGMO people’s) wishes, and if they don’t like it, that’s fine. If they don’t want to eat those foods, they shouldn’t do that. But my points is—and this is absolutely scientifically valid and you cannot dispute this—having the ability to modify crops this way is like any other step that a researcher has taken in the last 50 or 100 years that has allowed agricultural productivity to advance so that farmers can continue to produce enough food to feed 6 billion people in the world.

And if we don’t keep moving agricultural productivity ahead, not thousands or millions, but billions of people starve to death. And that’s wrong. I don’t think you can get around that.

That’s why I get frustrated with the GMO fight is because we’re all about choice. Our economy is based on freedom of consumer

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People at the first meeting of the Chamber's Agribusiness Committee, despite only sending Out 15 invites

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Shifting now to a little more general agribusiness, our region has seen back-to-back years of record crops. Is that sustainable for a third straight year?

DB: The weather hasn’t been ideal the last few years, but it still lined up in a way that allowed farmers to produce really good crops. We’re starting this year really dry. I don’t think you could find a farmer right now who wouldn’t like to see a couple inches of rain right now. And right now, prices are very poor.

The only offset last year to poor prices was the fact that they raised nice, big crops.

If we go into the new crop year in 2016 with poor prices and we have a tough production year, then you see a lot of farmers who aren’t viable anymore. And we talk about it in cold terms like ‘not viable,’ but they’re out of the farming business.

And for many of them, this is a multigenerational thing. They’ve been at it their whole lives, as have their fathers or others for many years before them.

RSVPs for a recent Chamber "Eggs & Issues" event focused on regional agribusiness

It sounds like the current state of the agricultural economy in the region was the impetus for the FMW Chamber of Commerce starting an agribusiness committee. Is that fair?

DB: I think what it came down to is that there are a number of companies that are Chamber members that said, ‘We have issues. We’d like to use this committee as a forum to discuss them.’ So if they need some public assistance, some policy help, we can at least get in the same room to talk about it. There hasn’t been an agribusiness committee for a long time. It’s almost like we’ve taken it for granted.

If farmers are suffering—and right now, they’re suffering— then it’s going to have effects throughout the entire economy.

American Crystal Sugar Company crystalsugar.com 101 3rd St. N, Moorhead 218-236-4400 FMWF Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Committee fmwfchamber.com/chamber_ committees.php 202 1st Ave. N, Moorhead 218-233-1100

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OFFICE

“The cliché is that you ask a kid where milk comes from and they say, ‘The grocery store,’” Berg says. “In this part of the world, where agriculture is so important, we’d at least like people to understand that their food is safe and affordable and that there’s great variety.

And that you do have a connection to farmers and farming. We’re going to try and help rebuild that connection.”

Is there any scientific evidence that GMO foods are harmful for people to consume?

DB: None, none, none. Our line is—and it’s because it’s documented—but there have been trillions of meals eaten by people from foods based on genetically modified crops, with no health issues whatsoever.

None documented whatsoever by any government anywhere, including Europe, where they resist the production (of them).

They still admit that it’s safe.

And let’s say we had some really tough years in farming. Would the land lay idle? I don’t think it would, It would change hands.

So instead of what we consider to be the building blocks of our region’s agricultural economy, which is the family farm, (you’ll have) corporations.

And they’ll hire people, but they’ll hire the fewest number of people who can do it. The small communities would be devastated, and I don’t think those (corporations) would have the same stewardship of the land.

NEXT

One of the main goals of the Chamber’s Agribusiness Committee, Berg says, will be to create among city folks a better understanding of where their food comes from and the impact that area farming has on their own businesses and lives.

choice. Nobody’s making you buy (GMO) foods. But you shouldn’t stop other people from doing it, in my opinion.

DAVID BERG

Increasing Ag Awareness

say a minority but a very vocal minority—who don’t believe that scientists should be able to modify crops genetically. Now, the truth is that scientists have been modifying crops genetically for thousands of years. It’s called grafting and plant hybridization.

They’ve been doing it forever.

They’ve just found a more rapid way to do it.

OFFICE

OFFICE VIBES

Onsharp

I

f you’re looking for Fargo-based Onsharp, Director of Digital Marketing Kirsten Jensen says you can find them at the intersection of communication, marketing and technology. Not literally, of course. The Fargo-based digital marketing agency’s office sits on the first floor of South Fargo’s Multiband Tower, and as Jensen showed us, the space - like the company itself - is a salute to all things social. By Nate Mickelberg • Photos by J. Alan Paul Photography Onsharp

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2000 44th St. S, Ste. 101, Fargo

701-356-9010

onsharp.com

Kirsten Jensen, Director of Digital Marketing

Jensen is one of the first things that greets you when you walk into Onsharp, as her smiling face adorns a large TV in the lobby. The screen showcases a recently launched social media tool from the company called Posterboard, which Jensen describes as a more cost-effective social media management tool for small businesses.

Kirsten Jensen: “There are a number of really high-end tools out there, but what we saw as a big gap is that most of them aren’t affordable for small businesses, so it makes interaction in that space kind of unattainable. So what we were looking for was something where our clients can use it at events but could also use it in their space like we are, to really get more life out of the social media messages they’re posting.”

How does Posterboard work?

It’s best to think of Posterboard as a realtime social media aggregator. People at an event or in an office can post tweets* with a specific hashtag(s), and Posterboard will assemble them in one place. Unlike an individual Twitter feed, though, everyone’s seeing the same stream, and the shelf life for the posts is considerably longer. Onsharp envisions Posterboard as not only a way to promote company culture but also make smaller-scale events even more social than they already are.

Some recent local events that utilized Posterboard: • The Addys • Prairie Business’ “40 Under 40” • North Dakota State Republican Convention • Ronald McDonald House’s “Sweetheart Ball” • Great Plains Food Bank’s “Chef’s Gala” *The platform currently only supports Twitter, but Jensen says they’re planning to expand the service to Instagram.

One of the many ways Onsharp encourages employee recognition is through the use of what they call ONmoments. Team members are able to fill out these slips and draw attention to something positive that a coworker did, whether it’s going above and beyond for a client or just a random act of kindness.

Moments shared on social media with the hashtag #ONmoments are shared with the rest of the office on Posterboard.

While the core values of some companies gather dust, Onsharp ensures they live and breathe theirs through a weekly, 15-minute standup session. Each Thursday at 9:15, the entire Onsharp staff of nearly 20 gathers around their “Core Values” wall and each employee discusses: 1. One thing they worked on the previous week 2. Which core value they lived 3. Something fun happening in their life Jensen says the sessions are not only a great way to keep the company’s values in the front of everyone’s mind, but they’re also where one lucky team member is awarded the “Kick Ass” award, which will make its home at that person’s desk for a week before being passed off to the next recipient. During our visit, the most recent winner had just received her Google Analytics certification.

Onsharp by the numbers

15 YEARS in business

14

full-time employees

OFFICE Onsharp keeps two separate maps in their office, one that shows their clients in the FM area and one with the location of their clients throughout North America. With customers from the East Coast down to Cabo, their customer base is truly international.

