Prairie Business July 2020

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CORPORATE COMMUNITIES

Corporate Culture Trends, Page 12

Business Profiles, Page 16

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Positivity Celebrate

America has been through a lot the past few months – the coronavirus pandemic, the death of George Floyd by police officers in broad daylight and the protests that followed nationwide, the seemingly constant political upheaval.

A meme has been passed around on social media sites that refers to the surreal events, saying that 2020 feels like it’s being written by horror novelist Stephen King.

It does seem like a lot has changed in a short span of time.

That’s why I was grateful for a message I received from a reader on June 1 that said with all of the depressing things going on in the country today it is nice to celebrate something positive.

Tanya Pierce, director of marketing for ISG in Sioux Falls, S.D., was referring to Prairie Business’s annual Leaders & Legacies, which recognizes business executives in the Dakotas and Minnesota for their career accomplishments and the impact they have had on their industries.

Members of the magazine staff received nominations from many businesses – and nominated a few executives themselves – and were impressed by all of the nominees’ career accomplishments and the way they have made a difference in their professions.

This award is a chance to recognize some of the very best. As Publisher Korrie Wenzel described it, the award recognizes executives “for the great things they have done in business, whether in recent years (Leaders) or over a lifetime (Legacies).”

Ultimately, 10 professionals were chosen for this year’s award.

Prairie Business will have a reception to honor these leaders, along with those who have been recognized in its 40 Under 40 and Top 25 Women in Business, when it is safe to gather as a group. For now, you can read a little about this year’s Leaders & Legacies recipients, men and women who exemplify what it means to be a true leader in the business world.

Congratulations to all of them.

Prairie Business thanks these fine executives for the work they have done and continue to do to honor their professions, for being true leaders and examples, and for making a difference in their industries and professions.

These accomplishments definitely are some of life’s positives that we should celebrate, and Prairie Business is happy to do so now.

Until next time, Andrew Weeks

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

PUBLISHER KORRIE WENZEL

AD DIRECTOR STACI LORD

EDITOR ANDREW WEEKS

CIRCULATION MANAGER BETH BOHLMAN

LAYOUT DESIGN SARA SLABY

Prairie Business magazine is published monthly

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ADDRESS

Corporate Culture Trends

By Andrew Weeks

When Chris Barone joined DA Davidson in 2009, something that impressed him about the company was its culture. He said “culture” is a word that might be overused on the business landscape these days, but it’s a word that still has a lot of meaning for DA Davidson.

It also is one of the things that continues to attract new employees to the company, and which makes them want to stay long term.

For many companies in the upper Midwest, the pandemic has reinforced the importance of culture in the workplace and made them revisit some old trends while producing new ones.

Culture to attract new hires

As regional director, Barone is located out of the company’s Great Falls, Mont., office but DA Davidson has offices in several states, including North Dakota. As such, culture is one of the things that ties all of the employees together. It also is something the company considers when seeking potential new hires.

That’s good news, according to a March 2020 article by Business Insider, which said companies that want to grow their business should not become lax in their criteria for hiring new employees. “Doing so can be particularly detrimental to company culture, as it shifts the focus away from people and onto the work they can bring,” the article reads.

Barone said DA Davidson takes a proactive approach to seeking new recruits, a philosophy that has worked well for the company.

“We don’t have a lot of turnover,” he said in an interview with Prairie Business on May 27, noting that the company seeks employees not only with qualified skills but innate traits that go a long way in mak-

ing themselves, their clients and the company successful. “We want employees with a good reputation, strong ethics, an extraordinary commitment to clients, and a desire to get better,” he said.

In short order, it wants people who fit in with its culture, a word that according to Matthew Mohr, president of Fargo-based Dakota Paper Co., means more than just a pleasant environment in which to work.

“Having a ping-pong table in the break room doesn’t give you a long-term sustainable culture or make a business successful,” Mohr said. “Business continuity is dependent upon growth, productivity, and profitability.”

The very things that DA Davidson has been focused on for a long time. Still, the definition of culture may sometimes seem perplexing: Does the culture of a company help develop employees, for instance, or do employees help create the culture?

It’s a little of both, according to Barone.

“There's nothing more important in business and growing than hiring good people, and we go about that very purposefully, very deliberately,” he said. “We actively recruit. We're looking for the best professionals who have great reputations, and we reach out to them so we’re not sitting back waiting for the phone to ring. … We're looking for professionals that fit our culture, who have strong values that make a deep commitment to their clients.

“It has to be a win for the recruits, so we know that we're improving their lifestyle and business needs to be a win for their clients and how we conduct business; and it needs to be a win for DA Davidson, of course, as an additive value that they’ll bring to our organization. We've developed a much deserved and growing reputation for being a great place to work, and we want to ensure that it always stays that way.”

continued on page 14

EMC INSURANCE LOOKS FOR THE SAME TRAITS IN ALL OF ITS POTENTIAL HIRES, WHETHER THEY’RE APPLYING FOR A LEADERSHIP ROLE OR NOT, SAYS D.J. CAMPBELL, THE COMPANY’S HUMAN RESOURCE BUSINESS MANAGER IN BISMARCK, N.D. EVEN SO, THE COMPANY HAS MADE CONTINUING EDUCATION A CULTURAL INITIATIVE. IMAGE: EMC INSURANCE COMPANIES

Upper Midwest companies seek the best talent, but many say they also want new hires to fit into their culture

continued From page 12

Culture to retain employees

Companies want to provide exceptional service to their customers and clients, and many of them know it begins at the top by providing a positive in-house culture to their staff, including a flexible work-life balance.

According to an article in Forbes published on March 29, 2020, even as employees work remotely companies should be understanding that they still need the flexibility to balance between work and family. This perhaps is even more true during the coronavirus pandemic when many employees are still working remotely.

An employee work-life balance is important to the culture at WCCO Belting Co., according to Jean Voorhees, the company’s vice president of development, and it is something managers try to emphasize. Voorhees works out of Wahpeton, N.D., but business offices are scattered among a number of states.

“We encourage communication, collaboration, and really celebrating family values, including a work-life balance,” she said. “That's something that has been a big part of our culture and we build flexibility to schedules and shifts so that can happen.”

Similarly, a positive company culture that includes employee flexibility is important to managers at EMC Insurance Companies, said D.J. Campbell, the company’s human resource business partner manager in Bismarck, N.D. He said a good work-life balance “should be part of the organization's total rewards package,” and explained that a “carefully crafted total rewards package is critical when attracting and retaining top talent.”

Part of that package at EMC includes “an alternative work arrangement policy” that fits well during the coronavirus pandemic and outside of it, one “that offers team members many remote working options. Team members can flex their hours, work compressed work weeks, work in a different city at a branch location, work remotely full time, or work remotely part time,” he said. “We offer our team members a generous amount of paid time off and encourage a work-life balance that fits the team members’ needs.”

Gate City Bank, headquartered in Fargo, is yet another company that encourages a friendly work-life balance as part of its culture and serves as a tool to retain employees, said Heather Rye, senior vice president of human resources and development. But it goes beyond retention efforts, she said; it’s just the right thing to do.

“This has especially been a focus during the pandemic as many

team members began engaging in remote work,” Rye said. “We’ve embraced flexible scheduling and have increased our focus on mental health and wellness. We started a daily two-minute video series with different topics addressing everything from avoiding burnout to encouraging team members to make themselves a priority with selfcare. Another focus has been training leaders how to lead a remote team and assure team members are not blurring the lines between ‘work’ and ‘home.’ This has encouraged team members to designate a workspace and set boundaries.”

Culture that promotes leadership

While culture may go a long way in attracting and retaining employees, managers say it should also embrace opportunities for employees to grow and prepare them for leadership roles.

EMC Insurance looks for the same traits in all of its potential hires, Campbell said, whether they’re applying for a leadership role or not. These traits include an individual's ability to develop talent, make decisions, drive vision and purpose, think strategically, and display business insight. Even so, the company has made continuing education a cultural initiative.

“We have many professional development opportunities allowing all team members the opportunity to grow professionally,” he said, noting it uses both internal and external professional development models and tools.

