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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.

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.