The majority of Onsharp team members work in “pods,” with four desks facing away from each other and a communal meeting table in the center. Podmates typically work together on a lot of projects, so having a meeting area nearby has been great for productivity, Jensen says.

She adds that there were two primary considerations with the workstations, which were designed with the help of local company Hannaher’s: 1. With the Onsharp office featuring tall, west-facing windows on one end, they didn’t want people whose desks were farther away to be completely in the dark. To ensure this, they designed the pod walls to be shorter and with individual windows to provide employees with as much as light as possible.

2. To minimize potential distractions caused by shorter cubes, they raised the pod walls right behind the computers so there was still some element of privacy.

4

part-time employees

158clients

in 18 states and 4 countries 59

OFFICE ADVICE NEXT One of the many services Onsharp offers to clients is social media training sessions, both in-house and on-site. With a client list that includes the University of North Dakota, American Crystal Sugar Company and the FMWF Chamber of Commerce, Onsharp coaches companies on things such as what and how often to tweet and how to properly use a hashtag.

With a fully stocked fridge in the break area, Jensen says Onsharp employees never go hungry. She adds that the space has become truly multifunctional, as they also use it for parties, networking events and even lunchtime Netflix sessions.

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employees trained through all coaching sessions and Social Employee programs

While more and more companies are giving their employees standing workstation options, Onsharp takes a slightly different approach.

Jensen says that to minimize the risk of people falling out of love with a standing desk, they have one community standing desk that team members can use when they feel like they need to stretch their legs for a bit or just want a change of scenery.

“Plus, it’s just a beautiful spot to stand,” she adds.

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collaborative spaces

What kind of digital marketing agency would Onsharp be if they didn’t wear their love for all things social loudly and proudly on their sleeve? From the array of colorful social media pillows in the lobby to the hashtags and Twitter handles that line the walls, they’re not shy about who they are.

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TVs

4

hashtag signs

ADVICE

B

e organized.

That’s Bell State Bank commercial lender Rock Messerschmidt’s simple but important message to owners thinking about seeking a loan for their business.

Messerschmidt’s been in the banking business for more than 30 years– by way of St. Paul and Ada, Minn.–and he says that basic business plan organization is still one of the most overlooked parts of the loan approval process by lendees.

LOCAL LEADER:

ROCK

MESSERSCHMIDT The 411 on 504s: Commercial lending with Bell State Bank’s Rock Messerschmidt

By Nate Mickelberg Photo by Paul Flessland 62

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“Just make it as easy as you possibly can on the banker to pull everything together,” Messerschmidt says. “Don’t make us beg for information.

Especially if someone’s been in business, they know what we’re looking for. Just tell us on the front end that this is the ownership and this is attached to this and that’s attached to that.

Have everything organized and ready to go.”

From preparedness to risk reduction to crowdfunding, Messerschmidt gives us his thoughts on a number of current commercial lending topics in this month’s Local Leader.

ADVICE

Q & A If I’m a current or prospective business owner and I’m planning to seek a commercial loan in the near future, what’s the first step you’d advise me to take?

ROCK MESSERSCHMIDT: Prepare. Run your projections, make sure you know what your costs are if you’re going to expand into new equipment. And give us ample time to get our arms around what you’re doing and look at different options. We have SBA (Small Business Association) options, we have the Bank of North Dakota, which is a huge benefit that we have over every other state in the country.

There are a lot of programs out there.

There’s the Beginning Entrepreneur Loan Guarantee program through the Bank of North Dakota, SBA 504 for purchasing equipment and real estate.

But just really prepare and get your arms around all the costs and the detail that we’re going to need.

Do most commercial loans require a personal guarantee of some kind?

RM: Our general policy is: anybody

with more than 20 percent is required to (personally guarantee a loan). These are all closely held corporations.

The benefit of the corporation rolls to the individual. There are very few situations where we don’t require a personal guarantee.

What are some of those exceptions?

RM: Larger companies with long, long

track records. Companies that are very financially sound and can stand on their own.

Can other parties be brought in to guarantee a loan?

RM: That happens a lot in the beginning years. It’s not unusual for us to say, ‘Hey, if you’ve got help from an aunt or an uncle or a parent, you can bring them in.’ If they can provide a bit more help on the front end, provide a guarantee, maybe take a secured guarantee with a mortgage. It happens a lot.

And I think if you ask any business owner who’s been in business 20, 25 years, they’d probably go back to their early stages, and they’re going to remember, ‘My dad guaranteed for me.’ They’re the ones who trust you and work with you.

Do you encourage people, especially those in the very beginning stages of starting a business, to utilize crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo?

RM: Yes, we do. Any way you can get funds in the door—we want to see equity on the front end. Because, for example, with the SBA, I think there are a lot of people who think, ‘Oh, I’ll do an SBA loan. I don’t need money down.’ Well they want money down, too. It’s a government entity, and they want to be paid back. And they require, in a lot of cases, a secured guarantee. Or if they need more equity into it, they may say, ‘You have equity in your house. We’ll take a second or third mortgage on your house.’

So the more equity you can bring to the table on the front end, the better your rates are going to be. Is that a good way to think about it?

RM: Not always. You kind of have to prove yourself from a rate standpoint.

And you can’t get too out of whack because money is a commodity.

There are other banks.

If I want to do it for five percent, you might get Choice or Cornerstone or Wells Fargo willing to do it at four and a quarter. You just have to price it accordingly.

Commercial lending resources Bank of North Dakota A state-owned-run financial institution based in Bismarck.

The only state-owned bank in the United States. bnd.nd.gov

Beginning Entrepreneur Loan Guarantee A Bank of ND program designed to provide assistance to small businesses by providing financial institutions with a guaranty of a loan not to exceed $200,000. bnd.nd.gov/business/beginningentrepreneur-loan-guarantee

U.S. Small Business Administration A government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. sba.gov/offices/district/nd/fargo

Understanding that cash flow and collateral are king, where does business experience factor into the loan approval process?

RM: Oh, it’s huge if someone’s coming into a new startup and they’ve been at a different company in a similar (capacity). Or even if it’s not a similar (capacity) and they’ve been out in the real world and they’ve dealt with the

504 Loan An SBA loan program designed to provide financing for the purchase of fixed assets, which usually means real estate, buildings, and machinery, at below market rates.

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If someone is invested in a business and has a one-third stake, do they act as a personal guarantor for the whole loan or just their third?

RM: It’s usually a full guarantee (for each person). Now, sometimes that’s negotiable, but we don’t do it very often. We may do a pro rata (proportional) guarantee, like one and a half percent of your ownership amount or one and a quarter. But it’s a case-by-case basis, and it depends on what the company is doing and how strong they are.

Do you ever make any requirements with regards to personnel decisions or leadership at a company, as part of the loan approval process?