Back at DA Davidson, Barone said the company helps employees improve and develop by using a multi-pronged approach.

“We do it on a number of different levels,” he said. “We have educational programs and advancement programs throughout the firm. We also have a leadership coaching program that we ask everyone (in all managerial roles) in the company to go through, a four-month leadership training program. … Many of those programs are credentialed, so they can get various credentials associated with their financial advisor tied in with staff. We are constantly offering them the ability for advancement.”

Voorhees, of WCCO Belting, said her company also conducts training for all of its employees, including those who are interested in advancing to leadership roles. However, she said the company expects all of its employees to think like a leader, leadership title or not.

That means it’s important for employees to have the desire and drive to maximize responsibility and add value to culture in the work-

We want employees with a good reputation, strong ethics, an extraordinary commitment to clients, and a desire to get better.

- Chris Barone, regional manager, DA Davidson

CHRIS BARONE, REGIONAL MANAGER FOR DA DAVIDSON, SAID CULTURE IS IMPORTANT TO THE COMPANY AND WANTS NEW HIRES TO NOT ONLY FIT IN WITH ITS CULTURE BUT TO ADD TO IT. HERE, STAFF OF DA DAVIDSON PARTICIPATE IN A CULTURE EVENT.

IMAGE: DA DAVIDSON

EMPLOYEES AT WCCO

BELTING INC. ARE SEEN HERE PARTICIPATING IN A VIRTUAL CULTURE EVENT. JEAN VOORHEES, THE COMPANY’S VICE PRESIDENT OF DEVELOPMENT BASED IN WAHPETON, N.D., SAID COMPANY CULTURE IS IMPORTANT IN ATTRACTING AND RETAINING EMPLOYEES.

IMAGE: WCCO BELTING CO.

IMAGE: DA DAVIDSON

place. Ultimately, the development of a leader begins at the hiring level and, according to Nancy Bjorndahl, business manager at Dakota Carrier Network in Fargo, there are certain attributes employers should consider when meeting potential hires.

“When looking to fill a job that would traditionally be considered a ‘leadership’ position, sometimes it can be hard to put your finger on exactly what you’re looking for in a candidate,” she said. “Sometimes it’s easier to identify characteristics you don’t want. That said, we look for many of the skills common to good leaders: being a good listener,

good communicator, not afraid to ask questions, and able to contribute to the success and productivity of those that report to them.” She said for someone who wants to be a successful leader, “those skills are critical.”

ANDREW WEEKS PRAIRIE BUSINESS EDITOR AWEEKS@PRAIRIEBUSINESSMAGAZINE.COM 701-780-1276 | @PB_ANDREWWEEKS

DA DAVIDSON HAS OFFICES IN SEVERAL STATES, INCLUDING NORTH DAKOTA. CHRISTOPHER HOLSTAD, LEFT, FINANCIAL ADVISOR, TINA MINSKE, BRANCH ADMINISTRATOR, AND JEREMY ELBERT, FINANCIAL ADVISOR AND BRANCH MANAGER, ALL WORK OUT OF THE COMPANY’S FARGO OFFICE.

Corporate Profiles

Prairie Business reached out to several regional companies to see what they do to attract and retain employees, as well as find out what role culture and leadership skills and training play in their efforts to attract and grow their workforce.

These companies add value to the labor market, regional and state economies, and Prairie Business was excited to see the values they

DCN

An approach to hiring new employees

What’s the best way you’ve found to let prospective employees learn about openings?

We are fortunate at DCN to have a very stable employee base and therefore have very little turnover. When we do need to hire, like a lot of businesses, we use a combination of ways to get the word out including social media and posting our job openings on Indeed. However, I think our most successful tool is sharing the opening with our team. Even though an employee may not be interested in the position for themself, they may know someone who has the right qualifications and may also be a good cultural fit for us.

What does your company’s hiring process entail?

In the fall of 2019, DCN got very intentional and strategic in our hiring process and implemented a plan that we continue to update and modify as needed. Once all the behind the scenes work has been done – the position has been approved to open, the job description has been developed or updated, etc. – HR determines the best channels to get the word out. Openings are always posted on our intranet and external placement usually includes places like Indeed.com and DCN’s social media pages. We typically keep a position open for two weeks. After the job closes, HR establishes a matrix with job-specific criteria, enters each applicant on the matrix, and posts on Microsoft Teams. The department head and CEO choose an interview committee and the committee recommends which applicants to interview based on resumes and the matrix. Then we go through the interview process until we select the final candidate – usually two or three rounds.

Are there new strategies you plan to use when hiring in a post-pandemic world?

We actually had two new hires come on board during the pandemic! For one job opening, we had completed the interview process before businesses started closing, but for the other opening we finished the process with video interviews.

When it comes to hiring, I think the biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that video interviews really can work. In the past, video interviews seemed so impersonal and awkward, but now that the world is used to them, I think it will be a valuable part of our hiring toolbox. Moving forward, when we have an out-of-town, state or regional candidate, we will definitely incorporate video interviews into the process. Not only does it save the company the cost of bringing in candidates, but it saves the candidates valuable time by eliminating the need to travel.

By Andrew Weeks

place on their customers, clients and employees.

To be consistent, we asked each of the following four companies the same questions under three categories: what their approach was to attracting and hiring new employees; what some of the leadership skills they deem most important when seeking to fill positions; and some highlights about what makes their company a good place to work.

Important skills and attributes

What are the most important attributes and/or skills you look for in a potential new hire?

As you can imagine, since DCN is a broadband company, technical skills are a top priority for most of our positions – and those skills are easier to assess. The bigger challenge is making sure a new hire will be a good fit for our culture. A person can have the best technical skills in the world, but if they don’t believe in our core values – reliability, responsiveness, and valuing long-term relationships – they aren’t a match for DCN, so that is something we really focus on during the hiring process. To help us do that, we utilize People Analyzer to more clearly identify someone who can fulfill the technical needs and fit our organization’s culture. For DCN, since we have a relatively small team of 36 employees, one thing that’s important to us is that our new hires can hit the ground running. Our goal is to hire people who are skilled in their technical area and will be confident in their work. By not having to spend a lot of time on skills training, we can focus on training new hires on how things

are done at

DCN.

What leadership skills are most important for a new hire to bring on board?

When looking to fill a job that would traditionally be considered a “leadership” position, sometimes it can be hard to put your finger on exactly what you’re looking for in a candidate. Sometimes it’s easier to identify characteristics you don’t want. That said, we look for many of the skills common to good leaders: being a good listener, good communicator, not afraid to ask questions, and able to contribute to success and productivity of those that report to them. In order for someone to be a successful leader, those skills are critical.

How does the company train or encourage internal candidates to prepare for executive roles?

The first step in training or encouraging internal candidates for leadership or executive roles is knowing what they are looking for in their career. That starts with strong communication. Not every employee wants to be “the boss” and it’s important to know what each employee is looking for in their career.

continued on page 18

Nancy Bjorndahl Business Manager DCN, Fargo, N.D.

We encourage our employees to always be learning and to pursue learning opportunities. One thing that DCN offers is reimbursement for approved continuing education programs. Whether it’s a sale’s person who wants to earn their MBA or a tech who has an associate degree and wants to earn a bachelor’s degree, they can work with their supervisor on their plan and get final approval from our CEO. In fact, our CEO took advantage of this program. He joined DCN as a sales account executive and moved into product and business development roles. During that time, he used our continuing education program to earn his MBA and was later named CEO.

Highlights of the company

What’s the company’s philosophy on work/life balance?

Research consistently shows that time off and disconnecting from work is good for the employee’s mental health and enhances productivity when they return to work. DCN recognizes the value of work-life balance and gives employees a generous vacation and

3M

An approach to hiring new employees

What’s the best way you’ve found to let prospective employees learn about openings?

3M has a multi-faceted approach to reaching candidates. Some of the best ways we’ve found to reach candidates is through emailed job alerts for those who have joined our Talent Community at 3M.com, sponsored jobs on Indeed, Glassdoor and LinkedIn, and 3M’s employee advocacy program.

What does your company’s hiring process entail?

