A Robust Roundtable

On a chilly morning back in February, I sat in a spacious conference room staring out a wall of windows at the landscape south of Bismarck, N.D. I was in the Harold Schafer Leadership Center on the University of Mary campus on important business: Prairie Business was hosting its first 2016 Community Profile roundtable discussion. It would highlight the unique business environment Bismarck and Mandan have to offer, outline the cities’ strengths, areas of growth and even some struggles. I had high hopes for a robust, informative and active conversation. As I left more than two hours later, I couldn’t have been more pleased.

The 11 guests who sat in that room with Prairie Business staff were educated, informed and passionate about their respective sectors in Bismarck-Mandan and the impact they had on the communities as a whole. Bismarck-Mandan boasts four main economic drivers — higher education, government, health care and energy — and we had the key players sitting right in that room with us. I walked away from that discussion elated about the things I learned and the things our guests learned from each other. It was a perfect kickoff to the reintroduction of Community Profiles in 2016, to be followed by Fargo-West Fargo-Moorhead, Grand Forks-East Grand Forks and Minot later this year. Read more about Bismarck-Mandan starting on page 36.

This issue also explores how engineering programs at colleges and universities are growing and expanding, spurred by increased enrollment. The fact that engineers are highly recruited today prompts interest from young people in joining the sector, with high potential for jobs post-graduation. Schools are offering more courses, degrees and certificates, from minors to graduate programs. Find out what the deans of a few of North Dakota’s most prominent engineering schools say about their course offerings, the growth in the sector and the exciting prospects for their graduates. Find it on page 30.

This month’s Business Insider profiles a well-known business entrepreneur, politician, appointed federal government employee and, now, university president. Ed Schafer is serving as the University of North Dakota’s interim president until June 30, when new president Mark Kennedy takes the helm. “Jack of All Trades” is too cliché a headline, so we didn’t use it, but it’s fitting. Learn about Schafer’s many successes and why he’s happy to be in his temporary position, problems he sees with the higher education norm and what he thinks needs to change. The story starts on page 28.

Transportation is another theme in this April issue of Prairie Business, so we profile an enormous project in the works near Sioux Falls, S.D. The public-private partnership involves many entities that hope to construct an Interstate 29 interchange near Sioux Falls. The project’s supporters say the economic development benefits are reason enough to install the interchange. See who’s involved, who is bringing the cash and what further development they hope to see, on page 42.

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that Prairie Business has redesigned its website and it’s quite impressive, if I may say so. If you haven’t yet, please take the time to peruse: www.prairiebusinessmagazine.com.

With that, I am pleased to present the April issue of Prairie Business. PB

KORRIE WENZEL, Publisher

LISA GIBSON, Editor

KAYLA PRASEK, Staff Writer

BETH BOHLMAN, Circulation Manager

KRIS WOLFF, Layout Design, Ad Design

Account Executives:

JOHN FETSCH

701.212.1026 jfetsch@prairiebusinessmagazine.com

NICHOLE ERTMAN

800. 477.6572 ext. 1162 nertman@prairiebusinessmagazine.com

Prairie Business magazine is published monthly by the Grand Forks Herald and Forum Communications Company with offices at 375 2nd Avenue North, Grand Forks, ND 58203. Qualifying subscriptions are available free of charge. Back issue quantities are limited and subject to availability ($2/copy prepaid). The opinions of writers featured in Prairie Business are their own. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork are encouraged but will not be returned without a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Subscriptions Free subscriptions are available online to qualified requestors at www.prairiebizmag.com

Address corrections

Prairie Business magazine PO Box 6008

Grand Forks, ND 58206-6008

Beth Bohlman: bbohlman@prairiebusinessmagazine.com

Online www.prairiebusinessmagazine.com