RM: We don’t make those decisions for them. We might say, ‘Your financial side needs to be beefed up.’ Or, ‘You’re doing internally prepared statements. Go out and get a review or audit.’ Depending on the sales growth and everything else.

Or maybe it’s, ‘You’re doing way too much. You’re wearing too many hats.

Maybe you need to hire a controller or a CFO.’

With more and more companies being tech- and software-based and having less in terms of assets such as land, implements, etc., how has the process changed on your end?

RM: Some of these companies just aren’t bankable on the front end.

I’ve referred a number of people to venture capital firms. Arthur Ventures is a good one. I have a couple people down there I know, and I’ll say, ‘This is something you need to go talk to (Arthur Ventures) about. You guys need equity on the front end. You’re not going to kick out sales for two or three years. You’re in the R & D mode, and that’s not financeable.’

We have a lot of business owners in this town who are out looking for other companies to buy or help out. A lot. I have clients who call me all the time and say, ‘Hey, if you’ve got X type of business, I’m looking for something in distribution or construction or even a tech company I’ll take a look at. I have money I’m willing to invest. If you have a good

We don’t want to make those decisions for them. We don’t want to tell them that they need to go to this particular accounting firm or that particular accounting firm or that attorney. They might ask us for advice about who’s good, and we always throw out multiple options.

What are some ways that a business owner can reduce their risk profile before they come to you for a loan?

RM: Trying to clean up their personal side a bit would be helpful. If they

ROCK MESSERSCHMIDT

feel for the people involved, I’d be happy to talk to them.’ Now, of course, anybody you get in with, who’s going to stick $100,000 into your company, they’re going to want to own more than what you’re willing to give up.

TESLA

When you come in new, you’re always going to find something that’s going to sneak up on you. There are hurdles at every corner. Something always comes up that throws a road block at you.

have some equity in their house, that might be a big advantage they could borrow on. Credit reports are huge.

If they come in with a great business plan and their personal credit history is really bad, that’s going to be tough.

Especially if they have a bankruptcy in their history. So yeah, I’d say clean up your personal side and make sure you have a lot of equity lined up on the front end.

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business in the past, they know what to expect.

What’s one of the more pressing issues facing area business owners that you’re dealing with right now?

RM: We have a lot of companies that are in transition, looking for the next owner. And a lot of people I’ve worked with throughout the years are getting ready to retire and figuring out, ‘Where do we go from here?

Does my son take over? Does my son or daughter take over? A cousin or nephew? Do I do an ESOP?’ There are a lot of discussions. We get involved with attorneys and accountants a lot.

We just had a strategic planning session, and that’s one of the things that I put out there as a challenge over the next three years is: how do we transition some of our older clients and keep them as clients?

We don’t want to lose them. We hate seeing people sell out to a large regional or national company.

Because that business leaves FargoMoorhead.

MORE INFO If you’re interested in pursuing financing for a commercial venture or just have questions about the loan approval process, contact: Rock Messerschmidt Senior Vice President & Business Banking Manager 3100 13th Ave. S, Fargo 701-298-1576

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WHAT IT’S LIKE RIDING

LUDICROUS MODE IN THE TESLA MODEL X

By Marisa Jackels, Lead Writer & Social Media Manager, Emerging Prairie Photos courtesy of Emerging Prairie and Scott Bintz

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W

ith the Tesla Model 3 releasing last month at a starting rate of $35,000, a future of gasoline-free cars has become a tangible reality.

Tangible enough that a handful of locals are jumping on for the ride.

Then there are those, like videographer Tim Maly and myself, who use “media badges” as an excuse to ride in a Tesla—I mean, create informative content on the cars of the future. (It’s for the fans.)

It didn’t take much to convince us that we should drive out to Jamestown last Friday to meet with Scott Bintz, founder of RealTruck.com and now the proud owner of a 2016 Tesla Model X P90D.

A little background on this model: it’s incredibly powerful, with a stated outpout at 762 horsepower (259 from the front electric motor, 503 from the rear) and 713 lb-ft of torque. It’s notorious for causing Elon Musk, Tesla Motor's cofounder and CEO, a massive headache for all its special features.

Early deliveries of the car began in September 2015, with around 2,700 units sold by April 2016. This car is a rarity.

We saw it before we even knew what it was. Tim and I were placing bets on how many trucks we’d passed on the highway, and after four in a row, we saw a sleek black object in the distance.

“Is that a truck?” I said. “I’m betting it is.”

But as it got closer, it became apparent that this was no truck—nay, no ordinary car either. The front windshield seemed to stretch all the way up the roof of the car. As it came closer, we saw the distinct silver “T” glistening on the nose of the car.

“THAT’S A TESLA,” said Tim, in all caps.

Making an educated guess that there are likely not that many Teslas in Jamestown, N.D., we were certain it had to be Scott. Sure enough, the sleek SUV turned and followed us into the RealTruck parking lot. Turns out Scott was out giving a coworker a spin.

Except that in a Tesla Model X, a “spin” involves going from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds.

It’s called Ludicrous mode, and it’s the factor that boosts the Model X from a car to a supercar. It’s also the primary reason Scott, who is a total speed junkie and race car driver, bought this model, he later told us.

To get technical for a second, Ludicrous mode is made possible by a tiny lithium ion battery and electronic fuse developed by Tesla, for Tesla. Prior to this Model, Tesla’s power was capped by how much power could be drawn from the battery before the fuse melted, roughly 1,300 amps. The new battery and fuse can draw more power and detect when it will melt, allowing the battery to safely fire out 1,500 amps of

power. A ludicrous amount of power, if you will.

But before we experienced the Luda mode (not sure if people have started calling it that yet, but it’s inevitable), we had a moment that I think Tim will remember for the rest of his life.

Scott greeted us, sporting a Ferrari jacket that complemented his shoulderlength hair, and said this: “Well, I have a meeting for the next 20 minutes so—here,” he dug into his pocket, and handed us a small black object that looked like a Hot Wheels toy.

It was the key.

“Go have fun,” he said.

Trembling, we took the miniature Tesla in our hands and looked at each other, dumbly.

Naturally, we began hitting all the buttons. We found that pressing the back end of the silver streak on the key opened the doors of the car, which open upward like bat wings.

As I walked up to the car to look in, the front door sensed the key's presence and automatically opened for me as well. When I walked away, it shut on its own.

Bear in mind, for context, that each of these things happening were followed by squeals and jumping up and down from Tim and me (mostly Tim). No shame. This thing was freakin’ awesome.

After scoping out all sides of the car, we slid into the driver and passenger seats and inspected everything thoroughly.

One of the first things you notice is that the dashboard is just a giant screen, with no gas tank meter. In its place is a small battery, like one you’d see on your smartphone. It shows the battery life of the car with how many miles you have left. The Model X can hold up to 257 miles worth of charge, and takes around eight hours using 220 systems to be fully charged.

