Prairie Business August 2015

KRIS BEVILL

D. MOHR

KAREN FROELICH

The family of Harold Newman, a longtime supporter of the University of Jamestown, is providing the largest private donation in school history to spearhead the development of a new athletic facility.

PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN

KRIS BEVILL Editor kbevill@prairiebizmag.com

Class is in session

It’s hard to believe that it is already back-to-school month for many of the area’s students. Didn’t summer just start? Alas, as we bask in the final days of the warm months it is time to look ahead, hopefully with excitement, at the pending academic year and all of its potential. This month, we are happy to report that there is indeed much to be excited about.

Staff writer Kayla Prasek has been following higher education’s evolution in supporting young entrepreneurs. In “Shift in Focus,” she shares how a growing number of schools in the region have decided to embrace entrepreneurship as a vital component of business education, through accelerators, mentorships and campus-wide curriculum. And they are seeing rapid results.

We also look at how business leaders are demonstrating impressive support for education institutions through private philanthropic efforts. The past year has seen a number of million-dollar-plus gifts to area schools from business leaders who want to pay it forward and continue to provide the best education possible to our students. Their generosity comes at a time when schools need all the financial support they can get, and their gifts have been gratefully received. We spoke with several donors and their recipients to find out more about what motivates them to donate, how their gifts will be used, and why they hope others will be inspired to do the same in “Paying it Forward.”

If you’ve stepped into one of the region’s many newly built or redesigned trendy businesses lately, you may have noticed a recurring design element. The use of salvaged wood and other restored products has surged in the area and many architects say they think it’s a trend that will be around for some time. We speak with several for “Making the Old New Again,” as well as the entrepreneur who can be credited for literally delivering the goods to make the trend happen, despite the fact that he never intended to even open a business.

We hope you enjoy this issue as you savor the final days of summer. We are already hard at work compiling our second annual best places to work issue, and this year’s field of contenders is extremely competitive. Stay tuned for the results next month. There may be a pop quiz. PB

KORRIE WENZEL, Publisher

KRIS BEVILL, Editor

KAYLA PRASEK, Staff Writer

BETH BOHLMAN, Circulation Manager KRIS WOLFF, Layout Design, Ad Design

Sales Director: JOHN FETSCH 701.212.1026 jfetsch@prairiebizmag.com

Sales:

BRAD BOYD

western ND/western SD 800.641.0683 bboyd@prairiebizmag.com

NICHOLE ERTMAN

eastern ND/western MN 800. 477.6572 ext. 1162 nertman@prairiebizmag.com

Editor: KRIS BEVILL 701.306.8561 kbevill@prairiebizmag.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@prairiebizmag.com

BY MATTHEW D. MOHR

Most people have heard sayings such as “You need to stick to your knitting” and “Put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket very carefully.” In essence, the advice to the entrepreneur is to become involved with one business endeavor and put all your effort into that one endeavor.

Contrary to this business advice, investment professionals constantly praise the value of a diversified portfolio.

Should or can a successful entrepreneur devote energy to multiple enterprises?

A very successful and good friend of mine once noticed me reading a book about investing in the stock market. He admonished me by exclaiming the only good investment was my own business and suggested I forget the stock market.

After he sold his own business, I was surprised to learn he was maintaining his interest in a local bank, continuing his real estate portfolio along with still being involved with a manufacturer who made a product he had patented. It seemed to be rather hypocritical.

When I inquired about his previous business along with all these sideline efforts, he explained he felt forced to sell his primary business because he had expanded to markets beyond his capability. The bank was an admitted honor and vocation, the real estate served the business and the patent manufacturer was for a product he developed for a customer which he continued to sell. Inter-related business efforts to support his primary enterprise; but also sources of income and enjoyment, as well as personal and business growth. All of his efforts were intertwined and supported his main business, so he wasn’t such a hypocrite after all.

Some individuals can handle multiple enterprises successfully, but not everyone. One way or the other, a business owner needs to keep his eye on the ball at all times. External interests that support your primary business can be good if handled right. PB

Matthew D. Mohr CEO, Dacotah Paper Co. mmohr@dacotahpaper.com

North Dakotans want options. With coverage from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota you’re choosing unmatched access to health care at home and away, plus award winning service from fellow North Dakotans.

members have access to:

We’ve negotiated prices with providers in North Dakota so members pay less when they visit the doctor, hospital or get a prescription filled.

99.6% 99% 10 1,000 50

DOCTORS Nearly every one in North Dakota

HOSPITALS Rural and urban across the state

SERVICE CENTERS across North Dakota

EMPLOYEES Working with you and for you

members have access to:

STATES Broad coverage across the country

members have access to:

200

COUNTRIES

Worldwide acceptance of BCBSND coverage

It’s a competitive world, train for it

BY EDITH ARMEY

I’d like to start by telling a story about a man of whom you may have heard. This man lost his mother and a sister during childhood. He failed in business at age 22 and again at 25. He lost his sweetheart at age 26 and suffered a nervous breakdown as a result. Throughout the next 20 years, although he was a lawyer and elected representative for the state legislature, he ran for the United States House, Senate, and Vice President a total of six times and lost five of those elections. Then,at the age of 51, he became the 16th president of the United States. That’s right, Abraham Lincoln had a less-than-stellar track record in business and politics, but he never gave up his desire to make his mark on the national stage. He is a model of perseverance, wisdom and resolve. Lincoln never stopped learning, both from his life experiences and through reading and reciting what he had read or heard from others.

Stories like this demonstrate the fact that no matter what stage your life is in right now, opportunities to grow professionally and financially are available to you. If you supervise others at work, or if you are the owner or principal of a business, you can build capacity in your staff by providing them with training and professional development.

TrainND Northeast meets the workforce needs of business and industry in northeast North Dakota by serving as facilitator and coordinator in the arrangement and delivery of training. From $99 selfpaced online classes for one person at a time, to customized, multi-session classroom training for entire teams, we are committed to offering the training you need when and where you need it.

While our mandated mission is to serve business and industry, the state of affairs in North Dakota is that we need a highly trained workforce. All employees, no matter what occupation, need skill upgrades in this fast-paced world.

Consider us at TrainND Northeast as your “Mentors in Training” — we can help you assess and identify skill gaps, and then work with you to develop customized training that fills those gaps. Whether your needs are in technology or leadership, technical or soft skills, we can help get your company and staff on the right track for success.

If you are looking for ways to improve your career or the careers of the people you manage, get in touch with us. As my father said: “Kids, always use the resources in your own backyard ….” We are proud to say that our area trainers, instructors, and facilitators are patient, enthusiastic and committed to meeting the needs of our clients. Of course, it is sometimes wise and necessary to bring in national speakers, but who better to understand the culture of our community, our region, and our state than those who live, work in, and support North Dakota?

For more information go to www.lrsc.edu/ workforce or call Joycelyn Hagen at (701) 662-1578.

Edith Armey Director

TrainND

Northeast, Lake Region State College edith.armey@lrsc.edu Facebook.com/ trainNDnortheast

Edith Armey

“DCN provides us with a fully redundant Data Center that allows for business continuity in the event of a disaster in our main Fargo location, as well as, high speed internet and reliable broadband connections to all our sites.”

DCN Provides Data Center Services to ND

DCN’s high-reliability network is in a secure environment that ensures your servers are properly maintained at either our Fargo or Bismarck locations.

All Data Center options include:

• Lockable Cabinet 24”W X 84”H X 36”D.

• 24/7 Customer Access.

• Generator/UPS, isolated power feeds to each cabinet.

• Web-based power monitoring capabilites.

Daniel Swartz, IT Manager, General Equipment & Supplies, Inc Dakota Carrier Network Customer

Fargo Co-Location

Bismarck Co-Location

North Dakota’s job market still booming

BY WAYDE SICK

It’s safe to say that North Dakota’s unemployment rate has been envy of the nation for the past several years. Led by the state’s robust energy industry, North Dakota enjoyed unrivaled prosperity and the lowest unemployment rate in the country while the rest of the nation suffered through the Great Recession. Even with the drop in oil prices, North Dakota still boasts more than 25,000 available jobs and an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent.

For a long time there has been a misconception that the only jobs available are oil jobs out in the Bakken. Now that oil prices have dropped, media outlets are reporting that North Dakota’s energy industry has gone bust, the job market has dried up and workers are being laid off by the thousands. However, the jobs and economic data available tell a different story.

While the oil industry jump-started the state’s economic renaissance, North Dakota’s economy and job market have diversified. Tens of thousands of new residents have moved to North Dakota in the past few years because of the opportunities available to job seekers and entrepreneurs. That impressive population growth has led to more retail offerings, entertainment and restaurants, higher demand for health care providers, new businesses and schools, and a construction

boom across the state, which also means more workers are needed. Instead of a bust, North Dakota businesses have more than 25,000 available jobs in industries like health care, IT, manufacturing, construction, sales and management and many others.

