Lif eisd riven by purpose

Rich Jacobson Executive Vice President Kraus-Anderson Construction Minneapolis, Minn.

Our greatest accomplishment was how our Minot State University community pulled together quickly to transform our University to meet the needs of students.

Our transformation was two-fold. First, we had a week in March to become an online university. Our faculty and student support staff created ways to connect with and teach students in a difficult situation. The second phase allowed us more time to plan and examine how to deliver education and services in a format that would meet students’ array of expectations. Students could choose to learn from a distance, face-to-face, or in a HyFlex combination model. Throw in dealing with hundreds of students, faculty, and staff testing positive for or being a close contact of a COVID-19 case, and every day was unique and challenging.

I’m proud to be a part of our team; members of our University community were selfless in volunteering and working seven days a week for months to make sure our campus was a safe place to learn and live. 2020 has pushed us to the edge of service and innovation; it made us stronger!

Paul Eidenschink

Dickinson, N.D.

Kevin Harmon Vice President, Student Affairs

2020 has been a year filled with challenges for everyone. Many of our basic assumptions for how we interact with each other and even how we conduct business were forced to change. During difficult times like these, culture and an entrepreneurial spirit can flourish and become strengths in new growth. The thing I’m most of proud of at Steffes in 2020, is the way our teams have come together in this unprecedented time doing whatever it takes to change, forge ahead and create a brighter future.

With sleeves rolled up, the Steffes staff tackled a comprehensive company-wide ERP software launch, explored new markets for diversification, developed energy conserving products, and answered the call from those customers with strong demand. Being open to significant change and pivoting to support new markets increased our chances for success. Many Steffes team members took on new role responsibilities, volunteered to search for new business, or worked on improvements. We are so proud of our dedicated and creative employees. Some of the new markets look promising. Some of the old markets show signs of resurgence. The future looks brighter here at Team Steffes. We are in this together.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 638,000 in October, and the unemployment rate declined to 6.9%, according to the most recent number by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. In October, notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and construction. Employment in government declined.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged in October on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.2% in September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the past 12 months, the all items index increased 1.2% before seasonal adjustment. Component indexes were mixed, with many offsetting increases and decreases. The food index rose 0.2%, with the food away from home index increasing by 0.3% and a smaller 0.1% rise in the food at home index. The energy index rose 0.1% in October as the index for electricity increased 1.2%.

U.S. airlines carried 23.7 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in August, seasonally-adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS), up 11.8% from July. It is the most recent number available, released in mid-November.

BTS says it was withholding the scheduled release of estimated traffic data for September and October because the statistical forecasts are based on previous trends and do not account for the impact of the coronavirus. The bureau reported 22.5 million domestic passengers and 1.2 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights in August.

From same month of previous year: -54 M

One Month: 2.5 M

U.S. import prices edged down 0.1% in October, after rising 0.2% the previous month. The October decline was driven by lower fuel prices that more than offset higher non-fuel prices. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said that in contrast, prices for U.S. exports increased 0.2% in October following a 0.6% advance in September.