Poking around the console, which is basically a giant iPad, revealed a variety of features: an option to create driver profiles, to customize the features

CHAMBER

COLUMN

to whoever is driving a plug-in to connect your garage door with the car so that it will open upon your arrival even an option to turn on “creep” mode, so that it feels like your car has an engine. (Meaning that the car will move slowly while in drive.)

NEXT

The back of the car looks crammed with seats but is surprisingly roomy.

It can fit up to seven people. Each seat has individual weather control, able to heat and cool as needed. To get in the back, one needs simply press a button and the front seats automatically lower. No more of trying to find those darn handles and clambering over clunky seats.

Speaking of handles, the car itself doesn’t really have any.

The handles are just silver strips along the car, just like on the key. You push on them to open the door, if it hasn’t already opened automatically.

By the time Scott had returned, we were so wrapped up in the car that we had almost lost track of time. He showed us a few other features, explaining how they will likely expand as the car gets software updates.

Of course. Just like a smartphone gets software updates, these ones come directly to your car. Future.

The windshield, for instance, could easily be updated to complement solar power—something that Tesla owner Elon Musk has spoken about integrating into the Teslas, Scott said.

It really does stretch up to the roof, giving the driver’s seat the feeling of being in a cockpit of a plane.

“I thought it was going to be too bright,” Scott said. “But it’s tinted enough that it hasn’t been a problem.”

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Even Scott seemed slightly bewildered by how many options the car offered. For instance, there’s a whole slew of autopilot capabilities that he has yet to install, if he should so choose. (We’ll write about autonomy with the Teslas later.)

would spend on gas that you’re not spending on a Tesla,” he said.

“I’ve only had this a week,” he said, fiddling with the different settings. But there was one setting he definitely knew how to work.

In fact, Scott is toying with a long term plan to fully sustain his car through solar power.

We hit the road. By which I mean Scott pressed the gas pedal and the car turned on. No twist of a key or push of a button. Scott showed how he only need press on the gas to go faster or release to go slower. The brake pedal really is not needed at all.

Scott, however, drives it like a race car driver with one foot on each pedal. The car consistently kept dinging, notifying him that he was pressing both pedals at once.

“Sheesh, I never knew how much I dragged a normal car until I got this,” he said, laughing.

We were on our way to a long stretch of highway by the airport, where he could prove the supercar powers.

On the way, he talked about Tesla life, how he plugs it in each night to his double chargers in his garage to charge it up. How, no, Jamestown is not quite at the level where there are chargers at public places throughout the city. In fact, not everyone even recognizes the car.

With that release of the Model 3, it’s likely more and more people will opt electric over the thousands of dollars that go to gasoline each year, he said.

At its lowest cost, the Tesla Model 3 will easily make up for the cost of gasoline in less than five years.

“At $2 a gallon, about $3,000 a year, in five years, that's $15 grand that you

And that’s not even accounting for maintenance such as oil changes, all of which are not needed with an electric car.

“If I solar’d up my house, you could have a car that would never cost you anything to drive,” he said. “No oil changes, no gas, ever.”

Of course, adding options to the Tesla does make it more pricey than the average gasoline—run car. The Tesla Model X, plus Ludicrous mode (which is an extra $10,000), costs upward of $140,000. You might not guess it from looking at the outside. It’s not flashy like a sports car. It really looks like an SUV. A really sleek SUV. I remember when a rollercoaster at an amusement park near my hometown first opened, boasting that when it launched, it went from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about three seconds. That experience feels like you are thrown against the seat, hurtling into the wind.

This, however, felt almost alarmingly smooth. Scott simply switched a tab that said “Ludicrous mode” to ON. He hit the pedal.

You feel yourself push back in your seat, and instinct tells you to hold on to something. A whirring sound fills the air, similar to the sound a jet makes on the runway. Suddenly the world outside is moving by very, very fast. But the overall effect is silent, swift, a bullet from a gun.

Needless to say, having to actually open the doors to my Mazda and watch my gas tank slowly dwindle down on the road back to Fargo felt so primitive after experiencing the future.

MORE INFO To see video of Marisa’s experience, visit: emergingprairie.com/ridingludicrous-mode-tesla-model-x

CHAMBER LEADERSHIP NEXT

AGRICULTURE AN IMPORTANT AREA BUSINESS

By Craig Whitney ⸋ Photo by J. Alan Paul Photography

A

sk the average person in this region what the top economic drivers are here, and chances are, they’ll tell you it’s oil and gas. While those are certainly among the top industries, we can’t forget about agriculture, as both are equally important to the FargoMoorhead-West Fargo region.

In fact, agriculture is still the No. 1 industry in North Dakota’s economy, and the state typically leads the nation in more than a dozen crops, according to the North Dakota Department of Commerce.

Agriculture is also incredibly important to Minnesota’s economy, where the state is the U.S.'s largest producer of sugar beets, sweet corn, peas and farmraised turkeys.

Here in the metro, so many of our region’s other industries are inherently tied to the ag market. Take local grocery stores, markets and distributors that sell the products our ag industry produces.

Or the booming tech industry, where numerous companies are pioneering products to elevate and streamline farming operations (take a look at the incredible things coming out of Botlink and c2renew, for instance). Or the lenders representing area farmers. Even among our region’s top employers, many are tied to ag. In the top 35 area employers alone, we have North Dakota State University, CNH, John Deere, American Crystal Sugar, RDO Equipment

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and AgCountry Farm Credit Services.

However, while the ag industry is still vital to our area economy, it must be noted that it is seeing some tough times. Low commodity prices and a slowdown in the market puts everyone in a tough predicament. In April, The Chamber hosted three ag experts in a panel discussion on this very issue.

Among some of the things we learned: • Over an 11-year period of time, the physical size of regional farms hasn’t changed, but gross cash income has more than doubled.

• 2012 was the best year, where land values went up 40 percent.

• In the years to follow, net income significantly dropped, but expenses went up.

• Farm debts are increasing.

• North Dakota land values quadrupled from 2004 to 2013, though it’s turned in the last couple of years.

• The average farmer is 59 years old, meaning a lot of transition will be coming.

In these times, it’s tough to make a balance sheet look good for the ag lenders. As a community, we need to take this issue seriously for all of the reasons above and more.

This is also just one of the reasons behind The Chamber’s newest committee on agribusiness. As an extension of our public policy efforts,

the goal with this committee is to bring together a collective voice of businesses and leaders in the ag sector. This is The Chamber’s ninth committee, and we are eager to get to work.

Craig Whitney is the David Berg, president and CEO of president and CEO the Fargo Moorhead of American Crystal West Fargo Chamber Sugar, is serving of Commerce. as the committee’s first chair. The agribusiness committee is still open to additional participants, and all employees of Chamber member companies are welcome to join. Meetings are held at 8 a.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at the Chamber's office in Moorhead.

FMWF Chamber of Commerce fmwfchamber.com 202 1st Ave. N, Moorhead 218-233-1100

LEADERSHIP

Kristin Krile: Krile is the executive director of REACH and Dress for Success Red River Valley. She has been with the organization for three and a half years.