Although people perceive that most jobs in North Dakota are in the Bakken, data from Job Service North Dakota shows that Fargo and Bismarck continue to lead the state, with the most available jobs in Cass and Burleigh counties, respectively. With 25,000 available jobs, job seekers are not confined to one part of the state or another. They have the option of living in a rural community or one of North Dakota’s rapidly expanding cities.

North Dakota’s job market is still the envy of the nation. In spite of the slowdown in oil production, data shows the economy is booming in every sector and every corner of the state. Whether people are looking for a new job or a family-friendly place to live, North Dakota has more than 25,000 opportunities for job seekers to find the good life. PB

Wayde Sick Director, Workforce Division North Dakota Department of Commerce wsick@nd.gov

Twitter: @ExperienceND

Wayde Sick

Choosing the right MBA program

BY KAREN FROELICH

Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs across the nation are important investments for both businesses and professionals who want to advance their careers. Businesses require cutting-edge perspectives to stay competitive; they need employees with a solid educational foundation to make sound decisions. Yet early and mid-career professionals are at a very busy time in their lives, investing in career advancement while managing active personal and family schedules.

Recently, NDSU updated its own MBA program with the needs of the evolving business world in mind. As program director, I monitor changing trends and challenges that both businesses and employees face, some of which include:

Accessibility

Technology is increasingly used to make advanced business education more accessible. Virtual class attendance is possible from anywhere at anytime. While this type of access is convenient, it is important for MBA programs to ensure fully engaged, rich learning experiences that give employers advanced expertise and employees the promotability they desire.

Specialized Courses

It is common for MBA students to have undergraduate degrees outside of business, often engineering, medical fields or liberal arts. Therefore, acquiring strong expertise in core business fields such as accounting, finance, management and marketing is often key to improved decision-making on the job as well as personal confidence for advancement. Increasingly, specialized courses such as project management, organizational change, and supply chain and logistics offer appealing enhancements within MBA programs.

Additionally, experiential courses that include global business experiences, working with financial portfolio management or on a consulting team with community business-related projects also are more frequently becoming MBA electives.

Overall, maintaining a well-rounded solid business core with specialized courses while keeping the program concise and affordable can be challenging, but attainable.

Affordability

Keeping programs concise can assist with affordability. Strong MBA programs will maximize value with reasonable tuition costs to ensure a favorable return on investment. Oftentimes, affordability is and should serve as prominent decision criteria for MBA program selection.

Finding a Program

To find a high quality MBA program that fits both business and employee needs, look for:

Qualified faculty and accomplished peers. Conducting hands-on projects with exceptionally qualified faculty and accomplished peers ensures both knowledge and skill development.

Soft skills as part of the experience. Soft skills are important for making business decisions and skillful faceto-face interaction. Skills that are valuable to practice in an MBA program include quick thinking in fast-moving discussions, negotiation and cooperation in team settings and confident professional presentations.

Networking opportunities. A recent Graduate Management Admissions Council survey reports a majority of prospective MBA students consider the opportunity to network with fellow students and MBA alumni a valued part of their experience.

A good reputation. A reputable program and top accreditation (AACSB - Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) is an important consideration for landing positions with top firms.

An MBA program is a big investment of time, effort and money for future payoff. Go all in and don’t shortchange yourself. It can work into your schedule through planning and persistence, even if you only take one class per semester. Before you know it, it is completed! PB

Nancy Froelich

NDSU Professor of Management, MBA Program Director karen.froelich@ndsu.edu Twitter: @NDSUBusiness

Nancy Froelich

SBA rolls out online loan application process

BY STANLEY NAKANO

Cash flow is the lifeblood of all small businesses. Across the nation, thousands of small firms are searching for term loans, equipment financing, lines of credit, invoice financing and real estate loans to help them build their business and create new jobs. Finding a business loan can be time consuming, and often times frustrating and disappointing.

Changes in technology have made the process of finding and securing a small business loan less tedious and time consuming. Online matchmaking services, pairing lenders with prospective borrowers, comprise a multibillion-dollar industry. Examples include the TV commercial in which a creditworthy home buyer goes online and is delighted to find banks competing to finance her home. Small business lending is the next frontier for these online “matchmaking” services. Using the power of the Internet, commercial lenders are finding creditworthy business borrowers, while entrepreneurs are finding loan officers who are ready to sit down and talk specifics.

The U.S. Small Business Administration not only supports this concept, we’re implementing and embracing it. Recently, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet announced a new agency initiative called LINC (Leveraging Information and Networks to access Capital). Our commercial loan matchmaking service will help entrepreneurs get a “date” with a lender. SBA spent months surveying its lending partners to discern what critical information they require from prospective borrowers before a loan application will be considered. Based on those discussions, we’ve developed a simple online form with 20 questions that takes less than 15 minutes to complete and submit. Once completed, the form is sent to participating SBA lenders in an applicant’s county, as well as financial institutions with a statewide or national reach.

While a positive preliminary response from a lender does not ensure the entrepreneurs will receive a loan, it does put them on a fast track

because they will have already been pre-screened. If LINC doesn’t produce an immediate match, entrepreneurs will be directed to their local SBA adviser for additional assistance with their loan application. It is a win-win-win for the business owner, lender, and the SBA.

LINC is expanding small business lending options beyond someone’s local bank. Instead, technology can help them get their foot in the door based on their merits at one of many commercial lenders nationwide. This new program has allowed the SBA to become more innovative and creative in the way it does business given current technology.

SBA is rolling out LINC in two phases. First we’re connecting small business owners with nonprofit lenders that offer free financial advice and specialize in microlending, smaller loans (our Community Advantage program), and real estate financing (our 504 program). Phase one began in early April and is off to a strong start. We already have participating LINC lenders in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Later this year, in phase two, we plan to add more traditional banks that offer an even wider array of financial products. In the longer term, we also believe LINC could be modified to facilitate government contracting by connecting eligible small businesses with procurement officers, prime contractors, and federal buyers. I am proud to say that the SBA is changing with the times and has embraced technology in meeting the needs of small businesses in 2015 and beyond. For more information on LINC, or to apply for a business loan, visit www.sba.gov/tools/linc.

Stanley Nakano Acting Region VIII Administrator U.S. Small Business Administration stanley.nakano@sba.gov

Stanley Nakano

World Class vs. Drive-By Lean

Mark Volesky – Impact Dakota

According to Google there are 129,864,880 books published in all of modern history. With just a little research you may get the impression that at least half of them are about Lean. A lot of them are actually pretty good, covering everything from the high-level, overarching principles, e.g., Lean Thinking, by Womack and Jones, to deep dives into specific tools and principles, such as Shigeo Shingo’s The SMED System. Of course, we can add in all of the lean articles, forums, blogs, courses, etc., which together Google probably wouldn’t be able to count.

So, with all of those resources available, why does Dr. Jeffrey Liker, Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan and author of the best seller, The Toyota Way, state that there are about one percent of American manufacturers that have achieved “World Class” status. Based on the most recent census, there are roughly 300,000 manufacturers in this country. So even at that meager one percent, roughly 3000 manufacturers have managed to achieve world class status. That implies good news and bad news which will be discussed later.

Lean is defined as a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection. The key term here is ‘systematic’. A system is defined as a group of related parts that move or work together. The concept of the systematic approach to Lean is the factor that delineates world class organizations from the ‘me too’ organizations. Companies engaging in World Class performance strategies focus on improving operations, strive to eliminate waste and create lean organizations, not just manufacturing. This results in higher productivity and bottom-line results. But these companies also focus on speed of total throughput from order capture through delivery, setting new standards for delivery without the heavy dependence on inventory. Sequential methods of performing work are being replaced with aligned and concurrent methods to compress time, and functional divisions of duties are being replaced by team-driven activities. And they manage to sustain this level of performance year after year. Essentially, it is their business DNA. What lean is not is a tool-based program running intermittently (time permitting) in parallel with their primary mission.

Sadly, the latter is more the rule than the exception. Experience with manufacturers in this region would indicate that most have had a brush with lean to some degree, from passionate and diligent to experimental and dabbling—what we refer to as ‘drive-by lean’. Some vetting of, and experimentation with lean thinking within an organization should be expected before making the commitment—lean is a major change in the way a company conducts business. In his book ‘Gemba Walks’, Jim Womack noted that the lean transformation, when it is applied to all elements of an enterprise, is a multi-dimensional undertaking of great magnitude. Hence, “it’s understandable that in many organizations, lean tools came to the foreground. The attraction of tools is that they can be employed at many points within an organization, often by staff improvement teams or external consultants. Even better, they can be applied in isolation without tackling the difficult task of changing the organization and its fundamental approach to management”. Don’t get me wrong, the tools are a great and necessary place to start your journey. And later, when well into the transformation, the tools are integral to strategic deployment of the company’s vision. Unfortunately, that is where we see it end, with the tools. Every company that has experienced success with the tools needs to expand the new business model into the era of lean thinking and management. This is sound science, not the flavor of the month.

