‘Talent Community’ being developed to connect workers, employers

BY HAROLD STANISLAWSKI

The cities of Fergus Falls, Brainerd, and Crookston, Minn., are the recipients of a “Talent Grant” being administered by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) with financial support from the Otto Bremer Foundation. With the ongoing challenge of connecting job seekers and employers, the grant will be used to develop and house a Talent Community. The key to this community is using the National Career Readiness Certificate, an on-line method of assessing individuals’ reading, math and problem solving skills and connecting those skills to identified occupations.

John Newhouse, president of Lakeland Mold, saiys his company understands the importance and value of the NCRC in assessing current and future employees, adding that it is a tool which can be used to assess potential employees’ skills and focus on what is right for the employee in terms of growth and support.

Lona Bach, human resources director at PioneerCare in Fergus Falls, says the health care organization uses the NCRC, along with job shadowing, to assess certified nursing assistant candidates before they enroll in PioneerCare’s training program. “Not only do we have a measurable outcome of their reading, math and problem-solving abilities beforehand, but we believe candidates who earn their certificates are more serious about starting their careers with us,” she says.

Job seekers who have earned their NCRC can market that asset to businesses that recognize the credential. The Talent Community project will benefit both employers and job seekers around the west-central Minnesota region. Future workforce for the region is critical to the success of our communities and the Talent Community concept is an attempt to define the existing talent better for our employers. For many there is a very real lack of understanding about what type of skills that exist in our communities, available local workforce and how to close the gap between the skills needed by businesses and our local labor supply. Understanding this problem is our first challenge, followed by growing our local supply of labor to meet our future workforce needs.

Goals of the Talent Community include:

- Identify talent and build on the assets of the local area by connecting job seekers with employers

- Warehousing the project with local organizations to allow for flexibility and agility as technology changes

- Allow job seekers and employers to have twoway, real-time communication

- Give local economic development organizations the ability to identify the talent available in their communities, giving the community a unique tool to expand or attract new businesses.

- Allow individuals and employers to brand themselves

- Build consumer confidence for job seekers and businesses for employment opportunities and the opportunity to live and succeed in their regions

- Include all job seekers, high school students, college students and individuals from the community

In future columns, I will keep you posted as these three communities initiate the “Talent Community” model and relate our experiences with NCRC. In the meantime, job seekers who want to educate themselves on which jobs are in demand can consult iSeek Solution’s overview of West Central Minnesota careers at www.iseek.org/westcentral/index.html. PB

Harold Stanislawski Executive director, Fergus Falls Economic Improvement Commission Harold.stanislawski@ci.fergus-falls.mn.us

TrainND provides training for North Dakota business and industry, enhancing their ability to compete globally.

Fargo software technology firm opens

Stoneridge Software, a technology firm selling and servicing Microsoft Dynamics business software, recently opened in Fargo. Led by founder and president Eric Newell, the firm sells, implements and services Microsoft Dynamics AX and CRM products for mid to large businesses.

Prior to founding Stoneridge Software, Newell was employed at Microsoft in Fargo for 13 years, serving most recently as a premier field engineering manager for Dynamics. He spent the last three years focusing on Dynamics AX and has extensive background working with Dynamics GP and Dynamics CRM. He founded Stoneridge Software after discovering a gap between customer expectations and what was being delivered in the market, he says.

Other principal owners in the company are Cody Marshall, chief financial officer, and Becky Newell, chief technology officer.

ND delegation visits Iraq to discuss agribusiness

A small group of North Dakotans visited Kurdistan, an autonomous region of northern Iraq, in April where they met with Iraqi and Kurdish leaders to discuss agribusiness cooperation, according to the North Dakota Trade Office.