Our hiring process is ever evolving, especially now that we’re all dealing with the global COVID-19 crisis. We work to engage with potential candidates through social media and other channels. Once they apply for a position, the interview process likely includes a phone interview and an in-person or virtual interview. Throughout the hiring process, we try to give candidates an opportunity to learn about life at 3M and opportunities that may be available to them as employees.

Are there new strategies you plan to use when hiring in a post-pandemic world?

The pandemic is having an impact on how we recruit and our overall hiring processes. It’s possible we’ll see more work being done remotely in the future. For instance, we see virtual interviews continuing in some capacity going forward.

Important skills and attributes

How does the company train or encourage internal candidates to prepare for executive roles?

3M provides experiential and social learning programs to help employees build the skills, mindsets and behaviors to lead our organization.

What are the most important attributes you look for in a potential new hire, and what leadership skills are most important?

When looking for a future 3Mer and leader, the candidate’s ability to be innovative, collaborative and inclusive are some of the most

sick leave package in addition to six paid holidays and four floating holidays each year.

Because us Midwesterners have such a strong work ethic, sometimes we don’t take full advantage of our time off. At DCN, we periodically remind employees in team meetings and through our company intranet that we want them to use their vacation time and take a break – they deserve it!

What’s the best thing about working for your company?

I think there are two things that make people want to work at DCN and keep them here: the stability of our company and the fact that even as we’ve grown, it still feels like a family. These days, stability is important and can be hard to find, so employees appreciate that. With 36 employees, it doesn’t take long before everyone knows a new employee and a new employee knows everyone, including the CEO. There’s something to be said for being able to walk into the CEO’s office or call them on the phone and be greeted with “how’s Bobby’s baseball team doing?” or “what did you shoot golfing the other day?”

important qualities. These are some of the core tenets of 3M’s culture and are important factors for the individual’s and company’s future success.

Highlights of the company

What benefits seem to be the most important when retaining employees?

TJ Kreuziger Global Leader for Talent Acquisition 3M, St. Paul. Minn.

A career at 3M provides candidates the opportunity to have many careers and roles at one company, across the globe. In addition to the global and multiple career opportunities, 3M offers a range of benefits and competitive pay intended to attract, retain and motivate the high-performing employees we depend on for growth and success. To ensure that our pay remains aligned with our desire to remain competitive, 3M regularly benchmarks pay and benefits with other companies that are comparable in size and scope. We also realize different people value different aspects of their work life. Some employees may want more flexibility in their work schedules while others may want more training or development opportunities. As a result, we try to provide various opportunities to employees.

What’s the company’s philosophy on work/life balance?

For more than 70 years, 3M’s unique 15% Culture has encouraged employees to set aside a portion of their work time to proactively cultivate and pursue innovative ideas that excite them. … While coordinating with their manager to ensure day-to-day responsibilities are still executed, employees get the space to try something new and different, think creatively and challenge the status quo.

What’s the best thing about working for your company?

3Mers are amazing! 3M has 96,000 of the most brilliant and inclusive minds around the globe. Every day they do work that matters, applying science in ways that make a positive impact on people’s lives around the world.

An approach to hiring new employees

What’s the best way you’ve found to let prospective employees learn about openings?

Sourcing talent is an important step in the talent acquisition process. An organization’s ability to reach and attract talent should strategically fall in line with its business objectives. Gone are the days when you could just post a job and wait for the right person to apply. How you source a candidate depends primarily on the position. If it’s an entry-level role, I would start by working with career services departments in colleges and universities. If it’s a senior-level role, utilizing LinkedIn to match desired skills or posting the position with a specific industry association would be more appropriate. Your sourcing strategy should be intentional and strategic to ensure you develop a competitive talent pool and ultimately the right person for the role.

What does your company’s hiring process entail?

Our process is aligned to ensure we find the right person for the role following all applicable laws and regulations. This includes alignment of the hiring manager and position requisition, defining the process that will be used, strategic sourcing, objectively qualifying applicants, tailoring the interview questions and process to identify key skills needed to fill the role, incorporating behavioral interview techniques, engaging and introducing the applicant to the enterprise, and managing expectations and answering questions throughout the process. Additionally, EMC believes that our ability to thrive in the future is directly connected to having a diverse workforce, so we have worked to embed diversity, equity and inclusion best practices into our process.

Are there new strategies you plan to use when hiring in a post-pandemic world?

In a post-pandemic world, we will see a lot of changes to the way we do business. Initially, I don’t see much changing with our talent acquisition strategies. Many people have been thrusted into working remotely and utilizing new technology to stay connected. This same technology will only heighten the talent acquisition process. As someone who leads this process, I understand that many people have been and will continue to be impacted by the pandemic. Many people have lost their jobs adding additional stress. The way we interact with these affected individuals needs to reflect our company values; empathy for their situation, transparency in the process, and timely communication. Talent pools will be larger, so alignment with the hiring manager will be critical. Identifying the skills, knowledge, and abilities needed to fill the role and discussing preferred qualifications will allow the process to move more quickly and efficiently. Another big change I see in the future is our ability to provide opportunity to individuals limited by their geographic location. With remote working capabilities being enhanced during the pandemic, we now have the ability to hire people for positions outside of our typical enterprise locations.

Important skills and attributes What are the most important attributes and/or skills you look for in a potential new hire?

When sourcing new talent, we look for individuals that embody our values - honesty and integrity, customer focus, collaboration, innovation, and driving results. These are the beliefs we operate by that create our corporate culture. We count on all EMC employees, current and future, to exercise these principles in their daily work: honesty and integrity, customer focus, collaboration, innovation and driving results. We tailor our process to ensure these values are present in the candidate and align with them professionally.

What leadership skills are most important for a new hire to bring on board?

The attributes we look for in a leader follow the same attributes we would look for in an individual contributor at an enhanced level. Our competency model for a leader incorporates the individual’s ability to develop talent, make decisions, drive vision and purpose, think strategically, and display business insight. We expect our leaders to engage, model, and commit to their teams to inspire action to achieve our business objectives.

How does the company train or encourage internal candidates to prepare for executive roles?

EMC has made continuing education a cultural initiative. We have many professional development opportunities allowing all team members the opportunity to grow professionally. Internally, we have a learning management system including subscriptions to LinkedIn Learning and Udemy for Business. Externally, professional development is encouraged and paid for by the company. Earned designations are also given monetary rewards. Team members are encouraged to participate in community related events and associations with memberships paid for by the organization. With our alternative work arrangements policy and accompanying technology, the growth opportunity at EMC is endless.

Highlights of your company

What’s the company’s philosophy on work/life balance?

Work-life balance has become a deciding factor in talent acquisition and retention, and should be part of the organization’s total rewards package. We have adopted an alternative work arrangement policy that offers team members many remote working options. Team members can flex their hours, work compressed work weeks, work in a different city at a branch location, work remotely full time, or work remotely part time. We offer our team members a generous amount of paid time off and encourage a work-life balance that fits the team member’s needs. In 2020, we took it a step further and now offer 12 weeks 100% paid maternity leave for new mothers and four weeks paid caregiver leave for all team members. Additional benefits included to facilitate work-life balance include life skills training, a corporate wellness programs, on-site health screens and flu vaccines, gym membership reimbursement, and an employee assistance program.

continued on page 20

D.J. Campbell

Branch HR Business

Partner Manager

EMC Insurance Companies, Bismarck, N.D.

What’s the best thing about working for your company?

In my opinion, the best thing about our organization is our commitment to our people. People are the cornerstone of any business, and we take great pride in attracting, developing, and retaining a strong workforce. Our people strategy is centered around culture. As our current workforce has begun to look at retirement, we have been proactive in changing our company culture. This meant capitalizing on our ability to offer growth opportunities within the organization,

developing EMC University at a corporate level, developing college level coursework in partnership with Bismarck State College, volunteering in and giving back within our communities, and aligning our goals to all team members o they can see the impact they are making in our business. We continue to evaluate and evolve our people strategies to align with a 21st century workforce, and we are heavily investing in innovation to tackle today’s problems and create tomorrow’s solutions.