Krile was a graduate of the Chamber’s Leadership Program class of 2015.

She currently serves on the Leadership Program’s Planning Committee.

Samantha Gust: As a professional development coordinator with the FMWF Chamber of Commerce, Gust works with professional development programs such as the Leadership Program, the Young Professionals Network and the Young Entrepreneurs Academy.

She has worked with the Chamber of Commerce for two years. Prior to her work with the Chamber, Gust worked in Grand Forks with the Community Violence Intervention Center.

TODAYS LEADERS FUELING TOMORROW’S PROGRESS

By Hailey Colbrunn | Photo by Paul Flessland

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ow one local program is providing resources for leadership and community development

Brianne Hoffman: Before becoming a communication specialist at Bobcat, Hoffman was a 2014 graduate of the Chamber’s Leadership Program. She has been a member of the Leadership Program’s Planning Committee for two years and is currently a sitting chair of the committee.

LEADERSHIP STARTUP

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hamber of Commerce Professional Development Coordinator Samantha Gust works with a program that offers opportunities both in the classroom, as well as out in the community, for growing leaders to make a difference in their professional lives and for community development.

“The best part about this program is that you are being completely submerged into the community, and so our hope is that we not only create leaders for a company but also for our community,” Gust says.

The program, called Leadership Fargo Moorhead West Fargo, is a 10-month program that sends participants through classes focused on personal leadership development. The program has a specific focus on community issues and creating leaders who are able to address these issues.

Class topics focus on areas such as innovation, entrepreneurship, education, diversity, volunteerism, and city planning, and the topic changes from one class to the next.

“Personally, I gained something from every class session that we had, whether it was something that was more personal to my leadership or something that really opened my eyes to a new community issue,” says Kristin Krile, who went through the program in 2015.

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One way that students of the class are able to apply what they have learned from these classes is through the program's group project component, which is called Community Change Initiatives.

“Each of our individuals who are selected for the class are able to present a change initiative,” Gust says. “It can be anywhere from mental health, veterans, New American issues, youth issues, and that’s the way they’re really able to take the skills they’re learning in the classroom and use them to make a difference in the community.”

An example of a Community Change Initiative project established by a previous group is called Kids Play Passport, which allowed kids from lowincome families to participate in local activities that may not have otherwise been afforded to them.

“Basically, they would sign up different sponsoring companies throughout the community, and children who are in need would get this passbook that they would be able to go to these activities,” says Brianne Hoffman, a past participant of the program.

“They’re really trying to make this a fun initiative to actually make a difference, and that’s pretty cool I think because that’s something that stemmed from this [program] that maybe never would have existed otherwise.”

The program’s focus on community development is successful thanks in large part to the program’s group structure.

“Working in the nonprofit field, I don’t always get the opportunity to interact with different sectors of the community, so I would say that

was a big asset for me,” Krile says.

“In my class, we had members of law enforcement, we had bankers, we had a couple people from nonprofit. So it was great to have an opportunity to get to know people that I otherwise might not have met, and now I tend to see them everywhere.”

"We tap on each other for resources,” Hoffman adds. “Maybe somebody’s spearheading a fundraiser.We’ll reach out to our leadership group and try and get volunteers or judges or whatever the activity calls for. I really have found that to be so beneficial.”

Participants apply from a variety of companies, with different community and personal goals to motivate them, but the outcome demonstrates local ambition and pursuit of progress, participants say.

“You’ll see employers send one of their staff through it, and they see what a valuable experience it was,” said Krile. “I’m encouraging my employees to apply this year.”

For more information about the program, how to apply or other Chamber of Commerce activities, visit fmwfchamber.com

FMWF Chamber of Commerce fmwfchamber.com 202 1st Ave. N. Moorhead 218-233-1100

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Marrah Ferebee can only look on in stunned disbelief at what’s unfolding in front of her.

A young boy, probably eight or nine, throws his cap down in hungry frustration as he realizes there’s not enough money for dinner tonight.

“Well how much would it cost if I didn’t get this?” his dad asks the cashier.

Not the answer he was looking for.

He turns to his son, who he doesn’t realize is already five steps ahead of him, and says it’s time to go.

Ferebee’s maternal instincts kick into overdrive, and she all but throws herself at the boy before he can make his way out into the Los Angeles night.

She grabs him by the shoulders and doesn’t ask but actually demands that he take the rest of the money she has in her pocket and go get himself a good meal.

Shaken, Ferebee sits back down across from Trina Hoffelt, her best friend and business partner and who's also just helped pay for the boy's food.

The two share a look that, if translated, would have said, “It’s 2015. Did that really just happen?”

STARTUPS

“I CAN’T EAT AGAIN?!”

A Lasting Impression

Ferebee and Hoffelt are the two halves of Fargo-based online women’s fashion retailer Ashwood West, and they both point to this episode at an LA restaurant some seven months ago as the day their company “found its heartbeat.”

“I would say it was kind of a sign,” recalls Ferebee, who says that she and Hoffelt were on the West Coast at the time, picking out designs for their spring line. “And it totally broke my heart. And it’s something that will always stay with me, that feeling.”

Ferebee explains that “finding their heartbeat” is really just a fancy way of saying “figuring out their values,” something not just personally important to her and her partner but also a good business decision in a space as crowded as women’s clothing.

“I feel like a lot of Millennials are gearing toward shopping with a purpose,” says Ferebee, whose company now partners with vendors such as Half United, a North Carolina-based accessories company that donates half of its profits to help feed hungry children around the world. “Or finding a way so that it’s more than just shopping. You can do something with your money, more than just buy something for yourself.

“I think it’s something that people can connect with. It’s a lifestyle.

It’s not just, ‘Buy my shirt please.

I want to sell clothes.’ It has life in it.”

Midway Mode

Ashwood West, which is a kind of middle ground between trendy, fast fashion spots like Forever 21 and big box department stores like Macy’s, officially opened for business in February, but its origins can be traced back to a car ride in Pennsylvania more than two years ago.

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Ferebee, who’s a Bismarck native and a graduate of NDSU’s Apparel and Textiles program, had been working for a year in specialty discount retailer rue21’s corporate offices in Pittsburgh when, on the way home one night, her husband floated the idea of moving back to North Dakota so that Ferebee could “start her own thing.”

“It was something I’d always talked about doing,” she says.

“And somthing Trina and I had discussed several times in the past.”

She says she knew that if she was going to make the leap and start a company, she wanted a partner she could really trust and that Hoffelt’s was the first and only face that popped into her head.

Hoffelt, who was both a former coworker and fellow Apparel and Textiles graduate at NDSU, seemed like a natural fit and a complement to Ferebee’s skillset, which was less on the business side and more on the creative.

“We are completely opposite in most ways,” says Hoffelt, who describes herself as the girly yin to Ferebee’s tomboy yang. “But it works. It’s always worked.”

When they were figuring out what niche of the women’s apparel market they wanted to corner, Ferebee says they needed not look much further than their own personal struggles, as well those of their friends.