This transformation takes some time but the company will be realizing the benefits of the transformation from day one. As this is now the enterprise business model who else should know this better than leadership? And who better to drive it throughout the enterprise? The successful lean transformation is driven from the top down with execution from the bottom up. The prevailing model is delegating to someone in middle management to “make it happen and keep me in the loop”, i.e., implementation from the middle outward—not a successful or sustainable strategy. Driving it throughout the enterprise requires active, visible and sincere involvement by all levels of leadership. It’s now the age of “Go-and-See”, which translates to leading and managing in real time. After all, this is a significant transformation, and if the employees don’t perceive the passion from leadership, why should they care?

We are all familiar with the catch phrase: Our people are our most important asset. Translation: We have a lot of good people who are working longer hours and putting forth extraordinary efforts to work around problems to meet customer requirements. This brings up two questions: 1) is that a sustainable strategy, and 2) how’s your turnover? In the lean context it means that you have cultivated a population of everyday problem solvers, where just pointing out a problem is celebrated. You can’t solve a problem if you can’t see it, and there is a huge difference between solving a problem and working around it.

To get the company on track to true lean transformation and the resulting world class performance, leadership must immerse themselves in learning about lean and their unique and pivotal roles in driving the transformation. They must look beyond the application of lean tools on the shop floor (lean manufacturing) and deploy their visions across the enterprise. Few, if any, functions or persons are exempt. Pascal Dennis, in his best seller, Lean Production Simplified, notes that HR is central to successful lean implementation because their output is people. A negative example would be spending project after project on the shop floor trying to reduce assembly time, but if the product engineers designed a lot of labor into the product then there are few process improvements that will help meet your goal.

OK, this may be sounding a bit prescriptive, so let’s get back to the good news, bad news. But first, let me provide a quote, or more to the point, an inconvenient truth, from Bill Waddell, author of Rebirth of American Industry. In a recent blog Bill stated that competitive advantage never comes from anything physical—anything that can be seen, touched or bought—stuff like robots, factories, or computers. The problem with that stuff is that if you can buy it or build it, so can everyone else. He finishes with, “You’ll never get ahead with anything that everyone can do”.

Now we can add the addendum to this statement, and really the whole point of this article: Deployment of the lean tools is something everyone can do, and most are, and you’ll never gain competitive advantage by stopping there. That’s the bad news. If it was easy everyone would be doing it, right? But the good news is that there are only about one percent of American manufacturers that have gone beyond the tools and are achieving world class performance. That implies that there is a huge opportunity to join this elite group of companies that have the competitive advantage in their respective markets and industries by creating the appropriate business model and supporting culture. As Bill further states, “Those things are like finger prints – no two companies are the same, and the company with the superior management mojo wins”. Does the organization have this unique systematic approach that aligns efforts in all areas of the company to supporting the overall vision? Does it have the culture of problem solving and continuous improvement to sustain it? Are you keeping score with the proper key performance indicators, the dashboards, to indicate in real time not only performance against the vision and goals but to drive the right behaviors, again throughout the organization.

You’ll notice that I didn’t get into the how. Refer to the beginning of this article to remind you that there are plenty of resources with which to start.

BHSU adds Asian partnerships

Representatives from Black Hills State University recently visited six universities in South Korea and three universities in China to foster BHSU’s new and existing international collaborations and encourage leaders to direct students to BHSU. Each visit resulted in establishing new or sustaining existing memoranda of understanding (MOU) agreements, which provide the framework for collaboration, student learning opportunities and international relations between the universities. According to BHSU, a newly signed MOU with Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea, was especially meaningful because Dongguk and BHSU are both ranked in the top 5 percent of business schools in the world by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Gray Plant Mooty acquires Sandin Law

Gray Plant Mooty, a 170-attorney law firm based in Minneapolis, has merged with Sandin Law, a Fargo-based boutique estate and business planning law firm. Led by Toni Sandin, the five-member firm is expected to add depth to Gray Plant Mooty’s trust, estates and charitable planning group, according to the firm.

Gray Plant Mooty opened an office in Fargo in December. The firm has served clients in the area for decades.

USDA backs new Pine Ridge community center

The USDA recently announced it will provide $1.97 million to Thunder Valley Community Development Corp. to build a community center on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The community center will be part of the Regenerative Community, a planned development which will be managed by Thunder Valley CDC and will eventually include housing, an aquaponics greenhouse, a grocery store, pow-

Financing for the project was delivered through USDA Rural Development and was comprised of a $489,000 Rural Housing Site loan, a $300,000 Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance grant, and a water and waste disposal loan and grant package totaling more than $1 million.

Paul Bunyan’s GigaZone earns national award

Bemidji, Minn.-based Paul Bunyan Communications recently received the Most

wow grounds and a youth center.

From left, Wei Song, professor of business administration at Black Hills State University; Izabelle Choi, associate director of BHSU’s academic English preparation program; BHSU President Tom Jackson Jr. and James Fleming, director of international relations and global engagement at BHSU, established new education partnerships with universities in China and South Korea recently.

PHOTO: BLACK HILLS STATE UNIVERSITY

Innovative Gigabit Broadband Service award from Light Reading, a national provider of analysis for the telecommunications industry. The award, given through Light Reading’s Leading Lights awards program, recognizes the communications provider that has launched the most innovative gigabit broadband service during the past year. Last fall, Paul Bunyan launched a project known as the GigaZone which will ultimately provide gigabit Internet service to customers throughout a 5,000-square-mile area of northern Minnesota, making it one of the largest rural gigabit networks in the U.S.

Western State Bank named top performer

West Fargo-based Western State Bank has been named a top performer for 2014 by the Independent Community Bankers of America. The top 25 banks were identified through analysis of earnings data in six asset-size categories. Banks in each category are then measured by their return on average assets and return on average equity ratios for the year. Western State Bank ranked 17th and 14th, respectively, on the list of banks with assets in the $500 million to $1 billion category.

Choice Financial acquires Northland Financial

Choice Financial will acquire Northland Financial, making it the sixth largest community banking organization by asset size in North Dakota. When the acquisition is complete, Choice Financial will have $1.15 billion in assets and 19 locations in North Dakota. The transaction is expected to be completed by the third quarter.

Shutter Pilots, other ND companies get drone exemptions

Shutter Pilots, a North Dakota-based aerial imaging company founded in 2014 by Mike Mabin, Ed Sargeant and Alexander Mabin, has been granted a Federal Aviation Administration exemption to operate drones for the use of aerial imaging and computer animation. The exemption allows the company to operate the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ and DJI Inspire 1 drones at altitudes of 400 feet and below. It was also the first exemption

in the U.S. to outline a mission of using the capture footage to provide 2D and 3D services for use by various industries, according to the company. The company has partnered with Bismarck-based marketing and communications firm Agency MABU to provide additional digital and 3D animation services.

Only about 300 unmanned aerial systems companies nationwide have received FAA exemptions to date. Other North Dakota companies that have been granted exemptions include Grand Forks-based SkySkopes and Falkirk Mining Co.

Local design firms ranked among nation’s best

Bartlett & West and JLG Architects have been ranked among the nation’s top 500 design firms by Engineering News-Record.

Click Rain expands to video

Sioux Falls, S.D.-based digital marketing firm Click Rain has acquired Sioux Center, Iowa-based video production company Paragon Videography. Founded in 2007, Paragon has worked with numerous local and national clients. The addition of the company will allow Click Rain to produce online-exclusive video content for clients intended for platforms including Vine, Instagram and YouTube, according to Click Rain.

Topeka, Kan.-based Bartlett & West was ranked as the 169th largest firm in the country, based on revenue dollar volume for 2014. The firm has 14 offices in 10 states, including Bismarck, N.D., and Sioux Falls, S.D.

JLG ranked 386th and was the only architecture firm in the Dakotas and one of three architecture-only firms in Minnesota to be named to the list.

Valley Express adds export/import service

Fargo-based freight management company Valley Express Inc., along with its international freight division, Valley Worldwide Logistics Solutions, has added Less than Container Load (LCL) shipments to its list of services for European and Asian trade lanes. The service allows customers to bypass the process of trucking small shipments of cargo to larger cities to be

included in a shipping container, according to the company. Felix Asemota, president of global markets for Valley Worldwide, said in a statement the company was able to provide the service due to an increase in volume.

Basin Electric receives employer of year award

Basin Electric Cooperative received the International Right of Way Association’s 2014 employer of the year award for right-of-way staffs with fewer than 20 people during the association’s annual conference held June 15 in San Diego, Calif.

Basic Electric has 10 right-of-way staff members. Mike Murray, property and right-ofway manager, and Matt Greek, senior vice president of engineering and construction, accepted the award for Basin Electric. The cooperative also received the award in 2005.

Recognizing a growing market for video ads, digital marketing firm Click Rain has added video services through the acquisition of Paragon Videography.

PHOTO: CLICK RAIN

Daugaard meets 2015 Dakota Rising class

In recognition of the important role entrepreneurship plays in growing the state’s economy, S.D. Gov. Dennis Daugaard met with applicants for the Dakota Rising Fellowship at the June 1 selection event in Pierre, S.D. Dakota Rising, Dakota Resources’ entrepreneur development program, cultivates rural entrepreneurs dedicated to growing themselves, their businesses and the greater community, according to Dakota Resources.