“Kurdistan wants to replicate North Dakota’s farming operations, complete from

Medical device manufacturer attracts ND investors

Fixes 4 Kids Inc., a Salt Lake City-based developer of products to treat pediatric orthopedic fractures, is relocating its manufacturing operations to Wahpeton, N.D., to work with Wahpeton-based ComDel Innovation after receiving financial support from a number of local investors, including Linn Grove Ventures and the Bank of North Dakota. The state also provided economic development incentives to the company. In early April, the company had already hired 10 people to work in its Wahpeton location and intends to continue to grow, according to a company spokesperson.

“We invested in Fixes 4 Kids as a group of North Dakota investors because we saw significant common values, especially a strong respect for cash efficiency, a strong management team that had a clear understanding of the path forward and the ability to execute, and an opportunity to add value through North Dakota manufacturing and product development at ComDel Innovation as well as employment in North Dakota,” says Dan Hodgson, managing director of Linn Grove Ventures.

farm to market,” Dean Gorder, NDTO executive director, says. “The collaboration will provide fantastic opportunities for our state’s exporters and training facilities.”

While there, the North Dakota delegation met with sheikhs from the Barzani tribe, one of the oldest and most prominent Kurdish tribes. The sheikhs plan to visit North Dakota this month and tour facilities in all aspects of agribusiness. The Iraqi and Kurdish delegation will return to North Dakota in September for the Big Iron Farm Show in Fargo.

G & R Controls expands to Bismarck

G & R Controls, along with Balancing Professionals, has opened an office in Bismarck, N.D., to better serve new and existing customers in the area. The companies provide temperature controls, building automation and testing and balancing for commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Trent Jongetjes will serve as the Bismarck division manager and sales engineer. A Canton, S.D., native, Jongetjes holds an electrical engineering degree from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and has worked for the company for more than eight years. He previously served as a project engineer in the company’s Sioux Falls, S.D., office.

G & R Controls serves as an independent field office for Siemens Industries. Balancing Professionals is certified by the National Environmental Balancing Bureau. Both companies are locally owned and operated. They also have offices in Sioux Falls and Rapid City, S.D., and Fargo.

Northwest Minnesota Foundation backs local fish market

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation recently approved a loan through its business development program to support a unique local fish restaurant and market concept in Bemidji, Minn. The Marvelous Fish House and Market, owned by Marvin Hanson, is a casual dining facility and market serving products from the Red Lake Fisheries and Red Lake Nation Foods, owned by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. It will specialize in the sale of walleye and wild rice.

“This restaurant is a win-win for Red Lake and The Marvelous Fish House and Market because we are buying product from Red Lake Nation Foods and, in turn, helping my people in every way possible,” Hanson said in a statement. “It’s a dream come true.”

NMF is a public, charitable foundation serving 12 counties in northwest Minnesota.

Sanford launches centralized clinical trials website

Sanford Health has created a website — sanfordhealth.org/clinicaltrials — to help potential participants identify trials they may enroll in to gain access to innovative treatments and help advance research surrounding their disease. Website users can search trials by category, read a description of each trial and see who the principal investigator is.

Sanford has more than 150 open trials and more than 350 ongoing clinical studies at its locations throughout the Midwest. The organization’s network currently includes 35 hospitals, 140 clinic locations and 1,360 physicians in 81 specialty areas of medicine.

IDEA competition announces 2013 winners

The IDEA competition, a northwest Minnesota entrepreneurship award program funded by the Blandin Foundation and the Northwest Minnesota Foundation with contributions from several local partners, named its 2013 award recipients at an awards banquet held April 24 in Thief River Falls, Minn.

Winners include: Brian and Coreen Berdahl of Red Lake Falls, for Spot-Knot — a first-of-its-kind slip knot tie device for the fishing industry; Jack Lundbohm of Roseau for Stand Alone Game Calls — a remotely operated elk hunting call; Tim and Jenny Slukynsky of Warroad for Lamplighter Hockey — a hockey stick weight meant to offer an improved hockey stick training tool compared to other tools on the market, and Jerry Titera of Bagley for Hubmaster Inc. — a tool that helps remove the tapered wheel hub from Bobcat skidsteers for routine maintenance and repair.