Gate City Bank

An approach to hiring new employees

What’s the best way you’ve found to let prospective employees learn about openings?

and their communities For a Better Way of Life.® We’re also interested in having candidates who are engaged in the interview and hiring process, and who are asking questions and providing ideas.

What leadership skills are most important for a new hire to bring on board?

Heather Rye Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Development

Gate City Bank, Fargo, N.D..

Gate City Bank is a local community bank, so we believe in hiring within our footprint. We have such talented individuals in our area, and we’ve been able to recruit that talent locally. We also have a very successful team member referral program. On average, over half of our new hires are from our referral program.

What does your company’s hiring process entail?

We provide the same level of personal service and attention to our potential hires that we do with our customers. Our hiring process doesn’t necessarily begin when a position opens up; we’re proactive and always on the lookout for talent before positions open. We do this by connecting with the community, attending job fairs and networking at events. We also have “Join Our Team” business cards, so when we see talent or excellent customer service, we give individuals a card right on the spot.

Are there new strategies you plan to use when hiring in a post-pandemic world?

There are so many uncertainties right now, but we know we can’t continue to do things the same way as we did before. As we change to more remote work for our corporate positions, it creates more opportunities. We will continue to heavily invest in technology, allowing team members to work from home and stay connected successfully.

Important skills and attributes

What are the most important attributes and/or skills you look for in a potential new hire?

We’re looking for team members who are passionate, innovative and driven – all key traits that align with our Principles of High Standards. We also want people who are involved in the community. Most importantly, we want to find team members who believe in our mission of providing a welcoming atmosphere and commitment to making the lives of our customers and team members better by investing in them

We’re looking for leaders who embrace data and innovation, and who have a sense of urgency. We want leaders who lead with curiosity and are willing to experiment with new ideas. Our ideal candidates are servant leaders who put customers, communities and team members first.

How does the company train or encourage internal candidates to prepare for executive roles?

Gate City Bank provides several leadership and development programs for team members, such as our Emerging Leaders Leadership Program, Reality-Based Leadership Program, mentorships, job shadowing, leadership coaching, assessments and sabbaticals, all of which provide opportunities for team members to have on-the-job training as they take on leadership responsibilities. We also have each leader develop a succession plan that entails how we get team members to the next level and help them develop their leadership skills.

Highlights of your company

What’s the company’s philosophy on work-life balance?

We encourage a healthy work-life balance. This has especially been a focus during the pandemic as many team members began engaging in remote work. We’ve embraced flexible scheduling and have increased our focus on mental health and wellness. We started a daily two-minute video series with different topics addressing everything from avoiding burnout to encouraging team members to make themselves a priority with self-care. Another focus has been training leaders how to lead a remote team and assure team members are not blurring the lines between “work” and “home.” This has encouraged team members to designate a workspace and set boundaries.

What’s the best thing about working for your company?

We live our mission every day to provide a better way of life for our customers, communities and team members. We invest in professional development and seek opportunities for team members to grow. And we celebrate – a lot! Whether we’re recognizing a team member’s accomplishments, a milestone at the bank or just having fun with one another during one of our regular fun days, we believe in celebrating.

AreYourReadyforWhat’sAhead?

COVID-19 has changedthebusiness landscape.Howyouchoosetomove forwardwilltakecarefulconsidera dset thetoneforyourorganiz on’s future. Map outastrategyforsuccesswith the helpofEideBailly.

Visitourwebsitefor guidesonreopeningandca w, updatesonthelatest legisla andmore.

ei de b ailly.com/effects-of-covid-19

LEADERS& LEGACIES

TheUniversityofNorthDakotaisproudtosalutePrairieBusinessmagazine’s2020 Leaders &Legacies —a Top10listofsomeofthe region’smostinnovativeandsuccessful businessexecutives.Bothenterprisingandinspiring,they’vemadeanindeliblemarkintheir communitiesandbeyond.Congratulationstoall!

DeanAnagnost

BenCarlsrud

VernDosch

DavidDoxtad

TomErickson

Brenda Foster

John Kutch

KristiMagnuson-Nelson

Randy Newman

Gary Petersen

LL LL

PRAIRIE BU SINESS2020

Something that makes Ben Carlsrud stand out as a business leader: “He walks the walk and has been in the trenches,” said Steve Stenerson, vice president of sales at Network Center Inc. He doesn’t expect his employees to do anything that he hasn’t done or is not willing to do, even now. “He’s always been one who would jump in a car to meet with a customer, and still does to this day.”

Carlsrud grew up in Borup, Minn., and attended what he still likes to call Moorhead State University, now Minnesota State University Moorhead, and graduated in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

His career with Network Center Inc. started right after graduation, when he worked as a service technician. It wasn’t long before he was promoted to service manager and made the transition from being the one “turning the screws,” he said, “to overseeing delivery of all services for the entire company. About a decade later his career accelerated when he became NCI president.

“I watched and helped the company grow from roughly 20 employees to 70,” he said. “One project, not necessarily current but always ongoing and something I’m most proud of, is working through the conversion of Network Center Inc from a privately held company to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). … We went from a single company owner to now educating our employees that we are all owners and the decisions we make affect each one of us. To give employees that type of empowerment is one of the many reasons why this ongoing ‘project’ is one I look forward to every day.”

He said his personal “why” these days is for the employees and the ESOP.

“There are some very successful ESOPs in our community that have had an amazing effect on their employees’ lives,” he said. “I want Network Center to run in that same crowd.”

Carlsrud’s leadership has always been employee- and client-focused, Stenerson said, and his work on the ESOP truly stands out.

Carlsrud serves on the board for Bethany Retirement Living and is involved with his children’s hockey teams and other sports in the community. He also is active in Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber events and is part of a Trust X Alliance Masterminds program, where he regularly meets with similar companies around the country and brings ideas back to the Fargo-Moorhead technology community.

Dean Anagnost has been a practicing electrical engineer for 35 years, and has earned the respect of many individuals over the past nearly four decades. He is quick to acknowledge others in the course of his career, but those who work with him say he is a true leader in the profession and deserves to be recognized.

As president and CEO of KLJ Solutions – the parent company of three organizations, including engineering firm KLJ, which has 23 office offices in seven states – Anagnost guides and influences the interests of this portfolio of companies engaged in professional engineering and surveying services, real estate management and real estate development.

He is a registered professional engineer in eight states, serving public utilities and commercial customers. He has spent much of his 35-year career in professional services acting in various technical, supervisory and executive roles. During his time as chief financial officer, he was instrumental in leading KLJ through an ownership transition resulting in an employee-owned ESOP company.

“Dean exemplifies dedication to the consulting engineering industry, as well as represents how dedication to not only the industry, but to clients and to our organization can take you to the highest level in the company,” said Jill Beilke, branding and communications manager. “He is committed to life-long learning, systems’ thinking, and governance systems. With a degree in electrical engineering specializing in control systems avionics coupled with his experiences over the years, Dean brings detailed technical knowledge and capability as well as an extensive business acumen to lead the company.”

Anagnost serves in various business and community leadership capacities, including the KLJ Solutions Board of Directors chairing the Governance and Executive Committees. He is the assistant-chief governance officer and Audit Committee chair of the North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance Board of Directors and is a member of the North Dakota State University College of Engineering Advisory Board, University of North Dakota College of Engineering and Mines Advisory Board, and the CHI St. Alexius Foundation Resource Cabinet.

Anagnost is a Fellow of the Senior Executives Institute of ACEC and a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Dean F. Anagnost, PE President and CEO KLJ Solutions Bismarck, N.D.

Ben Carlsrud President Network Center Inc. Fargo, N.D.

Vern Dosch

Former president and CEO National Information Solutions Cooperative Mandan, N.D.

Vern Dosch is an unassuming man whose leadership has influenced many others. One of them is Brian Ritter, president of the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber Economic Development Corp.

“I have the pleasure of knowing Vern both personally and professionally and in both realms, he’s one of the finest men I know,” Ritter told Prairie Business.

Dosch is the former president and chief executive officer of National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a technology cooperative located in Mandan, N.D., that serves primarily utility and telecommunications service providers. In his more than 40 years in the industry and 17 years leading NISC, Dosch helped the cooperative grow into a national organization that provides billing, accounting and engineering software solutions to more than 840 members in all 50 states and abroad.