“We heard it so many times from women our age (26-30) and a little older,” she says.

“They love going into Forever 21, but they don’t want to dig through all the teeny bopper, croppy-top stuff to find clothes.

And it takes hours and it’s just too much and too stressful. So we’re trying to, I guess, sort through all of that and give our

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perspective on this age gap.”

And the struggle is not a new one, adds Hoffelt.

“I remember, as a kid, shopping with my mom, and I would find something and she would never know where to go,” says Hoffelt, who’s four years older than Ferebee. “She was like, ‘Do I shop in juniors or do I go to Mrs.?’ She was always kind of caught in the middle, and I never really thought too much of it (back then).”

They’ve even coined their own term for this fashion no man’s land, calling it the “Milestone Age.” “It comes from this age where people are experiencing big milestones in their lives,” Hoffelt says. “Graduating from college, finding your career path, getting married, buying a house, becoming a first-time mom.

Kind of figuring out who you are in the world.”

Ferebee says she always comes back to a family member of hers when thinking about who they want their stylings to connect with.

“She’s 27, moved out of state for the first time, Ferebee says.

“Beautiful girl but she doesn’t feel confident in knowing how to dress for her age or where to go to do so. It’s a constant struggle for her. That’s the girl I see in my head.”

Hoffelt adds that—perhaps inspired by the unpredictable climate they grew up in, melding form and function has always been a priority when designing Ashwood products.

“I see a girl wearing this stuff every day,” says Hoffelt, who explains that the majority of their line is made to be adaptable to any occasion.

“Like a dress. I would wear it simple, but if you want to

the ashwood look Ferebee and Hoffelt describe their company's aesthetic as equal parts tailored and girly, with an oversized tomboy edge.

They say they keep their color palette "light, white and bright," while keeping the clothes clean, classic and versatile.

On the Ashwood West landing page, more prominent than even their own logo is their pledge to source only domestically manufactured products.

go casual and run a couple errands, you could throw a flannel and a pair of boots on it and call it a day.”

America or Bust

While Ashwood West has four core values that they say inform almost every business decision they make, they’re especially passionate about one of them.

They will not, and they repeat, will not source any of their products from outside the U.S. “It stemmed from a documentary I watched,” Ferebee says. “There was a challenge in it, and it was almost like a dare: ‘Go through your living room and find one thing that was manufactured in this country.’ And I did find one, and it was a toy made in the 1950s.

“And I was shocked. I think it’s important to keep jobs here.

I think it’s important to keep creative people here. I don’t think everything needs to be outsourced. I think we have enough people to draw from in this country, and we can work with that.”

Ferebee and Hoffelt say that while they’ve found a reliable segment of vendors who are able to accommodate their allor-nothing “made in the USA” requests, they’ve already run into some bad apples.

“We got duped by a vendor that sent us a denim shirt that

STARTUPS

Fewer Bricks, Less Mortar

NEXT

CALENDAR

A combination of lower overhead and logistical challenges—Ferebee lives in Halliday, N.D.,* a town of about 200, while Hoffelt calls Fargo home — convinced the two that e-commerce might be the best route to take for their company, at least for now. 100 percent of Ashwood West products are sold via their online store, which is complete with a detailed sizing system and precise product measurements, and in standard startup fashion, they’re storing and shipping everything out of Ferebee’s basement.

“I call it my warehouse,” Ferebee jokes. “It’s good. It’s the hustle. We make it work.”

Ferebee points out that while there are obvious downsides to selling clothes online—the most obvious being that customers can’t touch and try things on before buying—there are other subtle advantages.

“One pro of e-commerce is that you get to show your best foot at all times.

And you don’t have to worry about, ‘Is that employee cleaning my store?

Are customers seeing the best of us when they walk in?’ With online, that’s our presentation to you, and nobody gets to change that.”

Hoffelt (right) and Ferebee (left) model some Ashwood West stylings. You can check out their full line at ashwoodwest.com

Hoffelt and Ferebee say that with the exception of a small shipping snafu, their first couple months in business have been a success, and that right now, they’re mostly focused on marketing and getting the Ashwood West name out into the fashion world’s consciousness.

Ferebee’s home office in Halliday, N.D. She says that even though she and Hoffelt are separated by more than 300 miles, they communicate daily and are always bouncing ideas off one another.

was made in China, even though they told us it wasn’t,” says Ferebee, who explains that denim, more than almost any other textile, is considerably more expensive and near impossible to source domestically. “And now it’s just sitting on our table. And we will not be selling it.

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MAY 2016

“We had that moment where we were like, ‘Nope, we can’t lie to ourselves. It would kill us.’”

Ferebee and Hoffelt say that every day they’re trudging paths they never expected or even considered, but such is the reality of a two-woman band. They’re taking things slowly and that’s okay. They’re concerned with milestones, not how fast they get there.

Ashwood West ashwoodwest.com 3523 44th Ave. S, Fargo marrah@ashwoodwest.com trina@ashwoodwest.com

CALENDAR JOBS NEXT

6

4

MAY 2016

BUSINESS EVENT

CALENDAR 1 560 CONNECT

Every Thursday, 5-6 p.m.

Hosted by the Moorhead Business Association. moorheadbusinessassociation.org/ calendar O'Leary's Pub 808 30th Ave. S, Moorhead

2 LET'S TALK BUSINESS

Every Wednesday, 7-8 a.m.

On May 18, Moorhead Police Chief David Ebinger will provide an update on the Moorhead Police Department. Hosted by the Moorhead Business Association. moorheadbusinessassociation.org/ calendar Fryn' Pan Family Restaurant 2920 U.S. Hwy. 10, Moorhead

3 GEEK MEET FM MEETUP

Tuesday, May 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

They are geeks, nerds, hackers and everything in between. The group was founded primarily on a common interest in diving deeper into web platforms, frameworks, technologies and best practices. They want to create a solid community where geeks can get together, get to know their peers and share their knowledge in an industry that is always changing. They meet on the second Tuesday of the month, with a social hour starting at 6:30 p.m., followed by group announcements and then presentations starting around 7 p.m. The format is flexible. meetup.com/Geek-Meet-FM Location TBD

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MAY 2016

4 CART MONTHLY

Wednesday, May 11, 7:30-8:30 a.m.

E-commerce in Fargo is a happenin' industry.

Learn together over breakfast. May's host is Adam Martodam, vice president of digital marketing at TMI Hospitality. Since starting with TMI Hospitality in 2007, Adam has filled may roles throughout the company. In 2011, he was tasked with the development of TMI’s eCommerce Department and in 2015 assumed responsibility of marketing, which has led to the creation of TMI’s digital marketing department. emergingprairie.com/events TMI Hospitality 4850 32nd Ave. S, Fargo

5 KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER AND HOW THEY

BUY, SO YOU DON'T GET UBERED

Wednesday, May 11, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

By aligning your marketing and technology efforts with your customers' values and expectations, you'll create a lasting and meaningful experience.