The 2015 Dakota Rising Entrepreneur Fellows are: Cam Schock of Climate Control and David Malsam of CompQuest Technology, representing the Aberdeen region, which includes all of Brown County; Leslie Bellet of Twin City Hardware and Dr. Bob McIntosh of HealthSource, representing Lawrence County; Barbra Pechous of Tacoma Publications and Cheryl Swatek of The Cake Lady, representing Southern Charles Mix County; John Pfeifer of VoWac Publishing, representing the Faulkton Area, and Chad Gollnick of Piedmont-based Iron Outfitters, who was sponsored by a Dakota Rising Fellow alum.

More information about Dakota Rising is available at dakotaresources.org/dakota-rising.

1Q ND sales better than expected

North Dakota’s taxable sales and purchases for the first quarter of 2015 were approximately $5.8 billion, up more than 2 percent over the same time period one year ago. Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger said the increase was not expected, considering the recent decline in oil prices, and is a good sign for the state’s economy. The state’s cities with the highest percent increases for 1Q 2015 compared to 1Q 2014 were Walhalla, Linton, Cavalier, Larimore and Minot.

The 2015 Dakota Resources Dakota Rising Entrepreneur Fellows are, left to right, John Pfeifer, Dr. Bob McIntosh, Cheryl Swatek, David Malsam, Leslie Bellet, Cam Shock, Barbra Pechous and Chad Gollnick.

PHOTO: DAKOTA RESOURCES

Stantec adds to Fargo team

Russell Landphere has joined Stantec in Fargo as a project manager and engineer-in-training. He has experience in transportation and water infrastructure planning and design and has worked throughout North Dakota for the past 20 years, designing infrastructure, facilities, pipelines and rail projects. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University.

Schloss named top young attorney

Brooke Schloss, an attorney at Swier Law Firm, has been named a “Top 10 Attorney Under the Age of 40” by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys. Schloss leads Swier’s family law practice group and focuses her practice on areas including divorce, child custody, elder law and adoptions. She is the author of two books on the topic of divorce law and serves on the South Dakota Bar Association’s family law committee.

Tastefully Simple names Dahl president

Nancy Dahl has been named president and chief operating officer of Alexandria, Minn.-based Tastefully Simple Inc. Founder Jill Blashack Strahan will continue as CEO and will partner with Dahl to optimize the company’s strategic direction.

Dahl previously served as president and COO for Minneapolis-based Lifetouch Portrait Studios and Lifetouch National School Studios. She is an alumna of Gustavus Adolphus College, University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management’s executive program.

Meehl earns health care design certification

Joshua Meehl, a mechanical engineer for Design Tree Engineering, has earned the Healthcare Facility Design Professional Certification from ASHRAE, a technical society representing building system design and industrial processes professionals. The certification program, which was developed in collaboration with the American Hospital Association’s American Society for Healthcare Engineering, verifies an individual’s well-rounded understanding and knowledge of principles, best practices and industry standards involved in HVAC&R design for health care facilities. According to Design Tree, only seven mechanical engineers in Minnesota hold the HFDP certification.

Vantage Point Solutions hires Essig, Lee

Vantage Point Solutions has hired Pat Essig as a credit review consultant and Michele Lee as a risk and regulatory compliance manager.

Essig has 37 years of banking experience and has expertise in agricultural and commercial credit analysis, sales coaching, credit review and portfolio due diligence and loan workouts. He holds various leadership positions for organizations in the Mitchell, S.D., community.

Lee has 17 years of experience compliance management and has extensive experience training staff on regulatory changes. She is a Chamber of Commerce ambassador and a graduate of Leadership Watertown.

Aberson named Sanford Health Foundation president

Micah Aberson has been named president of the Sanford Health Foundation. In this role, he will oversee all fundraising, management of endowment funds and special programs. He will also serve on Sanford Health’s executive team.

Before joining Sanford, Aberson most recently served as vice president of client services and business development at advertising and marketing agency Lawrence & Schiller, where he had worked since 2003. He is a graduate of Augustana College and holds a master’s degree from the University of Sioux Falls.

Micah Aberson

Russell Landphere

Brooke Schloss

Joshua Meehl

Michele Lee

Pat Essig

Nancy Dahl

Starion Financial adds to management committee, promotes 2

Marc Rasmussen, credit administration, vice president, has joined Starion Financial’s management committee. Rasmussen joined the bank in 2013. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota and is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School and the Mortgage Bankers Association School of Mortgage Banking.

Cody Schoonover has been promoted to investment advisor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Mary and has served in the North Dakota Army National Guard for seven years.

Doug Zinke has been promoted to business banking officer, vice president. He has nearly 10 years of banking experience and has worked at Starion Financial since 2011. He holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in business administration from the University of Mary.

Barnesville utilities manager receives national award

Guy Swenson, telephone, electric and cable manager at Barnseville (Minn.) Municipal Utilities recently received an American Public Power Association Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award at the association’s national conference. The award is given in recognition of managers of small utilities, serving fewer than 2,500 meters, who have small staffs and must assume multiple roles. Swenson is one of eight people who received this year’s award.

ONE delivers success to our client’s by providing 23 years of experienced mechanical and electrical building design and coordination. ONE has worked on over 850 Higher Education projects in the region.

Guy Swenson

RENDERING COURTESY OF ZERR BERG ARCHITECTS

RENDERING COURTESY OF FOSS ARCHITECTURE

Marc Rasmussen Cody Schoonover Doug Zinke

Steady

leader

Alerus leader Randy Newman demonstrates devotion to bank, community

BY KAYLA PRASEK

Randy has a complete sense of honesty and sense of fairness, which are the top two traits a businessman should have. People can work hard but not be fair or honest, and his integrity is something I respect,” says Hal Gershman, president of Gershman Enterprises and Happy Harry’s Bottle Shops of Grand Forks, N.D., and Alerus board member. “He doesn’t try to sweep things under the rug, but also has the ability to look to the future and position us for the future.”

That ability to look to the future is the exact trait that has helped Randy Newman, a Cando, N.D., native, guide Grand Forks, N.D.-based Alerus through a period of incredible growth and a recent rebranding. Newman, president, CEO and chairman of the board for Alerus, joined what was then First National Bank North Dakota in 1981 and was named president in 1987 and CEO in 1995. As president, Newman has guided the financial institution through the flood and fire of 1997, a name change to Alerus Financial in 2000 and the recent rebranding to Alerus. Since 1987, Alerus has grown to include 18 locations in North Dakota, Minnesota and Arizona and 670 employees, nearly half of whom were hired within the past five years.

“To stand out, you have to redesign yourself, and that’s what we did (with the rebranding),” Newman says. “In 2000, we very strategically wanted to grow, which we couldn’t do as First National Bank of North Dakota. So we changed our name to Alerus Financial. Fifteen years later, this is the evolution, which is consistent with our past. We changed our logo and brand to Alerus to reflect our customer advocacy structure and to bring a seamless connec-

Alerus CEO Randy Newman at the bank’s headquarters in Grand Forks, N.D. PHOTO: JOSHUA KOMER/FORUM NEWS SERVICE

tion to customers with their Alerus advisors. We want to bring the power of our company to serve their needs.”

Newman is passionate about both his employees and his customers, saying it’s important to establish a brand and “do things the right way.” That includes “focusing on your customers, establishing good principles and values and staying accountable,” Newman says. “The people are your brand, so you have to determine who you are as a company and develop that competitive niche. We want to be the best financial services company in the country.”

Newman says he’s proud of where Alerus is but hopes to see its continued growth. “Looking back now, we’ve really transformed this company,” he says. “I’m very proud of not just what we’ve achieved, but also how we have conducted ourselves, by focusing on our customers.”

Newman believes talent attracts talent, which has helped his company become a regional leader. “As a leader, I try very hard to not be controlling,” he says. “I believe strongly in the power of purpose and people. If you lead people and give them the purpose, then they will be successful. You can guide a company by finding the people who delight in being part of the company. I’ve been a coach and a leader for Alerus, but now I’m more of the spokesman and communicator, telling our story. My role has changed to the big picture.”

Innovation at the University of North Dakota, says Newman’s leadership following the flood and fire of 1997 helped the city of Grand Forks recover and rebuild.

That passion for giving back also means Newman believes Alerus can do more for the community. “We have a commitment to Grand Forks,” he says. “From increasing financial literacy to our Connect with the Community program for our employees, we want the community to know we’re here to help.” Newman says Alerus is also focused on expanding its work on increasing financial literacy for the elderly, who can be taken advantage of in financial situations, educating students to help them make better financial decisions and providing guidance for first-time home buyers.

Through the years, Newman has held positions on various boards in Grand Forks, including the local chamber of commerce and school board. In recent years, he has focused on a regional role of community stewardship, including on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank in Des Moines, Iowa, as director of the Ninth Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis and a director of the Bank Holding Company Association. He also currently serves on UND’s Center for Innovation Foundation Board, Altru Health Service’s Corporate Advisory Board and the UND Fellows. PB

Bruce Gjovig, director of the Center for

As Gershman says, Newman is very concerned with his employees, from top to bottom, and has worked hard to make Alerus “a wonderful place to work.”

Kayla Prasek Staff Writer Prairie Business 701-780-1187, kprasek@prairiebizmag.com

Benjamin Olson, president, left, and Jonathan Puhl, founder, are business partners of 3C Innovators at the UND Center for Innovation in Grand Forks, N.D.

PHOTO: JOSHUA KOMER/FORUM NEWS SERVICE

Shift in Focus

Universities groom entrepreneurs as vital part of business education

BY KAYLA PRASEK

When you enter Jonathan Puhl and Ben Olson’s office, the first thing you’ll likely notice is the constant buzzing of a 3D printer. Puhl, a fifth-year entrepreneurship major at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, and Olson, a sophomore public administration and arts and communication major at UND, run 3C Innovators, a startup focused on creating 3D prototypes for other startups and students at a low cost.

The 3C Innovators office is located on the UND campus in the Center for Innovation, the home to numerous startups, including many like 3C Innovators which are student-run businesses. The Center for Innovation also serves as the hands-on side of UND’s entrepreneurship program. This fall, the center will become even more important to the university as UND opens its School of Entrepreneurship, only the fifth such school in the nation.

“Our vision is that the School of Entrepreneurship will be the epicenter of the entrepreneurship ecosystem and will be a source of innovation for the community,” says Timothy O’Keefe, chair and executive director of UND’s School of Entrepreneurship. “We want it to be a place where innovation happens and we can teach students to think innovatively and that they can do things that matter.”

At UND, students can solely major in entrepreneurship or they can double major, which O’Keefe says many students will do, as “most startups need that multidisciplinary approach. Startups are a team-based effort, so we want to teach students how to work with others with diverse backgrounds.” O’Keefe says entrepreneurship “is a truly integrative discipline and there’s a process by which different disciplines can be brought together to create innovations. Each of the disciplines can bring something unique to a project.”

The Center for Innovation, which was established at UND in 1984, will provide the hands-on experience entrepreneurship students need to be successful in their futures, O’Keefe says. “We’re the academic arm, while the Center for Innovation will be a source of practical experience for students. It’ll provide resources to start businesses and it’ll provide internships. We are partners in this process.”

The Center for Innovation is home to two technology incubators and Dakota Venture Group, the nation’s only

fully-student managed venture fund where students make actual investment decisions. The center provides assistance to and resources for entrepreneurs and provides a home base for more than 40 tenants. It is also the EB-5 regional center for North Dakota and Minnesota.

“We are bringing entrepreneurship campus-wide,” says Bruce Gjovig, entrepreneur coach and director of the Center for Innovation. “Entrepreneurship is in engineering, in arts, in medicine. We are the teaching and learning lab for the students, and we have many students who run startups out of the center. You can only learn entrepreneurship from people who have been entrepreneurs, which is what we provide.”

Gjovig says students in the entrepreneurship program will be in the incubator and around the region, gaining a portfolio of experience in a variety of small businesses. “A lot of students don’t go straight into starting a business. They want to work at a startup and gain that experience in that environment before they start their businesses.”

However, some students start businesses while they’re still in school, like Puhl and Olson. Puhl set out to start a custom computer business in February, but by April realized he was on the wrong journey. “I kept asking myself why making a prototype was so hard,” Puhl says. “I realized that’s what I was supposed to be doing -- figure out a way to make prototyping easier for other small business owners.” It was at that point he brought Olson on to do the business and marketing side of 3C Innovators.

“Entrepreneurship pushes the bounds of students,” Olson says. “This is the most exciting, most nerve wracking thing I’ve ever done. We don’t know if we’ll succeed, but it’s the perfect time to do it because we don’t have to worry about taking care of a family yet. Any student thinking about starting a business should do it. The risk is worth it right now.”

Academic Shift

O’Keefe says there has been a shift in academia that has helped universities embrace entrepreneurship. “There has been a recognition that entrepreneurship is not Fortune 500 businesses. Startups are different, and a classic business education doesn’t always work well for startups, but 80 percent

of jobs are at businesses with less than 50 employees. The vast majority of people with a classic business education don’t know how to start a business, which is where an entrepreneurship education comes in.”

At the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, students can minor in entrepreneurial studies and participate in the College Entrepreneur Organization. USD also hosts the Invent to Innovate competition. However, Venky Venkatachalam’s proudest accomplishment as dean of USD’s Beacom School of Business was the implementation of the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, which started in January with two entrepreneurs.

“One of the reasons I accepted the job as dean of the Beacom School of Business was because of the opportunity USD offers for the next generation of entrepreneurs,” Venkatachalam says. “Creating these opportunities in South Dakota is critical for the

economy. We are committed to building the entrepreneurship program at USD.”

Venkatachalam says the program gives USD students the opportunity to take their ideas to the market. “They have these ideas but they need mentoring and coaching from real-world entrepreneurs for that extra dimension of learning. That dimension is where this program comes in. They continue learning out of class.”

The first two entrepreneurs were serial entrepreneur Ben Hanten and Sue Lancaster, who is currently director of business development at South Dakota Innovation Partners. “They came and spent time with the students, helping them with market research and the other aspects of fine-tuning business plans. By interacting with real-world entrepreneurs in the early stages of ideas, our students are more likely to be successful business

Jonathan Puhl, left, and Benjamin Olson discuss different functions of the 3D printer at the UND Center for Innovation in Grand Forks, N.D. on Tuesday July 14, 2015.

PHOTO: JOSHUA KOMER/FORUM NEWS SERVICE

owners,” Venkatachalam says. For fall 2015, the program will expand to four or five entrepreneur mentors.

As for why he is so passionate about expanding the entrepreneurial experiences at USD, Venkatachalam says the next generation of entrepreneurs is there. “College campuses play a critical role in not just educating but also in providing mentoring and coaching from industry leaders. We have to give them opportunities to succeed. Entrepreneurship isn’t a mainstream major but business schools should be engines of economic development. We need young, talented, energetic students

who are the next generation of entrepreneurs who will create jobs for our state.” Venkatachalam says he is in the process of creating an entrepreneurship major at USD.

At the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City, students can participate in the Engineering Accelerator and the Butterfield Cup.“Entrepreneurship is a vital component to our department,” says Kyle Riley, head of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at SDSMT. “If our students don’t have a sense of marketing, they won’t make it in our world. Entrepreneurship is very important to industry.”

In one of professor Toni Logar’s computer science courses, students create products and the top seven products become the subjects for teams to refine, plan prototypes and write business plans. The teams then present their products to a group of local entrepreneurs, who determines the winner of the Butterfield Cup and invites them to participate in the Engineering Accelerator.

Logar says she wanted to spark entrepreneurship at SDSMT because “80 percent of new jobs in STEM are in computer science. With that opportunity, it shows a tremendous need and opportunity to become entrepreneurs to start in software engineering and move into design. At that point, they’re well on their way to starting businesses.” Logar’s idea for the course came from speaking with Brian Butterfield, an SDSMT graduate who worked at various local startups before accepting an adjunct instructor position at the school. Logar says they realized entrepreneurship was a viable career path for computer science students and the course was the eventual culmination of their goal to embed more entrepreneurship into the computer science curriculum.

The “rocktapus” is a tiny example of what can be printed at the 3C Innovators headquarters at the UND Center for Innovation in Grand Forks, N.D.

PHOTO: JOSHUA KOMER/FORUM NEWS SERVICE

The Engineering Accelerator is coordinated by Joseph Wright, associate vice president for research in SDSMT’s economic development office. “We proposed the idea as a catalyst for the work we’re doing,” Wright says. The first accelerator was held this summer and included 12 teams associated with technology either owned by the school or associated with the school. The accelerator’s boot camp was held in mid-June and featured five entrepreneurs who helped with training the students in all aspects of a startup. Wright says the next step is a partnership with USD’s business school to bring in their faculty and MBA students to push the teams’ business plans forward.

“We have great researchers solving real-world problems so it behooves us to drive that technology to the market,” Wright says. “At Mines, we can see the work being done to solve clear problems. By pushing entrepreneurship, we are rounding out and broadening the perspectives of our students. We want to drive research and help students get experience in entrepreneurship and help them be innovative and creative.” PB

Kayla Prasek Staff Writer

Prairie Business 701-780-1187, kprasek@prairiebizmag.com

Paying it Forward Business owners step up to

BY KRIS BEVILL

support education, inspire others to contribute

The northern Plains continues to demand more workers than it has available, but the price for a post-secondary education diploma is simply beyond reach for some of the area’s prime workforce candidates. Likewise, some of the higher education institutions in the area have faced continually decreasing budgets in recent years, forcing them to do more with less and sometimes go without supplements that enhance the student experience. Knowing this, a number of business leaders in the region have stepped up to the plate in a big way, providing hefty donations to area schools in an effort to support the workforce pipeline, show appreciation for alma maters’ efforts and to encourage others to do the same.

Fostering Talent

Rodney Paseka, CEO of Hebron Brick Co., and his wife, Carolyn, both attended Minnesota State University Moorhead and have been long-time supporters of the school. But in February, the couple upped their support in a big way with a whopping $5 million donation to MSUM’s School of Business, now known as the Paseka School of Business in honor of their gift. At least 80 percent of the generous donation will be used for a scholarship endowment. Remaining funds could be applied for a number of uses including research, student competitions, applied learning experiences, faculty positions, guest speakers and program development.

Rodney Paseka speaks after his gift of $5 million to Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Center for Business was announced on Feb. 24, 2015.

PHOTO: DAVID SAMSON/FORUM NEWS SERVICE

“One of the really common problems coming out of college these days is the burden of student loans, so much of this money will go towards hopefully reducing somebody’s debt as they get out of school, just by virtue of the fact that they have some tuition paid for,” Rodney Paseka says.

Besides having a desire to share their good fortune with the school that has served them well, Rodney Paseka says they also hoped their donation might inspire others to chip in. “Sometimes these types of things can awaken other people’s thoughts about what they can do,” he says.

It looks like that may already be happening. The Pasekas’ donation was followed in April by a $1.5 million donation to the business school for a scholarship endowment, given by an anonymous alum who said, “I just wanted to do something to help kids.” It capped off an impressive year of fundraising for MSUM, which launched last August with a $1 million gift from Scheels to build a football field. That gift was made all the more impressive considering company CEO Steve Scheel did not even attend MSUM. He is a respected business person, however, and President Anne Blackhurst says his reputation and generosity deserve some of the credit for starting the school’s recent flurry of financial gifts. “I think most folks realize he doesn’t invest in things that he doesn’t believe will be successful, so I think that was a really powerful signal to the business community that MSUM is worth the investment,” she says.

MSUM business school dean Marsha Weber says the large donations received by the school have not gone unnoticed by current and future students. The details of how each donation would be spent were still being finalized in early July, but she anticipates that at least 50 students will benefit through the scholarship funds each year.

And with funding trending downward for Minnesota’s public schools for the past decade, the extra cash for professor resources and student experiences is tremendously helpful. “These gifts are incredibly important and will become more and more so all the time,” Weber says.

Blackhurst agrees. “Public institutions especially are just really squeezed between our desire to provide the highest quality education possible and our desire to keep tuitions as low as possible,” she says. “It’s really private donations that can provide what I think of as the margin of excellence.”

South Dakota’s Higher Education Facilities Fund has made private financial support a necessity for higher education for decades. The fund, fueled by 20 cents of every dollar students spend on tuition, limits state money eligible for new facilities or upgrade projects at the schools, so donors are relied upon to fill in the missing capital. South Dakota State University has been lucky enough to receive long-standing support from alumni including Diane and Larry Ness, this year’s recipients of the school’s philanthropic family of the year award.

Graduate Programs

Health

Nursing

Online/Hybrid

MBA

Special

Speech-Language

Teaching

Minnesota State University Moorhead is an equal opportunity educator and employer and is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System.

Diane and Larry Ness with the Philanthropic Family of the Year award, given to them by the South Dakota State University Foundation during this year’s Donor Celebration, held April 23, 2015, in Frost Arena.

PHOTO: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

SDSU President David Chicoine says that while the family has likely bestowed its generosity on the school for a number of reasons, at least one of them is the desire to train future members of the workforce. “Everybody needs to hire good people and you have to have relationships with places where good people come from,” he says.

As chairman and CEO of Dakota National Bank, Larry Ness has instilled a culture of company support for SDSU in addition to his personal generosity. The bank matches employees’ contributions to the Jack Rabbit Guarantee Scholarship program and provided capital for an electronic education lab, set to open this fall, which will have a number of uses, including as a classroom to train students about electronic marketplaces. Larry and Diane have personally committed $5 million to launch the Ness Division of Management and Economics this fall. The division will be a unique structure, serving as the coordinating body for economics and management programs within four colleges at the school. “It’s a little different,” Chicoine says. “Most people would run out and create a new administrative sector. We’re not doing that. We’re going to be supporting a coordinating function that allows faculty to come together across these colleges.”

The division is expected to include more than 40 faculty members and 2,000 students and is expected to benefit students by allowing them to stay in their specific sector of study. Chicoine says the division’s unique structure was developed partially in response to Larry Ness’ desire to create something unique that would serve multiple industries and is the result of several years of research and industry input. “It’s been a work in progress for a lot of years,” he says.

Hometown Pride

As a private school, the University of Jamestown (N.D.) relies heavily upon its alumni and friends to support it, and there is perhaps no greater supporter than the Newman family. Harold Newman founded his sign company in Jamestown in 1956 and was a steadfast supporter of the community and the school for decades. He spent time as a member of its board of trustees and a booster club supporter and was an avid fan of the school’s sports, particularly basketball. He and his family often attended games, which are held at the Jamestown Civics Center because there is no on-campus space. He felt it was important to the university to have space on campus for athletics, so earlier this year his family made the largest one-time donation in the school’s history, an undisclosed sum, in his and his wife Mary’s honor to lead the way for an athletics center to be built on campus.

UJ Vice President Polly Peterson says ground will not be broken on the tentatively named Newman Athletic Arena until the majority of funding is committed, but feedback from other potential donors has been positive and she expects work could begin within the next year or two. “When you have that lead gift people get excited,” she says. At the Newman family’s direction, the facility is expected to be available not just for school sports but for community purposes as well. A portion of the family’s gift will also be used to establish an endowed scholarship for the school’s nursing students.

Kari Newman-Ness, CEO of Newman Signs and a member of UJ’s board of trustees, says the family targeted the school for its philanthropy because they believe it is a great university and asset to the community. “We think it fills a niche for a lot of kids,”

The family of Harold Newman, a longtime supporter of the University of Jamestown, is providing the largest private donation in school history to spearhead the development of a new athletic facility. PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN

she says. “It’s got some wonderful programs - nursing, business, they just started a physical therapy program. But mostly because it’s here in Jamestown.”

Newman-Ness says she and her siblings were raised in Jamestown and often accompanied their parents to UJ basketball games, and while the school has done well in updated and expanding other areas, athletics has lagged and the family felt the time was right to give it needed support. Like other major donors, Newman-Ness says her family hopes their generosity will inspire others to pay it forward at their alma maters and make the student experience the best it can be. She also anticipates that her family’s philanthropic support will continue into the future. “Our parents taught us to share, so yes,” she says. PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561, kbevill@prairiebizmag.com

Making the Old New Again

Reclaimed wood proves to be design trend with staying power

BY KRIS BEVILL

Seth Carlson didn’t set out to be a design trendsetter for the region. The Casselton, N.D., native had simply started a small reclaimed wood furniture company while he was still attending college in Duluth, Minn., which grew well beyond his expectations. He operated the business for a couple of years after school, but burned out and left it all behind to indulge in a second passioncycling - thinking he had left his reclaimed wood experience in the past.

After traveling the country for two years, he returned to Fargo, where he learned that the company he had purchased wood from for his furniture business had closed, and he had the opportunity to buy the remaining reclaimed wood product from the bank. It was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. He soon found himself back in the reclaimed wood business, though he intended for the return to a be a temporary one.

“I was just going to sell that [stock] and be done,” he says.

The Fargo market had other ideas, however. Carlson says the reclaimed wood sold so quickly that he realized the potential demand might support a long-term

Salvaged materials play heavily into the design at the Starving Rooster restaurant, located in a former implement building in Minot, N.D. PHOTO: CHRIS HAWLEY ARCHITECT & CO.

BRIDGING THE FINANCING GAP

Sometimes projects need a boost when trying to cross over from concept to reality. AE2S Nexus helps bridge that gap. We focus on creating solid plans, aggressively pursuing funding options, and assisting you with implementation to make sure your project is on solid ground.

SERVICES

• Utility Rate Analysis

• Funding/Financing

• Project Development and Administration

• Economic Development

• Asset Management

• Municipal Financial Services

(continued from page 36)

supplier and in late 2013 he officially launched ICSS (Ingvald’s Conservation & Sustainable Sourcing) Supply Co., focusing on buying and selling reclaimed wood to homeowners, designers, architects and builders throughout the country. Since then he’s made some notable salvages, including bleachers, the gym floor and a recently uncovered modular basketball court floor from Fargo’s Bison Sports Arena, and has reclaimed wood from historical grain elevators, barns and schools throughout the region. Since launching his company, demand for reclaimed wood has steadily increased in the area - enough so that ICSS recently expanded to a larger space in Moorhead, Minn., and added a sawmill and kiln drying system to offer full service to its customers - thanks in no small part to Carlson’s passion for helping designers and builders embrace the possibilities of reclaimed wood.

“[O]nce we got that spark going with the help of the community, it’s definitely been a really consistent demand,” he says. “I think it’s really cool that a lot of the home builders are coming to us and utilizing our material. It’s showing a lot of innovation and progressive thinking from North Dakota builders that we haven’t really seen before.”

Mike Dawson, project manager at Fargo-based Chris Hawley Architect & Co., says reclaimed wood is definitely trending among the firm’s clients, residential and commercial. “With our rural context, there are a lot of situations where barns or grain bins become obsolete and instead of just tearing them down and becoming waste, it’s been attractive for people to find a way to use that,” he says.

“We’ve been lucky enough to have somebody like Seth [Carlson] bring a significant supply in order for us to use.”

Chris Hawley replatted the entire eastern face of its building with reclaimed wood about two years ago. Residential client uses have ranged from accent walls to great rooms and vaulted ceilings. In Minot, N.D., the firm recently designed a space for the Starving Rooster restaurant and nearly all of the materials used were salvaged from the building, which was originally built for the Aultman & Taylor Tractor Co. Reclaimed timber became tables in the bar, old flooring was used to make booths and overhead garage doors were repurposed as ceiling treatments, among other elements.

Dawson says clients ranging from millenials to baby boomers are showing interest in incorporating salvaged products into their design, for a combination of reasons. “It’s a little bit of trying to help the environment and also to do something that looks cool,” he says.

(continued on page 40)

Redwood reclaimed from Minnesota State University Moorhead gets new life as ceiling beams and end tables at United Savings Credit Union in Fargo.

PHOTO: R.L. ENGEBRETSON

R.L. Engebretson utilized small supplies of reclaimed wood as wall art at United Savings Credit Union in Fargo. PHOTO: R.L. ENGEBRETSON

Seeing Through to the End

Over 30 years in North Dakota means we’ve seen big projects, but this gas plant called for new heights of commitment and effort. We saw it through by seeing through it: using x-rays and other methods to test safety, and bridging our client’s quality assurance process with our own. See how we did it.

The Science You Build On.

To see the science our clients built on, go to www.braunintertec.com/Tioga

A HUSBAND. A DAD. A HUNTER. A FISHERMAN. A VOLUNTEER. A MENTOR. A CIVIL ENGINEER. ACKERMAN-ESTVOLD.

Meet Steve. He’s a smart, forward-thinking civil engineer. But we know there’s more to Steve than project management and hydraulic calculations. He’s a dad you may pass on the road, taking his kids to school. He’s a hunter that assesses the land while vying for the next big buck. So when Steve designs a roadway or plans the next utility lift station, he’s not only envisioning your future, he’s building his.

Would you like to be a part of building your community? View our job listings at www.ackerman-estvold.com

WE’RE GROWING PLACES

(continued from page 38)

For commercial clients, reclaimed products can sometimes provide the double-benefit of showing environmental awareness and connecting with customers. When United Savings Credit Union worked with R.L. Engebretson to design its new Fargo location, the credit union expressed a desire for the building’s interior features to relay back to its mostly blue-collar member owners, says Kim Manuel, principal and director of interiors at R.L. Engebretson. The firm incorporated metal beams, stone reclaimed wood, including redwood ICSS had salvaged from Minnesota State University Moorhead’s quad, into the design.

Manuel says reclaimed products are definitely growing in popularity and she believes it is a trend with lasting power. “I would say everybody would like to use reclaimed products and be environmentally friendly,” she says. “I think people want to be greener.”

Cost can be a prohibiting factor in incorporating sustainable products into design, but Manuel says some sustainable materials have become more affordable in recent years and, as with any product, many price points are available. She readily admits that having a resource such as ICSS is a significant benefit to designers in the Fargo area and helps

them in the search for interesting wood products. “I think [Seth] has done a great job in the community in continuing to seek out products that can be used,” she says.

Brad Ciaveralla, founder and principal at Mitchell, S.D.-based Ciavarella Design Architects, says there is definite interest in sustainable design but it can be a challenge to reclaim and condition those types of products. “The sustainable design effort is really in full swing ... the challenge is finding someone to reclaim it, the condition [and] the cost. And those types of products are just rare.”

Ciaveralla says the best use of sustainable design is giving new life to buildings that have been underutilized or are set to be demolished, a process which also often seems to include reclaiming and repurposing materials. In 2011, he and a partner purchased a former school in Mitchell, S.D., and his firm has transformed the space into 19 apartments and space for the firm’s office. Many of the building’s materials were re-used, including slate chalkboards, which became countertops and doors. Some of the slate was also used for flooring at a two-room schoolhouse in Alfred, N.D., which Ciaveralla redesigned as a lodge and part-time residence.

Although there isn’t a reclaimed specialist like ICSS in the Mitchell area, Ciaveralla has tapped other local resources to obtain salvaged materials including an antique shop in Mitchell and a lighting store in Aberdeen, but he also does a fair amount of salvaging himself. He and his wife once tore down a stone wall themselves - with the owner’s permission of course - and the firm has also reclaimed wood, including a floor from the Mitchell high school which they refinished and repurposed as the flooring for a tenant recreation space in the newly imagined building.

Ciaveralla’s firm designs many custom homes, and the affluent owners of those homes can more easily afford to include rare, reclaimed products as design elements, but Ciaveralla firmly believes that everyone is interested in those types of products and would apply them to their projects if they could. “There are companies out there but you have to know where they’re at,” he says. “We need more of them because a lot of these old structures are getting torn down and what do you do with the material? ... If someone is building a standard house and they have access to barn wood they’re going to use it where they can. I think it’s just opportunity and access to the material that limits the use.” PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561 , kbevill@prairiebizmag.com

Slate chalkboards from a high school in Mitchell, S.D., get new purpose as a sliding door in Ciaveralla Design Architects’ office.

PHOTO: CIAVERALLA DESIGN ARCHITECTS

Building up for the big league Universities seek Division I edge with expanded athletics facilities

BY KAYLA PRASEK

As the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota have fully completed their transitions to Division I athletics, all four started making a push toward upgrading their athletic facilities to be D-I caliber. Within

the next year, all of them will complete major athletic projects, ranging from a football stadium to basketball arenas and human performance facilities. Each school hopes the addition of these facilities will give them the edge over other D-I universities competitively and in recruiting.

UND Athletics High Performance Center

In Grand Forks, UND is nearing completion of the $19.5 million first phase of its Athletics High Performance Center. Designed by Grand Forks-based ICON Architectural Group, the 156,000-square-foot facility will feature an indoor football practice facility and 300-meter eight-lane track. It will also include separate lineman workout and field events areas, along with videotaping tower locations for performance recording, a warm-up track and an observation area. Construction of the facility, which is being handled by general contractor ICS Inc. of Grand Forks, began in September 2013 and is expected to be complete this month. Phase two of the project will include lockers, coaches’ offices, an academic center and sports medicine and athletic training center. Phase two is estimated to cost $15 million, but still needs to gain approval from the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education and the state legislature before a private fundraising drive can begin. Permanent seating also will be installed, depending on private funding.

NDSU Sanford Health Athletic Complex

In Fargo, NDSU is about halfway through its renovation and extension of the former Bison Sports Arena into the Sanford Health Athletic Complex. The $41 million project is expected to be next October. The project, designed by Fargobased TL Stroh Architects & Interiors, will feature the Scheels Center, a 5,700-seat basketball arena. The two-court Nodak Mutual Insurance Company Basketball Training Facility will be added to the southwest corner of the existing structure, while the west-side addition will house human performance facilities, including strength training, sports medicine and rehabilitation areas. The facility will also have a student-athlete academic center, along with new athletic department offices, equipment facilities and team meeting facilities. Construction of the facility, which began in April 2014, is being led by general contractor Gast Construction of Fargo. The Shelly Ellig Indoor Track and Field Facility, which is also part of the project, opened in December 2012.

(continued on page 44)

USD Sports Performance Enhancement Complex

The University of South Dakota in Vermillion is expecting its $73 million Sports Performance Enhancement Complex to be fully enclosed by Nov. 1, with work currently finishing to connect the facility to the existing DakotaDome. The showpiece of the three-part complex, designed by Sioux Fallsbased Architecture Inc., is an 118,000-square-foot facility featuring a 6,000-seat basketball/volleyball arena, two full-sized practice courts and locker rooms. The second part is the outdoor track and soccer complex, which will feature a nine-lane, 400-meter outdoor track and areas for field events, two soccer fields and bleacher seating for up to 2,000. The third part is the 59,000-square-foot science, health and research lab, which will provide a centralized location for USD’s occupational therapy, physical therapy, kinesiology and sports sciences and sports medicine programs as well as collaborative spaces and state-of-the-art classrooms, laboratory and clinical spaces. It will also feature a 7,500-square-foot strength and conditioning room, hydrotherapy room, sports medicine training room, physical therapy and rehab center and biomechanics lab. The academic laboratory will serve as the connector to the DakotaDome. Minneapolis-based Mortenson Construction is leading construction, which began in May 2014 and is scheduled to be complete early next summer.

CORNER|

SDSU Dana J. Dkyhouse Stadium

In Brookings, SDSU is nearing the halfway point of construction on its Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The $65 million outdoor football stadium is being built on the location of the current football stadium and was designed by Sioux Falls-based Architecture Inc. The first phase of construction, led by Kansas City, Mo.-based JE Dunn Construction, will be complete in early September and will feature new seating to accommodate about 16,700 attendees, restrooms and concession areas on the east side and the south end zone and a new Daktronics scoreboard. The second phase, scheduled to be complete next August, will consist of a tower and new grandstand on the west side along with soybased artificial turf. The tower will contain premium hospitality spaces in the form of suites, loge boxes and a club room, as well as media facilities. Each of those areas include indoor/outdoor space, enhanced food and beverage options and exclusive restrooms among other amenities.

Kayla Prasek Staff Writer Prairie Business 701-780-1187, kprasek@prairiebizmag.com

Catching on to catching rays

Cooperatives, utilities install solar gardens for members

BY KAYLA PRASEK

Sioux Valley Energy, a rural electric cooperative in Brandon, S.D., recently constructed an 80-panel solar array so members can view the production output of the panels.

PHOTO: SIOUX VALLEY ENERGY

While energy prices in the Midwest are still relatively low, that hasn’t stopped a growing interest in renewable energies, particularly solar panels. However, the cost to individual consumers installing the panels themselves can be a deterrent, which has led some rural electrical cooperatives and utility services to install solar community gardens and solar panel projects as services to their customers.

Fargo-based Cass County Electric Cooperative and Moorhead Public Service, the electric and water utility service for Moorhead, Minn., are both planning community solar gardens, which will allow customers to purchase solar power from the company without the hassle of installing solar panels.

(continued on page 48)

(continued from page 46)

Marshal Albright, vice president of member and energy services at Cass County Electric, says the idea for Prairie Sun Community Solar came from other utilities companies in the region. “Electric cooperatives have been selling solar energy for a couple years,” he says. “It’s something new that they’ve seen good success with, and we felt it should be something we should offer.”

Prairie Sun Community Solar will be a 100-kilowatt array consisting of 252 panels. Each panel will be capable of generating 400 watts of power and will produce power about 15 percent of the time. Members will purchase the output of the solar panels, and that output will show up on their bills as a credit, which Albright expects to be about $50 per year based on current rates. A whole panel costs $1,670, which provides a customer with solar energy for 25 years. “You’re pre-buying energy at a fixed cost,” Albright says. “It’s more expensive than current costs, but we’re offering this for those customers who support solar and want the option.”

Each commercial member will be able to purchase up to 50 panels of the 252 panel-garden; residential members can buy up to 10 panels. Half panels are also available. Albright expects the solar garden will serve around 200 members.

While the project is in its beginning stages, about 10 percent of the panels have already been reserved, Albright says. The company will begin building the array when 70 percent of the panels are reserved. “We’re hoping to see the array go up this fall and winter, but it all depends on how quickly it sells,” Albright says.

At Moorhead Public Service, Energy Services Manager Dennis Eisenbraun is preparing for construction to start on the Capture the Sun community solar garden, which will be a 44-kilowatt array. The project will operate just like Cass County Electric’s, but MPS customers will have the chance to purchase a 20-year solar interest license for $480.

Initially, MPS was only going to build a 20-kilowatt solar garden, but the garden size quickly doubled due to intense customer interest. Some customers who were interested won’t be able to be part of the project this year due to the overwhelming interest, Eisenbraun says. “We tried to do

a soft-sell initially, which worked, but then it got overwhelming, which is why we ended up doubling the size of the project. As long as interest continues, we’ll do it again next year. We have the space for 400 kilowatts, so there’s room to grow.”

Eisenbraun says the idea for the project developed three years ago. “We have a renewable energy incentive, but we’ve had very few participants. About 75 percent of our customers’ houses just don’t work for solar panels, but they want to be involved. We’d had some proposals and got some good quotes. The prices are coming down too. When I look at our mission statement, this is right down the middle of that, providing innovative and efficient services.”

Construction on the MPS solar garden should be complete by the end of August with a public dedication the first week of October.

Sioux Valley Energy, located in Brandon, S.D., recently constructed an 80-panel solar project, which has an output of about 25 kilowatts. Reggie Gassman, coordinator of Sioux Valley Energy’s solar project, says the project is a demonstration and learning experience for both Sioux Valley Energy and its members. The panels face three different directions to compare production at different times of the day from varying directions.

“Twenty members have solar now,” Gassman says. “We wanted to stay ahead of the curve, so we put together a solar taskforce to look at all our options. We want to be ready, so we gathered data and consulted with our members.”

Sioux Valley Energy is the first rural electric cooperative in South Dakota to take this step toward solar energy. Gassman says the likely next step would be a community solar garden, but rates need to be right for the community. “That’s what my gut feeling says, and what the logical next step would be,” he says. “We have such cheap rates right now that solar hasn’t become super popular. However, solar will likely be a big part of our energy mix [in the future].” PB

Kayla Prasek Staff Writer Prairie Business 701-780-1187, kprasek@prairiebizmag.com

New-well oil production per rig

New-well gas production per rig thousand cubic feet/day

August-2014 August-2015

Monthly additions from

August barrels/day July barrels/day month over month Oil

BakkenEagle FordHaynesvilleMarcellusNiobraraPermian Utica

Legacy oil production change

Legacy

0

(25)

(50)

(75)

(100)

Legacy gas production change (125)

thousand barrels/day -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 BakkenEagle

BakkenEagle FordHaynesvilleMarcellusNiobraraPermianUtica

Legacy gas production change million cubic feet/day

BakkenEagle FordHaynesvilleMarcellusNiobraraPermian Utica

Indicated monthly change in oil production (Aug vs. Jul)

thousand barrels/day

thousand barrels/day -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 BakkenEagle

August-2014 August-2015

Indicated monthly change in oil production (Aug vs. Jul)

August-2014 August-2015

FordHaynesvilleMarcellusNiobraraPermianUtica

Indicated

August-2015

Indicated monthly change in gas production (Aug vs. Jul)

million cubic feet/day

million cubic feet/day

Gas-24

feet/day (700) (600) (500) (400) (300) (200) (100) 0 BakkenEagle FordHaynesvilleMarcellusNiobraraPermian Utica August-2014 August-2015 Legacy gas production change million cubic feet/day (150) (125) (100) (75) (50) (25) 0 BakkenEagle FordHaynesvilleMarcellusNiobraraPermianUtica August-2014 August-2015 Legacy oil production change thousand barrels/day -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 BakkenEagle FordHaynesvilleMarcellusNiobraraPermianUtica August-2014 August-2015 thousand barrels/day Indicated monthly change in oil production (Aug vs. Jul) -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 BakkenEagle FordHaynesvilleMarcellusNiobraraPermian Utica August-2014 August-2015 million cubic feet/day Indicated monthly change in gas production (Aug vs. Jul) 2

SOURCE: U.S. DOE ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION

Commercial Apprentice and Journeyman HVAC Technicians, Plumbers, Pipefitters and Tinners

Manning Mechanical, Inc. is seeking career motivated individuals who have the desire to work with a reputable mechanical contractor located in Fargo, ND. $18-$35/hr based on education and experience, Scholarship program for HVAC/R post secondary education, Blue Cross/Blue Shield medical benefits, paid holidays, paid vacations, 4 year apprenticeship training, and company matching 401K profit sharing. Must have a positive team effort attitude, good communication skills, be neat and well organized. Most work is in the Fargo area. Send resume or apply in person at Manning Mechanical. Inc, 4219 19th Avenue North, Fargo, ND 58102. Phone 701-293-9774Heidi@manningmechanical.com

To Advertise: John Fetsch 701.238.9574 jfetsch@prairiebizmag.com

Brad Boyd 1.800.641.0683 bboyd@prairiebizmag.com

Nichole Ertman

800.477.6572 ext .1162 nertman@prairiebizmag.com

Interest Rates

Employment

Data provided by David Flynn, chair of the University of North Dakota Department of Economics. Reach him at david.flynn@business.und.edu.

If you set the bar at competence, how do you reach excellence?

Celebrating four years of different.

Chances are, you and your high school senior have a lot of questions about attending college. North Dakota community colleges can make your decision easy.

Chances are, you and your high school senior have a lot of questions about attending college. North Dakota community colleges can make your decision easy.

• North Dakota community colleges can put your student on a career fast track.

• North Dakota community colleges can put your student on a career fast track.

• Credits easily transfer to 4-year universities.

To learn why a North Dakota community college is a smart choice, visit:

To learn why a North Dakota community college is a smart choice, visit:

dc om mun itycollege s .info/deman d

• Five campuses with unique learning and living experiences.

• Credits easily transfer to 4-year universities.

• Five campuses with unique learning and living experiences.

• Students may be eligible for a $1,500 tuition grant.

• Students may be eligible for a $1,500 tuition grant.