Dosch’s commitment to serving members and taking care of employees has set the tone for NISC’s business structure and culture. Under his guidance and servant-style leadership, it has had the long-standing recognition by Computerworld Magazine as one of the nation’s top places to work in information technology.

“Professionally, Vern led NISC from a small, regional technology company to one of the industry’s leaders

all from right here in Mandan,” Ritter said. “Suffice it to say, that transition doesn’t happen without Vern’s leadership. In addition, he did so in a way that won him universal respect amongst his peers, employees and community leaders. That’s rare.”

Dosch is devoted to his community as a life-long resident of the Bismarck-Mandan area. He continues to work closely with the University of Mary Mentorship Program, mentoring students and young professionals. He serves as a board member for the Bismarck State College Foundation, the University of Mary Board of Regents and the North Dakota University Roundtable, Starion Financial, CHI St. Alexius Hospital and the God’s Child Foundation. In 2007, Dosch received the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership Award, one of the chamber’s highest honors. He also is a recipient of the University of Mary Alumni Recognition Award. Most recently, Dosch has been serving North Dakota as the state’s COVID-19 contact tracing administer and has gained national recognition for his efforts.

Dosch, Ritter said, is a true leader in every sense of the word.

“What’s also rare is to meet a man like Vern who is every bit as good as a man as he is an executive,” he said.

David Doxtad has more than 10 years of professional leadership and business development experience with ISG, a multi-disciplinary architecture, engineering, environmental and planning firm with 10 Midwest offices in four states.

According to a colleague, Doxtad is a born leader.

“David has been a leader at ISG from day one,” said Steve Watson, ISG’s development strategist. “He welcomes new challenges and responsibilities, and has served ISG in numerous roles over the years from office manager to board member to now president of our company.”

As a civil engineer, Doxtad has held several leadership positions within the firm, including office manager, associate principal, and now as president, where he continues to build upon ISG’s growth and multi-market, multi-disciplinary structure.

Since 2011, he has led ISG operations as an office leader for three offices, including managing the opening of the Sioux Falls, S.D., location in 2018, where he currently leads a team of 15-plus professionals. His leadership of the Public Works Business Unit led to significant expansion of ISG’s client-based expertise and geography. Doxtad served as an ISG associate board member and became a full ISG board member in 2016, as he was recognized as providing critical market plans and cultivating

internal and external relationships that prove invaluable to the growth of the firm.

He is an active member of Downtown Sioux Falls Development Committee and serves as a member representative of ISG for Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Development Foundation.

“ISG has made an impressive entry into the Sioux Falls business community,” said Jeff Griffin, president and CEO of the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, “and that was led by David.” Doxtad has served as an Advisory Board Member of Southeast Technical Institute and sponsor of the South Dakota State University Civil Engineering Classroom and Architecture Scholarship. He received his bachelor of science degree in civil engineering, graduating Summa Cum Laude from Iowa State University. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, South Dakota Engineering Society, Chi Epsilon, National Civil Engineering Honor Society, and Tau Beta Pi, National Engineering Honor Society.

“David is a very dedicated, hardworking individual who leads by example,” Watson said. “Always the first in the office, and usually the last to leave, he puts in the time and extra effort to ensure clients and coworkers are getting the support they need.”

Tom Erickson

Director

State Energy Research Center and director of Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialization at the Energy and Environmental Research Center University of North Dakota Grand Forks, N.D.

Tom Erickson has been described by his colleagues as compassionate, service oriented, and a born leader with acute business acumen – traits that continue to serve him well.

Erickson has been tied to the Energy and Environmental Research Center since 1986, when he started work as a student employee at the University of North Dakota.

During his recent five-year tenure as CEO, Erickson significantly grew revenue, established center-wide core values, focused on organizational structure to better serve clients, created the student-focused Energy Hawks Program, and initiated Energize ND – a yearly event bringing together players in industry and research across North Dakota.

Colleagues say they were impressed with how he improved the working environment when he became CEO in 2014.

“He initiated the EERC’s employee engagement and social cause efforts to encourage staff to build effective teams at work and volunteer in the community in various ways,” said Nikki Massmann, communications director.

Erickson worked closely with state officials to establish the State Energy Research Center to rekindle exploratory research critical for the future of North Dakota. He served as the initial Energy Grand Champion for UND, helping to create collaboration across UND and focus the research mission.

Because of his innate ability and success as a leader, Gov. Doug Burgum in 2018 named Erickson a member of the Higher Education Governance Task Force. Erickson said he also served as a volunteer for, and eventually on the board of, the Community Violence Intervention Center, noting that he and his wife, Jessie, are long-time supporters of CVIC. In 2005, Erickson was selected as the CVIC Peacemaker of the year.

Erickson was honored with the Ken and Toby Baker UND Proud Award in 2006 and received the UND President’s Medal in 2019.

Erickson is “one of those rare individuals who grew up with the idea of service ingrained in him,” said another colleague, Joyce Riske, who also said his “reputation as a leader, a fair dealer, and a person with acute business acumen placed him in a spot to lead. He had already proven to fellow employees that he was trustworthy.”

Catherine Russell, senior technical editor at EERC, said his “leadership and commitment to the success of the EERC have been integral to its growth and expansion. He is deeply invested in the research as well as the success and satisfaction of those who carry it out.”

Brenda Foster has been recognized throughout her career for the way she conducts business, including being named one of Prairie Business’ Top 25 Women in Business earlier this year. She is deserving of the Leaders & Legacies award because, as those who know her well have said, she exemplifies compassionate leadership.

“Brenda certainly fits that role (of a Leaders & Legacies recipient),” said John MacMartin, president of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce. “She’s a very, very solid individual.”

A graduate of Minot State University, Foster’s career path started when she interned as a teen at First West Bank & Trust. Over the past 39 years she has worked in all areas of the bank and now serves as board chair, president and CEO.

Over the past four decades she has experienced the evolution of the banking industry, noting the most dramatic changes have been with technology. When she started, for instance, computers were nonexistent in banking.

“Fast forward to today,” she said. “Your banking can be done from a smartphone.”

Under Foster’s leadership, First Western continues to grow with current assets at $1.7 billion, 310 employees and 16 locations in two states. She remains passionate about participating in the success of customers, employees and the communities they serve.

Foster was recently elected as a Class A director of the Federal Reserve Board of Minneapolis’ board of directors.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to be involved in a number of national, state and local community organizations throughout my career, to include civic leadership as a former board member of the Minot Public School Board and the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce Board,” she said.

MacMartin said of her: “Brenda has been an all-around great business partner, as has First Western, but Brenda in particular. She’s somebody I feel I could go to talk with if I need something. She’s been very supportive of the events we’ve gotten behind in the community.”

Among her other accomplishments, Foster is past chair of the Large Community Bank Council and current member of the education committee for the Independent Community Banks of America, a member of the Minot State University Board of Regents, volunteer and original organizer for Junior Achievement in Minot, and past president of the Independent Community Banks of North Dakota.

Brenda Foster

Chairwoman President and CEO First Western Bank & Trust North Dakota and Minnesota

Lifeis about leaving alegacy

FOUR GENERATIONS OF LIVING FIRST

Our histor y begins with Farmer ’s State Bank in Arnegard, North Dakota The bank was issueda char ter and opened for business on May 1, 1910 In 1911 , Odin Stenehjem became thefirst Farmer ’s State Bank cashier, hisbrother, Gerhard Stenehjembecame itsfirst President. It was theonly bank in McKenzie County to survive the Great Depressionand reopen af ter President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered the banks closed fora week in March, 1933.

In 1934, thebank moved to Watford City when it wasnamed theCounty Seat of McKenzie County At that time, thename was changed to FirstInternational Bank. “Never a Loss of a Depositor ’s Dollar,” wasnotonly a slogan , but a point of pride for thefamily-owned bank, as the countr y, and North Dakota’s residentsmoved forward from the Great Depression.

