Prairie Business April 2020

THE MAGIC OF MINOT REDISCOVERING 20

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Magic Find the

Imoved to the Northern Plains from Idaho’s Magic Valley, not realizing North Dakota had its own magic community. It does.

The west-central community of Minot, nicknamed “The Magic City,” reminds me of my previous home in Idaho. Both places get their nicknames from past events. For instance, Idaho’s Magic Valley was named after early settlers learned to harness the underground aquifers and water from the Snake River and turned an arid landscape into a fertile agriculture valley. As if by magic, the desert blossomed as the rose.

North Dakota’s Magic City sprung up when a railway construction crew set up its winter camp and the population it attracted ever after, turning it into a progressive Midwestern city. Another magic moment in history. There was no wizardry involved in either place, just a lot of vision, determination, and hard work.

Each origin story has its place in the historical records of their state, but I have found that the real magic of both places is their people.

This was reinforced when I visited Minot for the first time on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Prairie Business staff met with several community and business leaders, gleaning from their insight and passion about the area they are working hard to sustain and promote.

We were thrilled to learn about some of the community’s priorities and projects.

You can read more about Minot in our cover story, “Rediscovering the Magic of Minot,” and another piece about one of the community’s construction projects, a spacious health campus that Trinity Health is building.

Keep reading, in this issue we also have articles on trends in technology and real estate, as well as a story about what one North Dakota college is doing – and why – to become a polytechnical institution.

The articles in this issue were prepared before the world went crazy with the COVID-19 pandemic. A lot has changed since then, making it even more important for us to find hope and magic in these uncertain times. But I still believe there is magic all around us, in North Dakota and elsewhere. It’s up to us to find it, add a little something of our own charm to it, and experience the results.

That’s what the people of Minot have done and continue to do. I wish the same for you, wherever you’re reading. Stay well.

Until next time, Andrew Weeks

I look forward to hearing from you at aweeks@prairiebusinessmagazine.com or 701-780-1276.

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ANDREW WEEKS

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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. 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.

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The Big Housing Crunch

A lack of homes is freezing up the market in the upper Midwest and across the country

By Sam Easter

Larry Luetke knows all about the big housing crunch. As president of the Sioux Falls-area real estate association, he has his finger on the local market’s pulse – and knows just how tough the economy can be on homeowners.

In Sioux Falls – like in housing markets everywhere – a lack of homes is freezing up the market. Buyers are finding it harder to buy, and prospective sellers know that it might not be so easy to find a home of their own – even if they can easily sell the ones they’re in now.

"The market has been moving so quick. We have a lot of people that would sell their house in a heartbeat, but they can't find what they're looking for," he said. "There is a lot of inventory out there that's just not on the market.”

That’s true of most places in the upper Midwest and the country as a whole. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, of course; as of December, Grand Forks, N.D., realtors said metrics appeared to be tilting back toward a buyer’s market. But in Sioux Falls, like in many other places, there’s consternation.

"The most common lot price in our city right now is about a $50,000 lot,” Luetke said. “If I look back to 2008, 2007, when we were at peak the last time, where we were at was about $20,000 to $25,000. A lot of it comes to labor costs, too.”

Luetke, who is also a member of the city of Sioux Falls’ planning commission, said one considered fix has been tinkering with zoning laws to help spur local development. And in early March, the City Council voted 7-1 to rezone a portion of office land to townhomes, KELO reports, to the consternation of the neighborhood.

“If we're going to get to the point where we start treating all residential (construction) as blighting on a neighborhood, we're in deep trouble,” Councilmember Greg Neitzert countered.

Sioux Falls is one of the places where prices are surging the fastest. According to data from the National Association of Realtors, the

median price of a single-family home grew from $202,400 at the end of 2018 to $223,500 at the end of last year – a 10.4% surge, and among the highest in the country. But it’s far from the only place with price increases. Across 2019, Fargo saw a 2.9% increase; Bismarck, a 7.3% hike; and in the Twin Cities metro area, prices surged 5.8%. “(Tight supply) is rippling through all of our other metrics,” said David Arbit, the director of research and economics for Minneapolis Association of Realtors. “The fact that supply is so tight and inventory

HOUSING PRICE HIKE

LIKE OTHER PLACES IN THE COUNTRY, A LACK OF HOMES IN THE UPPER MIDWEST IS FREEZING UP THE MARKET. BUYERS ARE FINDING IT HARDER TO PURCHASE HOMES, AND PROSPECTIVE SELLERS KNOW THAT IT MIGHT NOT BE SO EASY TO FIND A HOME OF THEIR OWN, EVEN IF THEY CAN EASILY SELL THE ONES THEY’RE IN NOW. COURTESY OF MINNEAPOLIS ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

Chart by: Sam Easter

Source: National Association of Realtors; data not seasonally adjusted

is so low, that is driving prices higher, days on market lower.”

Gay Cororaton, director of housing and commercial research for the National Association of Realtors, points out that the Midwest as a whole – which includes a swath of states beyond the Dakotas and Minnesota –is growing quickly, owing to comparatively low prices. Statistics from NAR show the median sale price for a Midwestern home at $212,900 in 2019; lower than any other region in the U.S., and drastically lower than western states, where the median price tops $400,000.

The trends in Sioux Falls, Minneapolis and beyond intersect with national debates about how to provide more housing for more people. Minneapolis famously moved to end single-family zoning in the city last year, freeing developers to build higher-density neighborhoods. Oregon leaders have moved in the same direction, though it’s unclear how soon neighborhoods will see those effects. And leaders in California, where housing crunches are particularly severe, are still struggling to find a path forward.

“America has a housing crisis,” journalist Conor Dougherty wrote in an essay for the New York Times. “The homeownership rate for young adults is at a multi-decade low, and about a quarter of renters send more than half their income to the landlord. Homelessness is resurgent, eviction displaces a million households a year, and about four million people spend at least three hours driving to and from work.”

There are bright spots ahead. Ironically, some real estate observers are bullish on the recent federal rate cut – the largest since the 2008 crisis – made as fears of coronavirus wrack financial markets.

Jill Beck knows all about the big housing crunch, too. As the CEO of the North Dakota Association of Realtors, she has a finger on the local market’s pulse – and she knows from direct experience how tough the economy can be on homeowners, especially when tough times for businesses come along.

She points in particular to recent layoffs in the state’s energy industry, which came along exactly when friends of hers didn’t need it. It’s a story right at the intersection of workforce and housing, throwing into sharp relief what’s at stake in a tight market.

“They got an offer on their home,” she said. “The next day they found they might be out of jobs in a month.”

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Face-to-Face with Video Conferencing

By Andrew Weeks

Face-to-face meetings have taken on new meaning in the digital age.

Just ask Joe Grady, whose business transactions are often conducted through a computer monitor. In-person visits with clients still have value, but the majority of his face-to-face interactions happen through video conferencing.

It’s a phenomenon that is trending not only in the upper Midwest but across the country.

Video conferencing has been around for years with the advent of tools like Skype and FaceTime, but it has become much more than a social trend. It has changed the way many businesses function.