Each winner receives $10,000 in cash to advance their business idea, plus additional specialized technical assistance.

Paper examines online reviews’ influence on rural buyers

Paulsen Marketing, an agri-marketing firm located in Sioux Falls, S.D., has released a thought paper reporting the results of a survey recently conducted to gauge the level at which online reviews impact rural lifestylers’ purchasing decisions.

Of 500 acreage owners surveyed who recently made a major purchase, more than 42 percent ranked online reviews or testimonials as “least influential” while about 36 percent of respondents said they were influenced to some degree by online reviews. However, the survey found that the importance of online reviews increased to 58 percent when reviews are attributed to peers, and 51.6 percent when attributed to experts.

To see the survey results and complete thought paper, visit www.agribranding.com/category/thought-papers.

NCTC auto service tech program receives master accreditation

Northland Community and Technical College’s automotive service technology program has received the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation master automobile service technology accreditation. The master level accreditation is the highest level of achievement recognized by NATEF. Northland’s program is the first in Minnesota, and second in the nation, to receive this level of accreditation from NATEF under its new standards.

Bank of ND records 9th consecutive year of record profits

The 2012 annual report of Bank of North Dakota shows a ninth consecutive year of record profits with $81 million in net earnings. Total assets increased to $6.1 billion in 2012, up from $5.3 billion in 2011. BND ended the year with capital of $463 million. The state’s return on its investment at the bank was 17.6 percent.

BND is the only state-owned bank in the nation. It is overseen by the Industrial Commission of North Dakota, which consists of Gov. Jack Dalrymple, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring.

SBDC assistance results in $100 million capital infusion

North Dakota Small Business Development Centers provided complimentary one-on-one consulting to 284 small business owners in 2012, resulting in more than $104 million in capital infusion, according to a recently completed annual report.

North Dakota SBDC representatives spent more than 8,500 hours assisting entrepreneurs with loan applications, cash-flow management, business plans, government contracting and other needs at seven regional service centers and 17 sub-centers located throughout the state. As a result, small businesses created and retained more than 1,500 jobs and 145 new firms were established, according to the report.

The SBDC is primarily funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, with matching funding in North Dakota provided by the state commerce department and local economic development groups, colleges and other partners.

Border States Electric to open Duluth branch

Border States Electric, an employee-owned electrical distributor headquartered in Fargo, recently opened a branch in Duluth, Minn., bringing the company’s total number of branch locations to 57. The Duluth branch will operate out of a 16,400 square foot facility and will employ eight people initially. The branch will serve construction, industrial and utility customers and will be managed by Marc McLennan.

“We are delighted to bring our innovative product and supply chain solutions to northern Minnesota,” CEO Tammy Miller said in a news release. “Our expansion in Minnesota will allow us to fully serve our customers and provide opportunities for our employee-owners.”

AGCO to expand Minnesota manufacturing facility

AGCO has begun a three-year $42 million expansion project at its Jackson, Minn., manufacturing facility to increase production capacity and efficiency in order to help meet growing demand for the tractors and application equipment built there. The first phase is scheduled to be complete this fall and includes a 30,000-square-foot expansion of the component manufacturing area, which will increase capacity by 20 percent and improve efficiency. The entire project is expected to create 75 jobs, bringing the total number of employees to more than 1,200, and will increase production capacity by 25 percent.

USD gets $1 million donation

The University of South Dakota College of Arts & Sciences and the USD Foundation have received a $1 million gift from alumnus Lorraine Hart, which will be used to create three funds in the College of Arts & Sciences — a student enrichment fund to help students gain learning experiences outside of the classroom, a student and faculty fund for the department of mathematical sciences and a named professorship in the psychology department.

Currently a resident of Minneapolis, Hart was raised in Vermillion, S.D., and received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from USD. She also serves on the USD Foundation board of directors.

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