Today, the four th generation of Stenehjem bankers leads FIBT. With Chairmanand CEO, Stephen L. Stenehjem at the helm , the bank nowoperates28 offices in North Dakota , Minnesota ,and Arizona. Our foundationhas been builton thebondsbetween our employeesandour customers. FIBT remains committed to those relationships, while at the same time, we continue to grow our footprint and product offerings to best serve our clients . FIBT is a full-service financial institution, offering insurance*, wealth management*, and banking solutions.

PeterStenehjem, Kira Noll ,SteveStenehjem, Gretchen Stenehjem, and Erik Stenehjem

Steve Stenehje m, CEO/Cha irman

John M. Kutch President and CEO Trinity Health Minot, N.D.

John Kutch leads Minot-based Trinity Health, a locally owned and operated healthcare system with facilities in nine communities in North Dakota and a workforce of close to 3,000.

Upon arriving at Trinity in 2009, Kutch led a successful transformation focusing on a ServiceFIRST culture, best practices, leveraging technology, and a rapid cycle model for improving care delivery. Under the motto “Reinventing Health,” Trinity Health positioned itself as the premier care system for northwest North Dakota, with improved patient outcomes and growth. Within six years, it was able to enter the next phase of its strategic plan of “Making More Possible” for patients, families, and communities, something that has been described as a complete rebranding that symbolized Trinity’s commitment to wellness, collaboration and compassion.

The rebranding coincided with the groundbreaking in 2018 for a $300 million-plus healthcare campus and medical district.

Further demonstrating Kutch’s leadership, Trinity established the first drive-thru COVID-19 test site in North Dakota and was the first to mandate masking in all its facilities.

David Hogue, Trinity board member, said Kutch’s leadership during the pandemic has been “outstanding,” having, among other things, “immediately established a leadership team to deal directly with

Kristi Magnuson Nelson grew up in the grocery business, having started bagging groceries and working in customer service when she was just 13 years old at the family marketplace in Grand Forks, N.D. It’s a business that has been good to her; likewise, she has been good to it.

Hugo’s Family Market was founded in 1939 by Nelson’s grandparents, Hugo and Dorothy Magnuson. Hugo Magnuson and Curt Magnuson, Nelson’s father, expanded the business to include stores in both North Dakota and Minnesota.

It would later see even further expansion under Nelson’s leadership.

After attending the University of North Dakota, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, she worked for a time with at-risk youth in Crookston, Minn., but the family business drew her back to her roots.

In 1998 she began working alongside her father and grandfather as the director of marketing and advertising. Seven years later, at the age 102, Hugo Magnuson died, followed two years later, in 2007, by the death of Curt Magnuson.

operational issues that related to the pandemic, such as shortages of supplies previously taken for granted, and apprehension among the workforce about new safety issues.”

He also said Kutch cares deeply about his employees: “He wants to know about their personal life and what challenges they have in the work environment,” and that he “regularly reviews progress on long-term strategic goals and assigns individual responsibility for achieving those goals.”

Patrick Holien, Trinity board chair, said his leadership style is “most obvious when one is dealing with his team members, a line cook in nutrition services as they present their case on a Gemba Walk or the CFO as they present financials to the board, and you see how they own the show and clearly accept that ownership with pride. In addition and perhaps most notable, our medical staff and management team function as one and move to accomplish the same goals. It takes a special leadership style to accomplish that and Mr. Kutch has it.”

Kutch, however, is quick to attribute Trinity’s success to his employees.

“Without exceptional engagement and enthusiasm from an outstanding workforce and medical staff, we never could have completed the transition to make more possible,” he said.

But the store was not without leadership. Nelson took over the day-to-day operations, and as president and CEO she has led Hugo’s expansion to include a total of 10 grocery stores located in the North Dakota and Minnesota communities of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, Crookston, Thief River Falls, Jamestown, Grafton and Park Rapids as well as five liquor stores in Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, Jamestown and Grafton. Most recently she led the process of developing a new store in downtown Grand Forks, which broke ground last fall.

“Kristi has carried on her family’s tradition and even expanded on that with stores in multiple communities, including with Caribou Coffee and Hugo’s Wine and Spirits,” said Barry Wilfahrt, president & CEO of the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce. He said she’s had a significant impact on both her family’s business and the communities they serve. “She is someone who genuinely cares about her employees and customers. And she gives back to the community in so many ways, many times anonymously through charities. She really, sincerely cares and that is evident by the way Hugo’s operates.”

Randy L. Newman CEO, President and Chairman of the Board Alerus Financial N.A. and Alerus Financial Corp. Grand Forks, N.D.

Randy Newman grasped his industry early in his career and hasn’t looked back. It’s a career that has spanned a number of leadership roles and accomplishments that have earned him many prestigious awards.

He now can add Leaders & Legacies to the list.

Barry Wilfahrt, president and CEO of Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce, said there’s no doubt about it, Newman has a strong track record and pointed out that Alerus Financial is one of those successes.

“Alerus is another one of those companies that gives back to the community,” he said, noting the company has strong values of integrity because of its leadership, namely, Newman.

Newman’s journey with Alerus Financial, formerly First National Bank North Dakota, began in 1981 but his ambition, drive and expertise earned him the title of president just six years later, in 1987, and he was named CEO in 1995.

A glimpse of his leadership abilities: Newman oversees the $2.7 billion commercial bank that has a wealth management division of $6 billion assets under management, $28 billion assets under administration, and annually originates $1 billion of residential mortgages in its franchise markets.

Prior to joining Alerus Financial, he taught corporate finance and business strategy courses at the University of North Dakota, and served from 2012 to 2018 as a director of the Ninth Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis and as a director of the Bank Holding Company Association, a seven-state regional association. From 1998-2007, he served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank in Des Moines, serving the last four years as its chairman.

His successful career path also includes serving on committees, including having been designated an audit committee financial expert while serving on the board of FHLBDM.

He received his BSBA in 1975 and MBA in 1979 from the University of North Dakota, and has served in leadership and on community boards in many civic organizations.

He has been recognized with many awards, including the U.S. Small Business Administration’s “1998 ND Phoenix Award” for leadership with small businesses during Grand Forks’ Flood and Fire Disaster in 1997. He was awarded Grand Forks’ prestigious Henry Havig award in 2007.

Wilfahrt said Newman has led Alerus to make a positive impact in the community and that for this and other accomplishments he is “very deserving” of the Leaders & Legacies award.

Gary Petersen doesn’t like a lot of attention. Any success he achieves, he told Prairie Business, is in large part due to the influence of others. But those who work closely with Petersen say he’s a standout leader who helps others achieve their own success.

“Gary is not only a leader, but he’s also a thinker,” said Deen K.J. Axtman, Cornerstone’s chief operation officer. “Conversations with him are thought-provoking as he challenges all of us to be our best. He is supportive and empowering.”

As chairman of the Board for Cornerstone Bank and Cornerstone Holding Company, Petersen brings experience to North Dakota and South Dakota banking that include metro areas, rural areas, Indian Reservations and the Bakken oil region.

He started his career as regulator, which brought a diverse perspective as he moved into leading smalltown banking, which colleagues describe as a diverse field in which even leaders fill various roles. Petersen’s experience became even more diverse as he led his small-town bank through a successful merger that resulted in growth to 11 locations.

Axtman said he has always understood the importance of industry and community involvement.

“He is a true leader,” she said. “The culture at Cornerstone is led by him, and he personally lives our nine values every day with integrity. He is not only a great leader at the bank, but also for the state and industry, serving in various roles with the Banker’s Association and the Bank of North Dakota. His roots are deeply embedded in doing the right thing, and in the role that a community bank is responsible for in North Dakota.”

Petersen, who earned his bachelor of business administration and Juris Doctorate degrees from the University of North Dakota, is a member of the State Bar Association of North Dakota. He currently is chairman of the Bank of North Dakota Advisory Board, the only state-owned bank in the country. He is a past director and chairman for the North Dakota Bankers Association Board and was previously a member of the North Dakota Department of Banking and Financial Institutions Board.

He has also served as a member of the 9th District Federal Reserve Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council and on various American Bankers Association Committees. He has served on numerous other community boards and has actively volunteered in community events.