Grady, a sales manager for Marco, is on the road several times a month and said he uses video to keep in touch with the home office as well as clients. It’s the way he participates in most of the company’s meetings.

“Video culture is a big deal, at least it is inside of our organization and we use it multiple times a day,” he said. “Anytime we have conference calls, it’s video calls.”

He said the company hires talented people from many states and it uses technology, in particular video conferencing, to help them stay connected and feel like part of the team.

“A perfect example,” he said: “Our executive staff is not all in a corporate office anymore. Our leadership staff as a whole is scattered across five states. But we use video every single day for team meetings, or client meetings and all sorts of stuff so we can have talent across multiple spaces without having to worry about hiring in just one small market.”

He knows this from personal experience. Grady lives near Applewood, Wis., but Marco is a St. Cloud, Minn.-based company with offices in the Dakotas. He said video conferencing has helped make the company more efficient.

“Video conferencing, statistically, is dramatically more efficient,” Grady said.

And despite what the naysayers might shout about how technology distracts from interpersonal communication, Grady said in his experience it creates “higher levels of interaction” and has become less expensive over the past four or five years as businesses have better figured out how to use it to their advantage.

It’s much the same thing Forbes said in a 2017 publication. Partnering with the video conferencing company Zoom, they explained: “Humans are profoundly visual creatures. Establishing rapport, trust and genuine understanding requires visual cues. Learning is further enhanced by imagery. This is long understood; and indeed, video conferencing and accompanying tools have been around for some time. But only now, thanks to vast improvements in cost and quality, is the solutions set achieving its true promise.”

Forbes said in many offices landlines would be replaced by video tools and for certain industries, such as education and healthcare, video conferencing and its accompanying tools “could even be called revolutionary.”

Or as Grady described it, increasing trends in technology have caused a “culture shift” within companies” as the cost to use video in business has “become dramatically less expensive.

“Therefore,” he said, “the adoption rate has changed as economies of scale have made it a lot better, a lot easier to do, so you see a lot of companies that do a lot of Cloud-based video conferencing capabilities, which gives us a much cheaper and much more versatile solution for organizations, including ours.”

Video may also take on new meaning in a disease-worried world with regard to COVID-19.

Karla Santi, founder and CEO of Blend Interactive, a web design and development company in Sioux Falls, said at least a couple of her 20 or so employees already worked remotely but the fear and threat of this strain of the coronavirus prompted her to look into developing policies to make work-from-home meet the company’s expectations for all of her staff during these uncertain times.

“We’ve outfitted our office with Zoom rooms and AVI equipment,” she said. “Our business is unique because we’re pretty much equipped digitally for a fully remote team. But from a business perspective, (everything surrounding COVID-19) went bonkers.”

She said digital tools, including video, are a boon in times like this.

Tools of the trade

All of the employees at Gate City Bank use video conferencing in some way, usually for meetings and to stay connected with those in different branches and offices, according to Robert Ross, vice president of administration. Ross is based in Fargo, but Gate City employees are scattered across North Dakota and Minnesota. Video conferencing allows them all to stay connected as a team. He said video has a bigger impact than typical conference calls.

Knowing the impact that video conferencing can have – i.e. seeing a face instead of just hearing a voice – the company even went so far as to create virtual conference rooms and incorporate technology into its furniture.

In a main meeting room, for instance, instead of having a video as a second thought tucked away in a corner the company designed the room so the video screen has its own place at the table.

“Our joke with video conferencing is it used to kind of be the redheaded stepchild over in the corner,” Ross said. “Now we've actually put it into our facilities and our furniture.”

Trends in technology, including video tools, have caused a ‘culture shift’ within companies

GATE CITY BANK HAS INCORPORATED VIDEO CONFERENCING TOOLS INTO ITS OFFICES, INCLUDING MONITORS ON WALLS IN SMALL AND LARGE CONFERENCE ROOMS SUCH AS THIS ONE. IMAGE: COURTESY OF GATE CITY BANK

As an example: The wide end of a pie-shaped conference table is where a monitor has been placed so that the person on the other end “becomes part of the conversation,” he said.

In 2016 Microsoft predicted the future of video conferencing, explaining on its website to watch for three things: A younger workforce will expect high-quality video conferencing services; video conferencing would be used for more than the traditional virtual meeting; and virtual reality would take video conferencing to the next level.

Four years later much of this has come to pass, which begs the question: What’s next?

For Gate City Bank, Ross has an answer.

“People have an appetite for video conferencing, people are finding more and more needs for it,” he said. “The challenges are keeping up with people's appetite and their needs for it.”

He said Gate City is finding ways to utilize the technology to serve customers, though implementing a video conference base for customers likely won’t happen for a while.

“Technology through a normal video conferencing app or like WebEx, Zoom, GoToMeeting, things like that – they're all trending toward having technologies like that, making it so (users) are able to utilize what the customers are asking for,” he said. “We still want to have that person-to-person communication and have that opening for people.”

The question being asked now is: “How can we bring it to our customers? Technology-wise, how can we be able to have a video conference with a customer? … That's what the technology is moving toward, where we're able to have those opportunities, and we're really looking forward to something like that.”

The everywhere tool

At least four types of video conferencing is available today: desktop, mobile, room-based and telepresence, the latter allowing the participants to feel as if they are truly in the same room.

Grady said he uses multiple applications but a common tool anymore for him is the mobile device. With mobile technology, he said, there are not many places where a savvy business person couldn’t video conference.

“I do it from my home office, from my work office. We have conference rooms that are fully outfitted with video conferencing systems,” he said. “If I’m a passenger in a car there’s an application on my phone that I can turn on and have a whole video conference.”

Grady’s sales team is scattered across two states, which makes it difficult for him to conduct in-person visits frequently, but through video he could see his staff every day if he wanted. He and his team’s telepresence make all the difference.

“For me, having video calls with them so they can see me and I can see them, it creates a much better team environment,” he said, noting that similar benefits apply to their clients.

“We’re seeing a larger customer base that has access to video,” he said. “So rather than take resources that may be harder to get, from point A to point B, we’re able to video conference and get expertise from different areas that have evolved with our clients and prospects on a much faster basis without airfare and travel.”

ANDREW WEEKS PRAIRIE BUSINESS EDITOR AWEEKS@PRAIRIEBUSINESSMAGAZINE.COM

Forecasting

the commercial real estate market in the Fargo-Moorhead metro

Just a few short months ago, it would have been very unlikely that any of us could have accurately predicted recent events such as the impact of the coronavirus on our economy or the plunge in oil prices worldwide. Throw in the fact we are in an election year, and predicting the future becomes an even harder task.

However, when it comes to looking at what 2020 may bring in the world of commercial real estate across the Fargo-Moorhead metro, we can look at the recent past to better predict what is likely to play out in the year ahead.

Let’s take a look at some recent trends we track very closely from publicly listed properties in our market, along with some likely future outcomes in the major segments of the local commercial real estate world in the southern Red River Valley.