During this session, Sundog COO Eric Dukart and CTO Johnathon Rademacher will show you the tools and technology to identify, understand and better engage with your customers for bigger and better results. Event hosted by the FMWF Chamber of Commerce. Registration includes lunch and is $25 per person in advance and $35 at the door for Chamber members and $45 in advance and $55 at the door for nonmembers. fmwfchamber.com Hilton Garden Inn Fargo 4351 17th Ave. S, Fargo

6 AAF-ND LUNCHEON SPEAKER: TAD

CARPENTER FROM CARPENTER COLLECTIVE

Tuesday, May 17, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Tad is a designer, illustrator and teacher based in Kansas City. Tad co-runs the design and branding studio Carpenter Collective with his wife, Jessica, where they focus on bringing powerful messages to life through branding, packaging, illustration and design. They have worked with clients ranging from Target to Macy’s to Old Navy, among many others. Tad will share his story, process on various projects, and what it was like growing up in the Midwest as the son of an illustrator and designer. aaf-nd.org Courtyard by Marriot 1080 28th Ave S, Moorhead

7 CHAMBERCHOICE AWARDS LUNCHEON

Friday, May 20, noon-1:30 p.m.

In celebration of the achievements of our business community, the ChamberChoice Awards Luncheon honors the shining stars in our metro who exemplify excellence through proven stability and/or growth, innovation, creativity, community leadership and achievements. James Cunningham, an award-winning comedian and lecturer, and most recently, bestselling author, will serve as our master of ceremonies. Event hosted by the FMWF Chamber of Commerce. Registration includes lunch and is $35 per person in advance and $45 at the door for Chamber members. $650 for corporate table sponsorship. $50 in

7

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advance and $60 at the door for non-members. fmwfchamber.com Ramada Plaza & Suites and Conference Center 1635 42nd St. S, Fargo

8 CHANGE: DO NOT FEAR IT. EMBRACE IT!

Tuesday, May 24, 3:30-5 p.m.

When we understand and accept the fact that change is constant and nothing good or bad lasts forever, we are more apt to embrace change and enjoy the challenges and learning opportunities that come with it. Join Lisa Borgen, Vice President of Administration at American Crystal Sugar Company, as we discuss our experiences with changes in our lives, our careers, our families and ourselves. Also hear from Michelle Kommer, Western State Bank, and Kristi Ulrich, Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota. Event hosted by the FMWF Chamber of Commerce. $25 per person in advance and $35 at the door for Chamber members and $45 in advance and $55 at the door for non-members. fmwfchamber.com Avalon Events Center 2525 9th Ave. S, Fargo

9 CORPORATE CUP

Thursday, May 26, 3:15-8 p.m.

The Corporate Cup is a series of competitive events promoting physical fitness and friendly competition among the business community.

Teams will battle for points in activities such as basketball, an obstacle course, tug of war and more! The event is open to all employees

and fitness levels. Participation is open to all Chamber member businesses. Teams will be composed of up to 15 male and female participants. The cost to participate is $250 per team. fmwfchamber.com Minnesota State University Moorhead 1104 7th Ave. S, Moorhead

10 DRONE FOCUS CONFERENCE

Wednesday, June 1, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.

A world class drone industry event. Will feature a presentation from Chancellor Mark Hagerot of the North Dakota University System and a CEO panel moderated by Kilbourne Group Founder and North Dakota gubernatorial candidate Doug Burgum. emergingprairie.com/events The Stage at Island Park 333 4th St. S, Fargo

11 INTEGREON INTERNATIONAL CHARITY

CHALLENGE

Saturday, June 4, 8 a.m.

Integreon challenges you to run, walk, volunteer or donate in support of four great local charitable organizations. Join us in supporting CHARISM, the Marv Bossart Foundation for Parkinson's Support, the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, and the YWCA Cass Clay. 100 percent of event proceeds will benefit our race beneficiaries. challenge.integreon.com Iwen Park 1209 52nd Ave. S, Fargo

Fargo INC!, Fargo Monthly and Gofargojobs.com bring you a section dedicated jobs in Fargo-Moorhead.

Here you’ll find...

The Fastest-growing Some great new places

HIRING

JOBS in North Dakota!

85

JOBS

What employers want

By Rick Berg

I

Photo by J. Alan Paul Photography

t’s no secret that Fargo’s job market is booming right now. Opportunity is abundant here for entrepreneurs, artists, recent graduates, skilled workers and more, and whether you’re coming from halfway around the world or just the next town over, there are a variety of opportunities for you to make an impact.

We spoke with local business leaders who weighed in on the dynamics of the city’s job market and the universal qualities their companies seek in a candidate. We’ve shared their insights so you can judge for yourself whether you’re a good fit.

1) Innovators

Fargo is a hotspot for innovation, and the area’s top employers expect their new hires to be no different. Our leaders are looking for people who don’t hesitate to share new ideas and speak their minds.

The ability to not only think outside the box but also articulate those thoughts and take actionable steps toward achieving them are all highly attractive qualities that distinguish which potential hires will be a strong fit.

2) Self-motivators

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MAY 2016

3) Team Players

Working together is a common practice within the region, and our leaders search for those who can collaborate with others and produce unprecedented results.

People who can both support and challenge their teammates will thrive, whether the teammates are sitting next to them at the table or halfway around the world. Our leaders also create transparent environments, which strengthens not only each player but the team as a whole.

4) Community Engagers

Our city supports people who have ideas and people who don’t need permission to act on them. Our leaders look for people who know how to lead themselves, don’t need prompting to solve a problem, can approach challenges with a positive attitude and can lead others.

Fargo has always had a strong sense of community. From helping our neighbors sandbag during flood season to traveling south for football championships to celebrating entrepreneurs in popular local events, we’ve always been a community that supports one another.

The community atmosphere exists within our job market as well, and it’s one of the top qualities leading employers look for with new hires. Engagement, both professional and personal, demonstrates a commitment to your teammates, your partners, your collaborators and the people who support you. Employers here want you to build a relationship with the people you’re working to solve problems for, and the best way to accomplish that

is to engage with them. You can bet they’ll have your back, too.

While this is only a sampling of what recruiters are searching for with new hires, these qualities are highly regarded within the local job market. If you think you’d make a good fit, we hope you make the leap to explore the city and learn more about this community. We’d be happy to learn from you.

JOBS

Fargo Metro

Total employment

JOBs RE

Percent change

1.8%

March 2016

March 2015

139,100 136,600 Educational & health services March 2016: 22,700 March 2015: 21,900

Percent change: 3.7%

Professional & business services

Information

Percent change: 5.1%

Percent change: 3.2%

Leisure & hospitality

Transportation, warehousing & utilities

Percent change: 4.4%

Percent change: 1.9%

Mining, logging & construction

Government

Percent change: 3.8%

Percent change: 1.1%

March 2016: 16,500 March 2015: 15,700

March 2016: 14,100 March 2015: 13,500

March 2016: 8,300 March 2015: 8,000

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MAY 2016

March 2016: 3,200 March 2015: 3,100

March 2016: 5,400 March 2015: 5,300

March 2016: 18,300 March 2015: 18,100

All data from Job Service North Dakota’s Workforce Intelligence Network, unless otherwise noted.

PORT Financial activities

March 2016: 10,800 March 2015: 10,700 Percent change: 0.9%

Wholesale trade

March 2016: 9,000 March 2015: 9,000 Percent change: 0%

Retail trade

March 2016: 15,900 March 2015: 16,000 Percent change: -0.6%

Other services

March 2016: 5,200 March 2015: 5,300 Percent change: -1.9%

Manufacturing

March 2016: 9,700 March 2015: 10,000 Percent change: -3%

FARGO METRO

JOBS

(According to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2014)

PER CAPITA INCOME

$48,914

15 Highest-Paying Jobs in Fargo Metro (2015 estimated mean annual wage)

Education administrators, postsecondary

Psychiatrists

1.

$260,000

7.

$128,340

$236,560

8.

Dentists, general

3.

4.

$211,360 Family & general practitioners

$204,120

6.

$181,120 Judges, magistrate judges & magistrates

$138,570 90

9.

MAY 2016

$128,030 Computers & information systems managers

$114,400

13.

10.

$113,910 Financial managers

11.

$113,390

$112,750 Pharmacists

$111,640 Sales engineers

14.

$108,490 Personal financial advisors

Medical & health services managers

Chief executives

5.

12.

Business teachers, postsecondary

Physicians & surgeons, all other

2.

Architectural & engineering managers

15.

$107,630

Marketing

Sales

Digital Strategy Intern (Paid) Search Marketing Intern

JOBS

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia

Sales Account Manager

Fargo, ND

How do I apply?

AdShark Marketing is a digital marketing agency focused on driving revenue for our clients by making data-driven decisions and implementing SEO, social media, search and paid placement strategies. We have a client-first mindset and strive to maximize ROI for all our clients.

Go Fargo Jobs is looking for an entrepreneurial sales account manager to lead our sales program. The ideal candidate has two to three years of successful sales experience.

info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Howmore to apply: Email adsharkmarketing.com/careers

How to apply:

Digital Intern (Paid) ProductStrategy Marketing Intern

Digital Strategy Intern (Paid) Sales Representative

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia

Email careers@gofargojobs.com

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia

How doa Italented apply?student to help us add new products Seeking to our website and marketplaces, write new product descriptions, optimize existing content pages, and assist the merchandising and marketing staff with other duties as assigned. 20-40 hours per week, June through August. info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Howmore to apply: Email careers@dogids.com

How do I apply?

Custom Graphics Inc., a leader in the screen printing, sign, and graphics industry is seeking an enthusiastic and self-motivated person with good communication skills to fill a sales representative position in Fargo-Moorhead with travel in the surrounding area.

Howmore to apply: info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Email zach@customgraphicsinc.com

E - Commerce Brands Manager Assistant

Fargo, Fargo, ND ND

Position work in Fargo or Jamestown. Will work closely How do can I apply? with our brand managers and assist them in the process of getting new products on our site and maintaining existing products. Requirements: experience with Excel and an ability to take on multiple tasks and prioritize.

How to apply:

92

Email realtruck.com/careers

Intern - Web Development

Fargo, ND

Seeking a student to assist with various tasks, including current website development and improving the customer experience of visitors to the dogIDs website. Experience with PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript preferred but not required. 15 to 40 hours per week.

How to apply:

Email careers@dogids.com

Digital Intern (Paid) GraphicStrategy Design Intern

Digital Strategy Internspecialist (Paid) Part-time production

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia

Join our How domarketing I apply? team today as a graphic design intern

at RealTruck! Responsibilities: assisting our graphic designer with promotional graphics, editing product images and staff photos, developing and editing graphics for use on our social media platforms and having fun.

Seeking organized and efficient individual to join our How doanI apply? production team at dogIDs. Engrave, sew, embroider, and ship high-quality products for dogs and their humans.

Previous fulfillment or production experience preferred but not necessary. 20 hours per week in three to four-hour shifts.

Howmore to apply: Email realtruck.com/careers info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM

Howmore to apply: info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Email careers@dogids.com

MAY 2016

Management JOBS

Digital Strategy&Intern (Paid) Store Manager Assistant Manager

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia

Workflow Coordinator

Fargo, ND

How do I apply?

Petro Serve USA is looking for qualified individuals who have integrity, can provide outstanding customer service, strive for excellence, are eager to learn, and can consistently and respectfully work as a team member. We offer competitive pay, benefits, 401k, paid vacation and sick leave.

Howmore to apply: info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Email petroserveusa.com

Customer Service

Howmore to apply: info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Email careers.us@integreon.com

Cashier

Digital Strategy InternSpecialist (Paid) Document Processing

Fargo, ND

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia

Petro Serve USA is looking for individuals to work our 3p.m.-11p.m. shifts. Petro Serve USA is looking for individuals who have integrity, can provide outstanding customer service, strive for excellence, are eager to learn, and can consistently and respectfully work as a team member.

This position supports word processing and presentation graphics for all projects received through Integreon. They will also be responsible for the completion of all work given to them by a Workflow Coordinator (WFC).

How to apply:

Email petroserveusa.com

Technology

How do I apply?

How to apply: Email careers.us@integreon.com more info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM

Digital Strategy Intern (Paid) Digital Marketing Intern

Digital Strategy Intern (Paid) Intake Specialist

Spotlight Media West Fargo, ND

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia

How do I apply?

RealTruck is looking for an intern to help assist in our PLA & PPC marketing strategies. It’s a great opportunity for someone looking to learn the ropes in the wild world of online marketing. A business major with a concentration in marketing or advertising is preferred.

The purpose of this position is to provide administrative support to the assigned client. The duties in this position may range from meeting preparation, internal and external correspondence, report preparation, and document and word processing assistance.

Howmore to apply: info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Email petroserveusa.com

info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Howmore to apply: Email careers.us@integreon.com

Digital Strategy Intern (Paid) System Admin

Spotlight Media West Fargo, ND

How looking do I apply?

We’re for a full-time addition to our IT team to help maintain our servers and workstations at our Fargo office.

Must have 5+ years experience in systems administration, 5+ years experience with both Linux and Windows and possess the ability to adapt to new technologies.

Howmore to apply: info at SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM Email realtruck.com/careers 94

This position manages word processing projects by communicating with clients and assigning projects to other Integreon associates.

MAY 2016

How do I apply?

Health Care

Digital Strategy Registered NurseIntern (Paid)

Spotlight Fargo, NDMedia How do I apply?

Prairie St. John’s, a 110-bed psychiatric care facility located in Fargo, N.D., has been providing services for children, adolescents, adults, and seniors to address mental health issues, chemical dependency or addiction, and cooccurring disorders since 1997.

How to apply:

Email PSJHR@uhsinc.com