Gary Petersen Chairman of the Board Cornerstone Bank and Cornerstone Holding Co. Bismarck, N.D.

Top seven questions to ask yourself to set up

a successful exit plan

By Amber J. Ferrie

Exit planning is a vital part of the lifecycle of a business. It seems simple at first: how do you plan to exit your business? But the options, and compliance factors, that go into exit planning can leave your mind reeling. That’s why it’s best to plan early. Not sure where to get started? Here are seven key questions to ask yourself as you begin to exit plan.

How much longer do I plan to work/stay involved in the business?

It usually takes a few years to develop an exit strategy. Ideally, an exit strategy will be part of the original business plan, keeping in mind that strategy may change over time. Ideally, there will be at least three to five years before a sale.

How much control do I want after my exit?

Having a better understanding of what you want will help you when it comes to articulating this to fellow stakeholders. If others don’t know they are part of a plan, they’ll make their own plan. These conversations will also better prepare you to work with exit strategy advisors.

How do I plan to replace myself?

You built your business, but it’s important you are not the glue that holds everything together. The real value of your business is in the team you have built. If the business can’t function without you, you must find a way to transfer or replace what you do.

Are my records ready?

If you want to get the full asking price for your business, your records need to be clean and organized so a third party can go through them with a fine-tooth comb. A key component is quality of earnings due diligence, which analyzes your organization’s financial information. This process is completed by a third party because it helps you substantiate the cash flow and ultimately the value your business.

Do I know what my business is worth on the market?

You need to know with brutal honesty the market value of your business–not what you think it’s worth. Market value always trumps what you “need” out of the business. Use independent expertise to value the business before you get locked in during a negotiation.

What am I doing now to maximize my future after tax dollars?

Don’t look at taxation in isolation. Revisit your business plan now and consider the tax implications for every investment, your projected growth and even your own compensation package. Expand your strategic planning to include contingency planning, succession planning, transition planning, and then run some financial models to see which options look most attractive for your future.

What is your next great adventure after you leave your business?

Now is the time to get creative and imagine a new life for yourself. Have fun dreaming. The possibilities are endless. But remember, plans evolve. So, revisit your answers to the first six questions and verify they align with this next great adventure.

Where will your Journey Lead You?

AMBER J. FERRIE IS A PARTNER AT EIDE BAILLY BASED IN FARGO, N.D.

Amber J. Ferrie

ST EA DY LE AD ER SH IP FO R EX TR AO RD IN AR YT IM ES .

Thoug hnoone ca nf ull yprep arefor ab us inesse nv iron ment li ke theone we’rei n today, Ra ndy Newman —our president,CEO,a nd chairman —has ledA lerusthrough di ff ic ul tt im es bef or e, an db yw ork in gt og et he r, we ’l lm ak ei tt hr ou gh ag ain Congratu lations, Ra ndy,onbeing recogn ized for theP ra ir ie Business Leaders&Legacies aw ard. Your ac compli sh mentsa nd leader sh ip in spireusa ll

WE’REHERE FOR YOU BECAUSEIT’S OURHOME, TOO.

Our commitment to thiscommunity isabout more than putting energy intotransmission lines. We’r e into buyinglocal.Investing here.Supporting carbon-free initiati ves. Deliveringenergyyoucancounton to be cleanerandsafer We’re here to keepliving roomlamps lit. And futures asbrightaswe canmak e them. Becausedoingourpart for the placesweliveandworkisgoodenergy

Great Culture

or Great Place To Work?

By Matthew Mohr

The idea of having a particular culture at a place of business as being the key to retaining employees is enticing, but it takes a complete commitment to the success of everyone involved with a business to be a great place to work over time. Having a ping-pong table in the break room doesn’t give you a long-term sustainable culture or make a business successful.

Business continuity is dependent upon growth, productivity, and profitability. Building a great place to work takes commitment to customers, employees, and everyone involved.

Treating customers as important is obviously necessary for any business, but treating customers with respect and striving to help the customer get what they want is very different than striving to get the most from the customer.

Unfortunately, some organizations consider a customer need as a nuisance rather than considering a customer need as an objective to fulfill. If a customer (the one who ultimately pays the bills) is used as a means to an end, unimportant, or someone to take something from, reflects a poor culture, the same attitude will likely be reflected on how employees are treated within the business over time.

Matthew Mohr

Today’s retail environment has been dramatically changed and any retail store must work extremely hard to provide value to their customers in order to survive. Most people have experienced a rude or an uncaring sales clerk and walked out of a store without purchasing anything as a consequence. All businesses make the choice to work for their customers or do anything to “make a buck.” If the message sent is to take advantage of the customer for profit, the culture is fairly well defined and a few incentives, like a ping-pong table for employee use, aren’t going to change the culture for the better.

Many years ago, I visited a business in the northeast that was owned by a family I respected highly. As we walked through the operation, I noticed certain things that seemed “out of place” – like office equipment in the warehouse. Upon inquiry the owner-manager informed me things were not out of place but were there because they felt each of the people had the ability to do the jobs right and were equally smart.

I greatly admired the man and so did most of the employees who worked with him. He treated everyone with respect and dignity, knowing they had the ability to succeed. The business succeeded and the people all prospered. Not only were the employees treated this way, but customers, suppliers and everyone associated with the business received respect.

This is an example of a real business culture built on real values, which make a great culture for work.

Long-term sustainable success requires treating customers, employees, and all others involved with an organization with respect and dignity, combined with the true drive to see everyone succeed.

As presid ent of Ne twor k Ce nter, In c., Be n always puts em pl oyee s first From growing the co mpany fro m 20 employees to 85 during his 23 years at Networ k Center, to thede ve lopm ent of an em pl oyee stoc k owners hip plan ,hisac co mplishm entshave un do ubte dly left a proudle gacy at ou r co mpany.

Than k you, Be n, fo r your le ad

you!

Arvig: A leader in modern communication services

By Andrew Weeks

COMPANY SNAPSHOT:

Arvig provides service in more than half the counties in Minnesota, with its own fiber network that spans more than 10,000 route miles. With roots dating back to 1950, Arvig began as a small phone company in Otter Tail County, Minn., and has since become one of the largest independent service providers in the nation. Arvig provides business and residential solutions for internet, television, phone, security, Hosted PBX, wholesale and fiber transport. The company serves more than 20,000 businesses, including around 700 medical facilities, 350 plus schools and libraries and more than 47,000 internet customers. The growing Arvig-owned network reaches rural counties throughout Minnesota, as well as having fiber density in major metro hubs in Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Cloud and Rochester. With speeds of up to 100Gb, the Arvig network serves homes, businesses, telecommunications companies and wireless carriers.

Arvig, which started as a phone company back in the 1950s in west-central Minnesota and has grown to nearly 900 employees in several states, hasn’t sat on its laurels but instead continues to look to the future.

The company – like technology – has come a long way over the past seven decades. Where once it was concerned about getting landlines to customers, now it is focused on staying on top of its game as the world becomes increasingly more connected through bandwidth and broadband services.

The market competition is heavy, with many smaller companies vying for space in the digital communications world. Few stand out as key players, and Arvig is one of them. Much of the success it has achieved to date – and that which it likely will achieve in the future – stems from a simple philosophy: to treat customers and employees like family.

“We care about each other,” said Lisa Greene, the company’s marketing director. “We treat each other like family and family comes first in terms of where our priorities lie.”

That family treatment comes in many fashions for its employees – having a strong work-life balance, for one, but also creating a positive culture in which everybody is acknowledged for the part they play in the business. And when it comes to customer relations, it is making sure they are served promptly and efficiently.

Even though the company has evolved, it hasn’t lost track of its main values. And as Greene said, it hasn’t stopped learning.

One of the more recent things managers learned was how prepared the company was when they sent their employees home to work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Greene said that within 36 hours the company had shifted seamlessly to remote work, with few to no hiccups along the way.

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Lisa Greene

Dave Schornack

ARVIG IS ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES WHO WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, SAYS DAVE SCHORNACK, THE COMPANY’S DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. ARVIG CURRENTLY HAS MORE THAN 800 EMPLOYEES IN SEVERAL STATES. IMAGE: ARVIG

“I think we were more prepared than any of us thought we were,” she said. “I think we even surprised ourselves.”