Office Market

Across the Fargo-Moorhead metro, we have been in an “oversupply” market of office space for a few years now. Just one year ago, we stood at roughly 1.34 million square feet of available space on the office lease market. As of early March, we are hovering around 1 million square feet of available lease space in the metro. While that shows positive progress on the demand side, that still leaves us a few years of inventory available at the current lease-up volume we are seeing. Lease rates have held pretty consistent recently; however, we do notice more leasing incentives such as rent abatements or increased fit-up allowances being offered to lure new tenants. With historically low interest rates, I would not be shocked to see demand for lease space to be neutral in 2020 as more businesses who have been leasing get off the fence to finally buy or build something they can own. Expect lease rates to remain largely stable, with inventory likely increasing to a small degree.

Industrial Market

The trend lines in our local industrial market look different than the office market, with a bit more volatility in the past 12 months, yet signs of strength now seem to be appearing. The market peaked at around 1.46 million square feet of available space about seven months ago, but it has seen a gradual decline in available space since then with strong lease-up activity at the close of 2019.

Year-over-year, we have about the same amount of inventory today as we had a year ago, however (about 1.17M SF for lease today and in March 2019). Much of that inventory is in very large distribution/logistic industrial properties that have recently come on the market (or will be coming online this spring), so it is going to take some new, large industrial users to make a dent in that inventory.

I believe the strong second half of 2019 will continue, with inventory trending downward in 2020 and rental rates remaining stable.

Andy Westby

Retail Market

The local market for retail lease space has taken the biggest hit in the past year, with available inventory up about 25% year-over-year (currently at 842,000 SF available). Of every category we track, retail currently has the highest days on market as well at over 509 days across almost 100 listings for vacant space.

Somewhat surprisingly, the asking rents for retail space remain pretty steady. However, given the amount of inventory and climbing age of those listings, I expect downward pressure on retail rents in 2020. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see inventory climb for a couple more quarters as well.

Multi-family Market

Most owners and investors in our area are well aware of the higher than average vacancy we have experienced in the past few years. Appraisal Services Inc., a Fargo-based commercial real estate appraisal firm, has produced a quarterly apartment vacancy survey for more than 20 years.

Based on their most recent apartment survey for Q4 2019, there is reason for optimism in this market, however. With physical vacancy rates approaching almost 10% as recently as Q4 2018, we have seen improvements in vacancy rates in most areas of the metro along with a sharp reduction in new units coming online.

Even with vacancy rates above historical standards, we have not seen a softening in demand or prices for the purchase of multi-family units in the FM metro. It seems local owners are still actively seeking out new deals and are willing to pay a good cap rate to acquire them.

I expect continued improvement in the metro vacancy rates for 2020 with cap rates to remain stable to possibly decreasing (i.e. increasing values), provided we don’t see an unexpected spike in interest rates at some point later this year.

ANDY WESTBY IS PRESIDENT AND MANAGING BROKER OF GOLDMARK COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE INC.

A Move to Polytech

Bismarck State College is changing its mission in an effort to help the labor market by seeking accreditation as a polytechnical institution

By Andrew Weeks

In an effort to better support the business community and the state’s workforce needs, Bismarck State College is pursuing a change to its mission. If all goes as planned it will become an accredited polytechnical institution by next spring, offering bachelor of applied science degrees. It already is on track, offering two technical courses and adding a third this fall.

The change does not distract from what the college already offers in the way of certificate, diploma, and associate degrees. Instead, said Dr. Dan Leingang, the college’s vice president of academic affairs, it builds upon what the school already offers and will serve a state need of qualifying more students to work in technical fields.

What’s more, it will be the only college in North Dakota to offer polytechnical degree training.

“We consider it more of a mission enhancement than a mission change because of everything we’re doing now,” he said. “But we're adding more, expanding more of our four-year degree options. … We’ll still do everything that we're currently doing. We're not losing our transfer mission.”

The process started about two years ago when workforce needs were evaluated in the state by several organizations, including the North Dakota Workforce Development Council. The council last spring took its findings to the state legislature, he said, along with the idea of accrediting the college – something the State Board of Higher Education proactively proposed in September 2018.

The technical courses approved for the college so far are in energy management and cyber security, Leingang said. Another will be reviewed this fall.

“As soon as we make a request for the third four-year degree, it's going to be with our accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission,” he said. “That's what will trigger the sort of metamorphosis for our campus to have this new mission. … We're looking at technical four-year degrees that will reach the needs of our workforce industry partners.”

According to Leingang, polytechnical is trending across the states. “All across the country there are community colleges that are being challenged to do this, to offer more four-year degrees,” he said. “Typically you don't see the four-year degrees in a community college

BISMARCK STATE COLLEGE IS CHANGING ITS MISSION TO BECOME A POLYTECHNICAL INSTITUTION. THE TECHNICAL COURSES APPROVED FOR THE COLLEGE SO FAR ARE IN ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND CYBER SECURITY, ACCORDING TO DR. DAN LEINGANG, THE COLLEGE’S VICE PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS. A THIRD COURSE WILL BE REVIEWED THIS FALL IMAGES: COURTESY OF BISMARCK STATE COLLEGE

setting, but that's where we have been and that's why I think the state looked at BSC as positioned to be able to add on and do those four-year degrees. We’re already there.”

Bismarck State will play a crucial role for polytech not only in North Dakota, but in the upper Midwest. According to Leingang, the closest school with polytech is the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Wisconsin was given its polytechnic designation in 2007. “This designation is only applicable to about 3% of universities in the U.S. and includes other highly respected polytechnic peers such as Cal Poly, Michigan Tech, and MIT,” according to information on its website.

Leingang said BSC’s mission will be different than other colleges.

“Every one of those states like Florida or Colorado or California, Washington, their journey is different. Some of those schools will be authorized to do bachelor of arts or bachelor of science,” he said. “For us in North Dakota, we've been given the authorization to do a bachelor of applied science, basically a technical four-year degree, so that's what we're going to do, that's how we're going to move forward.”

Bismarck State, first known as Bismarck Junior College, opened to students in September 1939. After several moves because of growth and the need for more space, the college moved in 2007 to its current $2 million facility in Mandan.

Leingang said the college has not yet determined what the third polytech course will be, but several topics are being considered though it most likely will be something that supports the manufacturing industry.

“We are also doing an environmental scan of the region to determine the next three to four degrees that we would consider as an institution,” he said. “And so depending on what industry needs are

within the region, we will position ourselves to be able to serve and meet those through this scanning and analysis of our region. And so that's happening over the next few months, and then that data will be used to create our path forward in terms of the next batch of degrees.”

There isn’t any direct costs for the school to change its mission and, he said, it’s not so much about attracting more students as it is about helping the state’s workforce needs.

“I think I'm most excited about the potential to serve our region,” he said. “There is a need in our community for additional education. We have adults all over the state, who either have technical degrees and are working and are looking for more educational opportunities. But then there are those out there that have some degree or some credits, but without a degree in hand.

“I believe this is going to create awareness around the needs of our industries’ workforce in general. I think we're going to be able to support not only those that are in the field itself, but create an awareness for those that, maybe, are undereducated, meaning they have some coursework but not a degree, to come back and be retrained. And so to me, that's what's most exciting.

“Yes, we're going to serve the needs of those that are already in industry, but I think it's really going to create an awareness for those that are looking for something different. We want to serve them as well.”

ANDREW WEEKS

EDITOR

HORIZONSEXPANDHERE. Newschools,newbusinesses,andnewfamiliesare expandingourhorizonshereinHorace. We welcomeyoutoexpandyourhorizonstoo.

Rediscovering the Magic of Minot Retaining

the workforce and branding top the list for west-central North Dakota community

By Andrew Weeks

It was a winter-gray morning outside the restaurant but inside, where a group of business and community leaders gathered for a discussion about Minot, the conversation was welcoming and warm – a typical trait of North Dakota’s Magic City.

The problem is, if every North Dakota town were successful just for its friendliness each of them across the state would be bursting at the seams. But that’s not the case, and Minot is still trying to figure out how to attract and keep a viable workforce after the oil boom.

When the oil boom busted about four years ago, something happened.

“We didn’t see employment spike, we didn’t see a lot of that fallout in regards to maybe what previous booms caused,” Mayor Shaun Sipma said of the energy sector. “I think when we look at what happened it was more of a settling into a long-term production, a long-term industry.”

The challenges of unemployment are what they have been, or as Sipma explained – “exactly the same as before the bust but with one exception: there’s not a lot of people coming here to build those jobs.”

That caused the community to refocus its priorities.

“Our focus now is, how do we keep people here?” Sipma said during the 90-minute discussion on Jan. 28 at the Badlands Restaurant & Bar, where Prairie Business staff met with business and community leaders.

Quality of life and retaining the workforce

Attracting and keeping a robust workforce in Minot is one of area leaders’ main focus, according to the conversation at the roundtable luncheon. And while the city dubbed “magic” is still trying to find a wand to do that, it has been able to identify some of its needs and wants.

MAYOR SHAUN SIPMA SAID ONE OF THE COMMUNITY’S EFFORTS IS A BRANDING CAMPAIGN TO HELP, IN ESSENCE, REDISCOVER ‘THE MAGIC IN THE OLD MAGIC CITY.’ IMAGE: COURTESY OF CITY OF MINOT

Sipma said the assets the community doesn’t want to lose are those leaving high school or graduating from Minot State University. Those up-and-coming talents have a lot to offer the community.

Kevin Black, president of Creedence Energy Services, said he believes retaining strong individuals with CDLs and welding experience is important for his sector. “The oil and gas is very service oriented and so to find qualified individuals with CDLs, experience in the trade, welding, you name it, we have exhausted the pool here in North Dakota and we just don’t see those folks moving into the area.”

But other businesses, including the municipality, also are challenged by the limited pool of workers. “I don’t think the hiring challenge has gone down since the boom four years ago. We see it every day,” Black said.

Steve Eberle, vice president of Ackerman-Estvold, said retaining a strong workforce is an “enormous challenge” and “a little bit of a vicious cycle.”

“During the boom we found it was actually easier to hire people while the rest of the country was in a recession,” he said. “Coincidentally, as the boom cooled down the rest of the country and economy picked up, and so even though business slowed down a little bit, it took care of the employment side by natural attrition. … What that left us with was people who were born and raised here or have really strong ties” to the area and not a lot of new transplants.

But how does a city attract, let alone retain, a strong workforce? It’s a question to which many communities across the state and country are trying to find answers. Mayor Sipma likened it to a footrace. What makes the effort even more challenging is that there is no finish line in sight.

“If you want to quantify that work as a marathon, it isn’t achieved overnight,” Sipma said in a follow-up interview with Prairie Business. “It’s not a 100-meter dash.”

And like a 100-meter dash that may wear the body, trying to come up with a plan to keep a viable workforce in town has taxed the minds of community partners. They’re not discouraged by the process, but it’s a constant run.

Sipma said the community is now trying to set its own pace, “both in terms of what (we’re) capable of and what the community is willing to move the needle on in North Dakota.”

What moves the needle now is not necessarily what it was during the oil boom.

“A lot of people talk about the boom as if it’s going to come back instead of talking about the new normal,” said John MacMartin, president of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce. “There have been some very interesting dynamics here in town over the past nine years.”

Part of that new normal has to do with quality-of-life issues to attract and retain a skilled workforce.

“Yes, we have the oil industry, we have the (Air Force) base,” Black said, “but if we’re not getting the entrepreneurs and financial tools to be successful here in Minot we’re going to miss out on the next generation and the young folks who want to build a life here in North Dakota, and build a business.”

The group mentioned a number of priorities for the community, including upgrading existing facilities, improving recreation opportunities, and adding more amenities. Residents spoke up late last year, mentioning some of the things they want from their community.

continued on page 22

continued From page 21

A public perception survey conducted by Minot-based Odney in December showed that respondents said they were in favor of more amenities, such as new activities and entertainment options, more restaurants and additional places to shop.

The survey further revealed that infrastructure and health care are top priorities for residents, as are flood protection, new schools and community facilities.

Of 411 respondents, 65.7% said they view the community as growing and improving, while 12.4% said they believe it is stagnant and 11.2% said they believe it is declining.

Sipma said Minot is anything but declining, and efforts to revitalize downtown is proof of its resilience and the community’s effort to enhance the quality of life for its residents.

“Let's dial back to like 2000, maybe even ’07 and ’08, and we're a town of about 32,000 people,” he said. “And then we were starting to see growth and impact, of course, because of the boom in 2010 and 2011. Then a quarter of our city got wiped out with a flood and yet we still managed to grow.”

Some of the things residents said they want are the same things the community is striving to improve, including a new medical campus that Trinity Health is building, which will include a 594,000-squarefoot hospital and adjoining 196,000-square-foot medical office facility. The medical plaza will sit on 43 acres with an additional 32 acres that can be used for future growth, according to Trinity marketing director Karim Tripodina.

“Everyone here (at the table) is trying to attract people, but we want to keep people here,” said Ron Merritt, executive director of the Minot Park District, explaining that quality-of-life attractions are a main driver of its efforts. “We’re looking at parks and trails, we’re also looking at major facilities” such as upgrading exhibits at the zoo.

The Roosevelt Park Zoo attracts 100,000 people in a typical season, he said, noting that it’s just one example of what the community is trying to do – upgrading its facilities and attractions.

A third sheet of ice was added at the Maysa Arena and there’s talk of adding a fourth. An issue last fall caused the department to try something new: it replaced the ice sheet with turf so people could enjoy activities on grass during the cold months.

“It’s sports-related but people love getting on that turf in winter,” Merritt said. “It’s a nice facility already and it has added a lot helping us get through the wintertime.”

Some of the things that have been enjoyed are baseball, lacrosse and soccer as well as a morning daycare, called “Tots on the Turf.”

He said the parks and rec department is considering making a venue for it every year.

Other things that have proved successful are community festivals, such as skating on the river and improving outdoor trails and recreational opportunities.

And then there’s the revitalization of downtown, something the mayor calls a key component in the life of the community.

Ongoing downtown revitalization

The revitalization of downtown Minot has been happening for the past couple of years, but it won’t be complete until a new city hall opens. Sipma said that won’t likely happen until at least 2022, but it cannot come fast enough for him and his colleagues. The space the city occupies now is cramped to the point that closets have been turned into mini-offices and hallways are cluttered with makeshift desks.

In contrast, the city is considering a 42,000-square-foot building downtown that would not only accommodate current needs but offer room to grow into the foreseeable future.

Minot has its share of businesses common to other places, such as the chain stores and restaurants, but often what sets a community apart is its downtown.

“It tends to be downtown that is your unique identity and gives a unique atmosphere and feel that then separates you from another community, creating, again, kind of that quality of life component,” he said.

Other things happening downtown include the rehabilitation of its infrastructure, including new sidewalks, and business investment that happened even while construction was underway.

TRINITY HEALTH IS BUILDING A NEW 594,000 SQUARE-FOOT HOSPITAL IN MINOT. THE HOSPITAL AND ADJOINING MEDICAL OFFICE PLAZA ARE SCHEDULED TO BE COMPLETE SOMETIME IN 2022.

IMAGE: KORRIE WENZEL PRAIRIE BUSINESS

Branding the One Brand

As with any product, it helps to have a good marketing plan in place – and then use it, the mayor said. It’s something Minot leaders are trying to develop in the form of “One Brand.”

One Brand is a citywide marketing strategy and branding effort led by the Minot Convention and Visitors Bureau, in cooperation with Minot Area Chamber of Commerce and Minot Area Development Corp. The campaign, which is still being fine-tuned and hasn’t officially launched, aims to inform residents about events “downtown and around the city, provide resources to residents and businesses, including entrepreneurship support, and message to promote quality of life in the city,” according to the One Brand Technical Committee in January. “Successful branding is supposed to attract investment, tourism, and talent.”

According to the mayor, the marketing plan would align with the city’s strategic plan but also differ from it in that it would focus on target audiences and methods for spreading the message.

Though the full campaign has not yet been launched, current slogans already found on area websites seem to be joining forces under that umbrella: “Destination Downtown Minot,” “Welcome to the Heart of Minot,” “Welcome to the ‘Magic City’ of Minot, North Dakota,” “Partners in Progress,” “Relax and Enjoy Minot. We’re Ready for You,” and “‘Discover the Magic’ of our hospitable city.”

Sipma said the community hasn’t fully identified what its “one brand” is just yet, but he hopes to have the preliminaires on that within the next few months, get feedback from partners, and “roll it out.”

Still, the mayor knows essentially what its mission will entail.

“One Brand essentially is who we are as a community and where we are going as a community,” Sipma said. “What is our message to the outside world? I guess you could say the old brand was ‘Why Not Minot’ for a long time. Now, of course, we are a much different community than we were 10 years ago, 20 years ago. We're ever growing and getting a younger community that has a substantial amount to offer.”

Stripped to its bare bones, he said:

“I think it's just rediscovering the magic in the old Magic City.”

International

By Sydney Mook

North Dakota’s more than 2,000 international students contributed more than $50 million to the state’s economy during the 2018-19 school year, a recent study conducted by a national nonprofit specializing in international education shows.

The organization, NAFSA: Association of International Educators (NAFSA formerly stood for the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers), conducted an analysis across the country to measure the contributions made to the economy during the past academic year. Nationwide, international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities contributed about $41 billion and supported more than 458,000 jobs during the 2018-2019 academic year.

“Beyond this economic contribution, international students bring countless academic and cultural benefits to our classrooms, our communities and our country. International students and scholars create jobs, drive innovation, enrich our classrooms, strengthen our national security and become our best ambassadors and allies around the world,” said Esther Brimmer, NAFSA executive director and CEO.

In North Dakota, the state’s 2,114 enrolled international students supported 471 jobs and contributed $53.4 million to the North Dakota economy that year, according to the report.

The report breaks down its findings further to a per university level. International students at UND contributed $21.2 million, supporting 218 jobs during that timespan, or nearly half of the contributions to the state.

North Dakota State students contributed $19.6 million and 185 to the state economy.

The other top contributors were as follows:

Minot State University

$6.2 million supporting 28 jobs

University of Mary

$2 million supporting 20 jobs

University of Jamestown

$1.7 million supporting eight jobs

Dickinson State University

$1.1 million supporting five jobs

Lake Region State College

$708,812 supporting three jobs

North Dakota State College of Science

$328,156 supporting two jobs

Valley City State University

$326,496 supporting two jobs

Mayville State University

$314,785 supporting one job

In Minnesota, the state’s 15,279 enrolled international students contributed more than $482 million to the state, supporting 4,497 jobs. In the western part of the state, the seventh congressional district, just over 1,000 international students supported 133 jobs in the district, contributing nearly $25 million to the district’s economy. Minnesota State University-Moorhead led the way in the district with $9.2 million supporting 49 jobs in the area. Students at Concordia College, also located in Moorhead, contributed $3.4 million to the local economy, supporting 19 jobs. At Bemidji State University, international students contributed $2.8 million, supporting 15 jobs in the area.

In South Dakota, 2,064 enrolled international students supported 320 jobs in the state and contributed $45.4 million to the state’s economy. South Dakota State University led the way in the state, with students contributing $20.5 million, supporting 178 jobs. Augustana College and the University of South Dakota were tied with students contributing about $6.6 million to the economy, supporting 31 and 56 jobs, respectively.

Trending with a Trade

A student from North Dakota State College of Science shares her passion about contributing to the manufacturing industry

By Andrew Weeks

WAHPETON, N.D. • Amanda Mittlestadt wants to be a teacher, like one of the many influential mentors who have blessed her life. But a shorter term goal of the soon-to-be graduate of North Dakota State College of Science is to be a toolmaker and welder.

“I want to get industry experience, explore all of the different routes and try to get a grasp on all of that,” she said in an interview with Prairie Business on Feb. 28. “And then eventually I want to teach and help students like my instructors did for me.”

Mittlestadt graduated from NDSCS in 2018 with a welding degree but came back last year to pursue a degree in precision machining. She will graduate with that degree in May.

“Welding and machining are both great trades and they kind of go hand-in-hand,” she said. “I thought about doing a year of machining, but then I loved it and was like, I might as well come back for a second year and finish it out. So that's where I'm at right now.”

She’s become deeply passionate about the trade and wants to give back to the manufacturing sector by using her skills in the industry. What’s more, she’s already started doing just that.

Mittlestadt works part-time as a toolmaker at ComDel Innovation in Wahpeton. Once she graduates, she’ll move into full-time work at the manufacturing company.

She’s a modest, unassuming student, but knows her ambition and skills will serve her well, including her leadership experience, and be a boon to an industry she has come to love.

For starters, “I've done a lot of stuff on campus,” she said.

“Amanda has taken on extra duties as a welding instructor/coun-

selor for a number of outreach activities that are designed to provide welding industry experience for students in 7-12 grade,” said NDSCS instructor Clint Gilbertson, associate professor of welding technology.

“The U.S. has a great deficit of skilled workers and it is going to take bright young people like Amanda to help replace an aging workforce and lead the country into the future.”

Among her many accomplishments so far, this is Mittlestadt’s second year as president of the school’s honor society and she serves as president of the machinist’s club. She also was an officer in the welding club and was in science leadership for two years.

“I'm used to the leadership roles,” she said. “I'm not afraid of some hard work.”

Leadership and hard work are traits she learned from others, as well as finding them innate in herself. She said she was drawn to manufacturing, particularly welding, at an early age, in part thanks to her father, Steven Mittlestadt, and uncle Jason Stanfill. She used to spend time in the family garage in her hometown of Glendive, Mont., working on vehicles, and her dad noticed she had a knack for working with metal and prodded her to pursue it in school. Stanfill did much the same, saying, “‘Hey, you should look into this.’ I did and haven’t looked back since,” Amanda said.

Her dedication to the craft is apparent at school, work or on her own time. At those times when she is free from assignments or work responsibilities, she still somehow finds herself welding or machining, often doing projects for family and friends – such as making signs for businesses, helping to construct posts and barriers for a

AMANDA MITTLESTADT, DRESSED IN HER WELDING GEAR, POSES FOR A PHOTO AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE. MITTLESTADT IS PASSIONATE ABOUT THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY AND ALREADY HOLDS A WELDING DEGREE FROM THE COLLEGE BUT RETURNED TO PURSUE A DEGREE IN PRECISION MACHINING. SHE SAID SHE WANTS TO GET YEARS OF INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE UNDER HER BELT BUT EVENTUALLY WOULD LIKE TO TEACH MACHINING AND WELDING TO OTHER STUDENTS. IMAGE: COURTESY OF NORTH DAKOTA STATE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

carwash, or welding a metal plate so that a cousin could better align drill holes to install flagpoles in a building.

Is there ever a time when too much welding is too much welding? “No,” she answered quickly, “it just makes me want more of it.”

That’s the kind of passion the industry needs. It’s the kind that, according to another instructor, will serve her well when she’s full time in the workforce.

“I believe she is a strong person with great leadership skills and with her diverse education in manufacturing will probably climb the ladder of success quite quickly,” said Joel Johnson, associate professor of welding.

Mittlestadt will graduate on May 16; after that she’ll join the workforce as a full-time employee in North Dakota’s manufacturing industry.

“The precision machining industry is in dire need of quality talent to keep companies growing and moving forward,” said Lincoln Thompson, associate professor of precision machining technology. “Industry needs intelligent people like Amanda who are able and willing to

continue to enhance their technical skills, along with growing their leadership abilities, to lead us into the future.”

Mittlestadt’s focus is clear, but she’s not overstepping her bounds. She knows graduation comes first, and right now she’s enjoying her remaining days at school.

“We get to work on pretty much state-of-the-art machines and we’re being taught by some of the best instructors,” she said. “They're willing to go above and beyond. If you have questions they're right there to help you out and just make sure everything is crystal clear before you proceed with a project.”

needs intelligent people like Amanda who are able and willing to continue to enhance their technical skills, along with growing their leadership abilities, to lead us into the future.

A Visionary North Dakota Eyecare Center Expands Main Facility and Services

BISMARCK, N.D. • More than 30 years ago, Charles Volk had a vision about eye care. He wanted to bring quality care to his own community. Like his business, that vision – one he’s shared with business partner Dr. George “Rocky” Hilts – expanded over the years.

Thanks to technology, recruiting additional doctors, and a newly expanded main facility the Dakota Eye Institute now offers many more services so patients can be treated close to home instead of traveling long distances.

“Our vision was very small at the time,” he said in an interview with Prairie Business. “We just wanted to do our own thing and it ended up that we were able to recruit a lot of like-minded people who had an interest in high-quality medicine but also were interested in being business owners and having a stake in the business. … That has always been our emphasis, to look for physicians who wanted to do more than just practice medicine.”

Drs. Volk and Hilts started Dakota Eye Institute in 1989 with just 20 people in a 10,000 square-foot office in Bismarck, but three decades later the business has grown to four clinics and an 18,000 square-foot main office with 131 employees. Sixteen of those are doctors.

The multi-phase expansion of its Bismarck office was completed in November, and includes a new surgery center. It helped further bring Volk’s initial vision to life –providing an array of quality eyecare services to patients close to home.

Satellite offices are located in Beulah, Dickinson, Hazen, Jamestown and Mandan. Volk attributes the success and growth of the institute to its doctors and staff. Over the years the institute has attracted some of the best and brightest eye doctors in the upper Midwest, he said.

While many new faces have been added to the team, others have been there for years. Administrator Bill Marion has been with the company for 19 years and said he’s seen a lot of change in that time. The biggest change, besides having a larger main facility, is the expanded services it now offers patients.

“When we first started the practice we were predominantly a cataract services business, taking care of patients that had cataracts or maybe glaucoma, but we've

continued on page 30

By Andrew Weeks

Dr. Charles VolkBill Marion

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER

PROUD MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY

Our multidisciplinary team of over 200 provides practical, pioneering solutions to the world’s energy and environmental challenges.

www.undeerc.org

THE DAKOTA EYE INSTITUTE COMPLETED A REMODEL LAST NOVEMBER. IMAGE: COURTESY OF DAKOTA EYE INSTITUTE

continued From page 28

grown into a practice where we're more of a multi-specialty practice,” he said. Doctors now offer corneal transplants, eyelid surgery, and can surgically treat patients with glaucoma. “For a lot of those issues a patient would need to go to Fargo or Rapid City, or even the Twin Cities, but now they can be treated right here in Bismarck. The patients don't have to travel nearly as far as before.”

Volk also acknowledges the role that technology has played in the business.

“Closer to home is always better,” he said. “But the other thing is, there are many situations, many diseases that in the past we were good at diagnosing but there was no treatment for them. Now with improvements in medical care we can treat a lot of things and keep people active because all of us want to remain independent. And I think that’s a factor for our typical North Dakota person, they want to be independent.”

Marion said the practice treats patients from the cradle to the grave.

“I know that's sort of an overused statement,” he said, “but we have providers that can handle those patients when they're very young. We see patients that are very, very little and they're in the NICU in hospitals and we continue to see them all the way to when they get to be in their 90s.”

That hasn’t been fully proved yet since the company has only been around for 30 years, but it seems to at least be trending that way. Doctors at the institute have been serving many of the same patients since it started in ‘89. Marion said a core belief of the institute is to treat its employees and patients “with the deepest respect.”

Volk said his philosophy has been to take care of staff and patients like family and is quick to acknowledge that success has come not just from the doctors but each member of the team.

“Everybody who answers the phone, everybody who does screening of a patient, everybody who handles the insurance and billing and all of that, they all are a part of our success,” he said.

“We kind of have this philosophy that if a person is in a situation and doesn’t quite know what to do, we ask ‘How would you want your mother taken care of?’ It really reduces the complexity a lot. We try to take care of people like we’d want our own family to be cared for and it's made a big difference.”

As for the future of eyecare, Volk said it is a service that people will always seem to need and he is happy he’s played a part in providing quality care for the people of the Dakotas and Minnesota, but most especially making services available for people in his own community. Retirement is looming for the nearly 70-year-old Volk, who said he plans to exit the profession sometime this year; but it won’t be easy letting go of a business he helped build over the past three decades.

“It’s OK,” he said. “It's probably time for me to step aside and let the younger people have their vision.” A vision that already seems to be taking shape. “Actually,” he continued, “the new expansion that we recently did was largely from the input of our younger partners.”

As Volk prepares to depart the company he helped create, he’s not worried about its future; he knows it’s in good hands.

“That's what really allowed me to consider retiring, the fact that we have such capable people,” he said. “It makes it much easier.

Trinity Hospital

MINOT, N.D. • Trinity Health is building a state-of-the-art medical campus in Minot, which will sit on 43 acres, according to Trinity’s Director of Marketing Karim Tripodina.

Tripodina and Randy Schwan, vice president of Trinity’s mission integration, answered a number of questions about the future hospital, saying the “most exciting thing about this project is that it’s about people, not buildings. It’s about fulfilling our mission to preserve and improve the health of the people we serve. ...The project represents our vision and the future of health care excellence for generations, and it’s been thrilling to watch it take shape over the past months.

The 594,000-square-foot hospital and attached 196,000-square-foot medical office building is expected to be complete in 2022.

When did construction begin on the new hospital?

Trinity Health began planning a new health care campus and medical district more than 20 years ago, with the work starting in earnest under the guidance of our CEO, John M. Kutch, in 2009. We purchased land west of the Minot Family YMCA along 37th Avenue Southwest to support that strategy. As planning continued, we sought and received approval from the Ward County Board of Commissioners to issue up to $380 million in Health Care Revenue Bonds in December 2017 to start the next phase.

When is it slated to be finished?

We expect the project to wrap up in 2022, which will be followed by several months of workflow and equipment testing before staff and patients move into the facility – a date has not been targeted specifically for that but will become more readily apparent as the preliminary work gets accomplished. We are not rushing the process, but instead making certain that we have the right blocks in all the right places as we proceed.

Once completed, how large will the hospital be?

The campus will sit on 43 acres with an additional 32 acres directly south for future growth and, once finished, will total 790,000 square feet. This includes a 594,000-square-foot hospital facility and an attached 196,000-square-foot medical office building.

How many patient rooms?

The finished facility will have 168 beds and all private patient rooms. Patients will appreciate that every room is private and designed to maximize natural light for well-being and healing.

What are some of the amenities it will have that stand out? What are some of its features?

The campus will truly be state-of-the-art, offering a wide spectrum of advanced, patient-centered health care services and significant upgrades for patients, visitors, and staff. A six-story hospital tower will offer advanced cardiac, neurosurgical, and orthopedic care, and will include private rooms, state-of-the-art surgical suites, new birthing areas, and an expanded emergency/level II trauma center with four triage, four trauma, and 24 treatment bays. The attached medical office building will house hospital-based specialists and other providers, plus a host of other patient- and family-friendly services and amenities. The site will feature plenty of parking for patients, visitors, and staff.

What prompted the reason to build such a large, state-of-the-art hospital?

The most immediate reasons are that, one, our existing hospital facilities were built around standards of care that have since dramatically changed; and two, the buildings’ infrastructure, such as plumbing, heating, and air conditioning, is not sufficient to support current or future demands. The current main hospital was built in the early 1920s, when the health care delivery model focused on acute, inpatient care. But today’s health care model emphasizes outpatient and ambulatory services with a collaborative continuum of care. The population and geography we serve also continues to expand. Along the way we have evolved with advancements in health care, undergoing 15 phases of building additions and more than 50 major internal renovations at our current site. Despite these efforts, the cumulative effect is still marked by inefficient layouts and aging infrastructure.

This new campus was envisioned and planned collaboratively with Trinity Health’s physicians, employees and leadership, and community input. The resulting design addresses the deficiencies in our older buildings and ensures the future of Minot as a healthcare hub for the region. The new health care campus and medical district will feature modern amenities to improve care quality and patient satisfaction, while providing a better environment for caregivers. The space accommodates more teams in one facility instead of occupying several different buildings across town. Floorplans promote more collaboration, less duplication, and a higher standard of personalized care.

Besides the obvious, in what ways will this benefit the community and the state?

Our new healthcare campus and medical district will allow Trinity Health to accommodate current and future health care needs of the

RENDERINGS OF TRINITY HEALTH’S NEW MEDICAL CAMPUS. THE 594,000-SQUARE-FOOT HOSPITAL AND ATTACHED 196,000-SQUAREFOOT MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING IS BEING BUILT ON 43 ACRES, WITH AN ADDITIONAL 32 ACRES DIRECTLY SOUTH TO MEET FUTURE GROWTH. IMAGES: COURTESY OF TRINITY HEALTH

identified health care facilities and infrastructure as the top priorities for the investment of community resources. Minot officials and community partners are also looking forward to this significant improvement to our local landscape. When our workforce grows with new staff and providers moving to the area with their families, other local businesses and organizations will benefit as well.

What are you most excited about with the new hospital?

The most exciting thing about this project is that it’s about people, not buildings. It’s about fulfilling our mission to preserve and improve the health of the people we serve. It also embodies Trinity Health’s commitment to providing the highest quality health care and making more possible for our patients and communities. The project represents our vision and the future of health care excellence for generations, and it’s been thrilling to watch it take shape over the past months.

FARGO, N.D. • Two media production companies are excited about the new opportunities a merger will provide.

Media Productions merged with Super Studio, both Fargo-based companies, in early February. The merger creates an enhanced Super Studio, offering a variety of media solutions to businesses and events.

“We became part of that group for a number of reasons,” said Lee Massey, founder of Media Productions, a video, animation, photography and audio production company. “One was so that we could fulfill some client requests that we were receiving, to do printed materials and more creative work on both audio and video, especially with events, and so it was a great opportunity.”

Media Productions started in the mid-1970s, providing events and media content for clients across the country, and joined the Flint Group in 2000. Super Studio was formed as a graphic design and video production company.

Massey shared his excitement about the merger, saying 2020 is an exciting year for both he and the company he created.

“Media Productions turns 45 this year, and I turned 70, which means that I'm long overdue for retirement,” he said. “So that's what sort of gave us the push to really combine the two organizations, because we've been working hand-in-hand for years anyway.”

Super Studio Director Dawn Koranda, who will resume her role for the enhanced Super Studio, said it made sense that the two companies would join forces.

“We were seeing that we had some overlap in our service offerings, and we at Super Studio started getting more and more into video production and editing,” she said. “And that is a service that Media Productions had as well, and so we looked at our models and we

Media Productions Merges with Super Studios

decided this makes sense to bring us all together. That was the major reason behind it.”

Media Productions will relocate offices to the Pioneer Plaza building in downtown Fargo.

“It brings us all together under the same roof – like-minded people to collaborate more and form a deeper, stronger team,” Koranda said. One goal that comes with the merger is to do more video production and social content for clients. “We really see that’s where it’s going,” she said.

“I think probably the biggest thing, at first glance, is the bucket of services that we provide is really unique to us,” Massey said. “There are other audio companies, video companies, event companies, particular design companies out there, but nobody in our region really has the depth of services that we have – and the experience.”

Koranda said the merger will set both entities up for future growth, especially as each may want to grow in different areas. She said she is proud of her expanded team.

“We have a very flexible, young, fresh, nimble team,” she said. “They're really passionate about what they do. The energy and excitement and passion the team brings. … We have a unique culture,” she said. “I’m just really, really proud of the whole team – where we're going and what we can bring to our clients.”

Dawn Koranda

Lee Massey

Robert Ford

Edgewood Healthcare’s Senior Living Division names new president

GRAND FORKS, N.D. • Robert J. Ford Jr., a resident of Grand Forks, recently was promoted to president of Edgewood Healthcare’s Senior Living Division.

Ford has been the executive vice president/CEO of Edgewood’s Senior Living Division since 2019. Prior to that he served as central division vice president and regional vice president, initially beginning his career with Edgewood as executive director of the Edgewood Assisted Living and Memory Care community in Casper, Wyo.

In his new role, Ford will continue to oversee the Senior Living Division operations as well as collaborate closely with the leadership of CaringEdge, Edgewood Healthcare’s Health Services Division.

Ford attended Montana State University in Billings, where he obtained a health care administration degree. He later obtained his Master in Business Administration from the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.

KLJ hires new transportation engineer

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. • KLJ has hired Paul Knofczynski in an effort to enhance its available services throughout South Dakota.

Knofczynski received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from South Dakota State University and is a licensed professional engineer in South Dakota. He brings a wealth of well-rounded experience from the South Dakota Department of Transportation.

During his tenure there, he worked as a road design engineer, consultant manager, plans review/specifications engineer, bid letting engineer, engineering supervisor, project identification coordinator, and quality management/value engineer.

He understands the intricacies of working with public and private entities to develop sustainable infrastructure that meets the needs of its users.

Knofczynski joins KLJ with civilian and military leadership experience. He is an accomplished project manager and has overseen projects in every phase in both rural and urban settings. He has broad stakeholder coordination experience and recognizes the importance of giving customers, contractors, and end users a voice for projects that impact multiple parties.

Knofczynski is well-versed in highway safety and design, access management, drainage design, erosion control, environmental planning and ADA compliance.

Paul Knofczynski

continued From page 8

Mess brings eight years of cybersecurity experience to his role and specializes helping businesses understand the importance of implementing appropriate administrative, physical and technical controls to make them more secure.

His passion is educating organizations on where to start on their cybersecurity journey and how to improve their overall security posture.

Mess joined NCI from a Minneapolis-based information security consulting firm, FRSecure, as a partner channel manager. He has a bachelor’s degree in communication and business management from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.

Q.INSIGHTs & INTUITION

What role does social media play in your business?

What ways do you use it for work?

Brekka Kramer Vice President and General Manager Odney Minot, N.D.

Social media has been a game changer for the advertising world. It’s likely that in 2020, more than half of the population will be active social media users. Social platforms are a key component of any effective media strategy for Odney and our clients. Our team develops paid and organic strategies to effectively reach and influence the way target audiences think and act. Whether it’s building brand awareness, increasing website traffic and store visits, or communicating consistently to long-term followers, we use social media to meet our goals and those of our clients.

There’s already a conversation about you happening, so let’s make sure you’re a part of it.

In the last five years or so, Starion Bank has been very intentional about strategically utilizing social media. Most of the posts fall into one of four categories: community, culture, education, and products/services. Obviously, social media is one way to communicate with our customers, prospects, and communities at-large, but we’ve also seen benefit from a human resources perspective.

We have banks throughout North Dakota and in Wisconsin, and social media has been one way to help our employees feel connected across the miles. For example, if you visit our Facebook page, you’ll see employees working the high school concession stand; donating money to charitable organizations; celebrating employees being hired, promoted and retiring…and the list goes on. Our employees are quick to react to these posts and regularly share good news about their co-workers.

This social media strategy has also been beneficial in employee recruitment because potential applicants can see how we live out our company values and give back to our communities, helping them decide

Brenna Grossbauer Chief Human Resources Officer Starion Bank Bismarck, N.D.

The role of social media continues to evolve rapidly in our business. What started first as a place to share information has now turned into a necessary platform to build and maintain client relationships and provide personalized client experiences. We utilize social media in conjunction with other channels to increase brand awareness, foster client engagement, partner with organizations we support, and educate our followers with financial focused tips and content. We also use social media to recruit new employees or to communicate urgent, real-time messages, for example, weather related announcements or other company news.

Since social media gives clients a voice, it has also become another tool we can use to service clients as we respond quickly to questions or requests for help. Given the nature of the financial industry, security and privacy for our clients is always one of our top concerns. We balance meeting clients where they are while also protecting their information.

And just as social media continues to adapt, so does Alerus. Whether it’s looking at new social media platforms to utilize, or retooling social media campaigns based on performance or feedback, we continue to leverage this as an efficient marketing and client experience tool.

Missy Keney Director of Marketing and Client Experience Alerus Fargo, N.D.

Karla Santi Founder and CEO Blend Interactive Sioux Falls, S.D.

Recruiting a talented workforce is our biggest challenge as a business, so we use social media to tell our story, share a glimpse of what it’s like working for Blend, and put our company culture on display.

Whether we are sharing a birthday celebration, rooftop cookout, or an offsite event, our social channels broadcast those lighter moments. It helps potential employees and partners understand the community we work hard at promoting on any given day at Blend.

Beyond that, social media is our main channel for promoting our skills and knowledge. After 15 years in website development, we’ve built a body of expertise and examples, and it’s important to both Blend’s employees and our company values to make sure we pass along some of that knowledge. Our industry is ever-changing, so it’s a privilege to use those channels to help promote and shape that change for the future.

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NONFARM EMPLOYMENT

Nonfarm payroll employment was up in February, the latest numbers available, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment in this category rose by 273,000 to 152.5 million. In the private sector, employment in goodsproducing industries increased 61,000, while service-providing industries employment grew by 167,000. Government employment increased by 45,000.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force, and was 3.5% on March 6, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, was unchanged in January from December, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS). From January 2019 to January 2020, the index fell 1% compared to a rise of 5.5% from January 2018 to January 2019 and a rise of 6% from January 2017 to January 2018 (Tables 1, 2, and 2A).

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

The level of for-hire freight shipments in January measured by the Freight TSI (137.4) was 2.5% below the all-time high level of 140.9 in August 2019. (SEASONALLY ADJUSTED, MONTHLY AVERAGE OF 20000=100)

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

From previous month: 0% From same month of the previous year: - 1.0%

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