The company, however, didn’t escape without laying off some employees and furloughing others – a “very difficult side effect” for the company, Greene said. But at the time she spoke with Prairie Business in early June, she said most of the furloughed employees had returned to work. Its field crew, of course, continued doing their jobs outside, digging trenches and installing lines.

Summer is the busiest time for the company, when lines are easiest to install instead of trying to hack through winter’s frozen ground, even though that ground is not all in the upper Midwest. Arvig also has an office in Utah, with some 850 employees in all scattered across four states.

Greene said while most of the remote employees will likely return to the office when things are safe to do so, the company will be more flexible with those who want to work from home more often. Flexibility, one of the appendages of a cultured work environment, is something the pandemic has reinforced. Or, as Greene said, another teaching moment for the company

“We have employees who are dying to get back into the office and we have employees at home who are happy where they’re at,” she said. “Right now, the stance that we're taking as a company is to wait until the governor says it’s OK and people feel comfortable getting back out and behaving as normally as the new normal is going to allow. … Even so we're going to have employees who still have preexisting conditions

or family members who are high risk and we're going to have to deal with that, make some decisions around what they want to do. … I think it's going to be different than we ever thought it would be. I don't think that everybody will end up coming back but I know we have a lot of decisions to make. And they haven't been made yet.”

For those who work remotely, however, the culture of the company has been at work.

Greene said one of the things department managers have done is hold virtual meetings that allow employees to discuss with their colleagues whatever it is that might be on their minds. She calls these meetings 20-minute water-cooler events.

“The first couple of times was a little awkward, but like everything else it got better when it became a routine,” she said. “When you're at work, part of the culture is the friendships that you create and you don't talk about work the entire time, you create relationships. These meetings are an effort to keep that going on a holistic basis, and then there are smaller groups that have virtual happy hours or virtual lunches, virtual coffee breaks, that sort of thing.”

Hiring might not be at the forefront of the company’s plan right now, but Dave Schornack, the company’s director of business development, said it is always on the lookout for potential employees who can and want to make a difference.

The company says it does all the traditional things to attract potential hires, including ads in newspapers and the internet, but it also actively recruits and joins job fairs and visits school campuses.

As for retaining employees, Greene and Schornack both said it comes back to the company’s culture. A positive yet challenging work environment helps employees want to stay. It also helps that each employee is invested in the company in another way, Schornack said.

“Everyone who works here is an owner of the company,” he said, explaining that Arvig adopted an employee stock ownership plan in 2002. “It’s been a huge positive, reinforcing the work they do every day. … We are a family-oriented type of organization.”

Greene said retaining employees “has to do with culture and making it a great place to work,” noting the future of the company depends on its leadership as well as its dependable and savvy staff, both those behind the desk and those out in the trenches. Looking ahead, she believes the digital communication industry will continue to grow and that Arvig will be right there growing with it. Also, because there is a lot of competition, Greene said, many of the smaller players will likely have to consolidate. Arvig, however, plans on continuing to be a main player and one of the industry's influencers.

“We're not stagnant. We're not going to be left behind,” she said. “We're always looking at what's new out there and what else we can do for our customers. We've got a customer-first mentality. Our goal is not to make things as easy as possible for us, but easy for our customers.”

Q.

INSIGHTs & INTUITION

What’s the most important factor you consider when hiring a new employee?

Tena Lawrence Executive Vice President University of Jamestown Jamestown, N.D.

One question I always ask when considering hiring an individual is, “Can this person lead?” Regardless of the position that is being filled or what the responsibilities of that position are, if you find leadership characteristics in your candidate you can check off a whole list of desired attributes. Leaders are not always the person in charge, they are the people who can unite a group and create dedication to your mission.

Being a big fan of servant leadership, I find looking for leadership traits such as honesty, empathy, commitment, ethics, and resilience will identify a candidate who is worth investing in. Skills can be learned; if you find a candidate that has the personal traits of leadership you will find someone you can trust to work to achieve your organization’s mission.

Asking questions about how the individual uses personal time to support the community, how do they define leadership, and what characteristics they value in coworkers, can help identify leadership traits. I feel looking past the resume, into personal values, will identify a long-term, committed employee.

Usually when we are looking for pilots, we are expecting to see experience and qualifications. The experience can come in the metrics of flight time on manned and unmanned aircraft. We also like to see the number of missions or flight operations a pilot has successfully executed because there is a significant difference there in the drone world versus the manned aviation industry.

The qualifications can come in the form of a bachelor’s or master’s degree in UAS from one of the top schools, safety audits, or ratings for aircraft in the defense sector as many of our pilots are ex-military. We really prefer pilots from the University of North Dakota, Kansas State University, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University if they are not veterans.

These credentials will get a candidate in the door for us and we then really look to see in our interviews if the individual is a team player and would fit the professional culture of our organization while being an asset in the attainment of SkySkopes’ vision and mission.

Matt Dunlevy Owner SkySkopes Grand Forks, N.D.

At Dakota Carrier Network, our focus is to hire new employees that are willing to embrace our three core values: responsiveness, reliability and valuing long-term relationships. We all know that hiring can be a timeconsuming process and training new employees is an investment. So, while it is important to find people with the right skills for a job, being a good fit for the organization is just as important if they are going to stay.

For a business to succeed, everyone must be working toward the same goal with the same set of values.

To help us identify potential employees that understand and will live out these values, DCN has utilized People Analyzer to help us ask the right questions during our interview process. This has lessened the subjectivity of an interview and assisted with more clearly identifying if someone is a fit for the seat we are looking to fill and our organization’s culture. After all, we value long-term relationships with both our customers and our employees.

Nancy Bjorndahl Business Manager Dakota Carrier Network Fargo, N.D.

Tom Shorma CEO/President WCCO Belting Wahpeton, N.D.

We believe that anyone can build a rewarding career in manufacturing, and you don’t need experience in our industry to find success. What a candidate does require, however, is a willingness to learn. WCCO Belting’s products and processes are extremely unique, that’s why we’ve invested in a robust internal training program. Employees start on a level playing field and train side-by-side regardless of past experience, age, gender or first language, which improves their assimilation into our culture.

Since we train job-specific hard skills, WCCO’s recruitment strategy is focused on identifying candidates with soft skills. To be willing to learn they must also have the ability to listen, communicate – ask questions, collaborate, and carry a positive attitude. Our Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is, “Loving where you work begins with the people you work with,” so we encourage and financially reward employees for referring candidates they know and trust. I’ve always told the team, “I’d rather pay you to recruit family and friends than pay to place an ad.” We’re fortunate that strategy continues to bring in great people with the willingness to learn and soft skills we are looking for.

U.S. AIRLINES PASSENGER DATA

U.S. airlines carried 96% fewer scheduled service passengers in April 2020 than in April 2019, according to preliminary data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by 24 airlines that carry 99% of the passengers. The decline in the number of passengers is the largest year-to-year decrease on record, larger than the 51% decline from March 2019 to March 2020. The large airlines carried 3 million passengers in April, the lowest monthly total in BTS records dating back to 1974. The previous low was 14.6 million passengers in February 1975.

FREIGHT SHIPMENT SERVICES

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, fell 7.7% in April from March, falling for the third consecutive month, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. From April 2019 to April 2020, the index fell 10.0% compared to a rise of 2.7% from April 2018 to April 2019 and a rise of 8.0% from April 2017 to April 2018.

April 2020 Freight Shipment Index

From previous month: -7.7%

From same month of previous year: -10.0%

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics

CIVILIAN UNEMPLOYMENT

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 2.5 million in May, and the unemployment rate declined to 13.3%, according to recent data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These improvements in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it. In May, employment rose sharply in leisure and hospitality, construction, education and health services, and retail trade. By contrast, employment in government continued to decline sharply.

PRODUCTIVITY AND COST

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 0.9%t in the first quarter of 2020, according to the most recent data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as output decreased 6.5% and hours worked decreased 5.6%. From the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020, productivity increased 0.7%, reflecting no change in output and a 0.7% decrease in hours worked. Source:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor