Prairie Business March 2015

“A vet’s office, or any business, is about reliability. My patients rely on me, and I rely on my people to be here, every day. It’s the same reason I chose Midcontinent Business Solutions™ for my Internet, Phone and Cable TV. They have a redundant network and a reputation for dependability. My Midco consultant came up with a package that gives me seriously fast speeds — up to 200 megabits per second — for sharing x-rays and test results. A phone connection my customers can always count on. Even Cable TV for my waiting room. Midcontinent Business Solutions delivers.” Make

of

PHOTO: DAVE SAMSON/ FORUM NEWS SERVICE

KRIS BEVILL Editor kbevill@prairiebizmag.com

Work like a woman

In my constant quest to consume information, I recently stumbled across an article on the disparities between the salaries of male and female actors that included a tweet someone had sent to a female celebrity, requesting advice on how to respond to her father, who had told his daughter she couldn’t become an engineer because she was a girl. The response? “Become an engineer.”

I couldn’t agree more with that statement and neither could the 25 women you’ll learn more about in this issue. Our second annual list of the top 25 women in business on the northern Plains includes engineers, as well as CEOs, business owners, researchers, tech experts, bankers, and a number of other careers that at one time were considered male careers. Some of the women included on these pages were trailblazers in their professions, all of them have achieved notable accomplishments in work and in their communities, and nearly all of them say they succeeded not because they were women, but because it didn’t matter to them that they were women. Many of the honorees shared examples with me of overcoming adversity or simply choosing not to acknowledge it as they pursued their passions. That’s not to say these women were never scared as they set out on their paths. As Laurel Nelson, who trained as a nurse but has been a serial entrepreneur for more than two decades, said: “I’m afraid a lot, but I do things anyway.” Read more about Laurel and the rest of this year’s honorees in “Breaking the Mold.” Congratulations to all honorees.

Given the subject of women in business, there was no better person to highlight as our Business Insider this month than Deb Eslinger. As executive director for the Center for Technology & Business in Bismarck, Deb has supported countless women as they launch businesses and pursue leadership roles. Her office has provided women-specific leadership training in Bismarck and Minot for several years and recently received a Bush Foundation grant to expand the program to more communities throughout the state, giving more women the chance to network with their peers and grow to their full potential. Learn more about the program and Deb’s tireless efforts to support small business entrepreneurs in “Champion for women.”

Occasionally when we accept nominations for contests we come across a qualified candidate who is having a significant impact on the region from afar. This month’s Construction Corner focuses on a worthy Williston, N.D., project that is set to spur a downtown revitalization. It also happens to be the work of a mother-daughter development team. As a woman in real estate development with no nest egg of her own, Nancy Kapp had the deck stacked against her when she launched The Renaissance Companies as a property management firm in Chicago in 1985. She prevailed and has gone on to earn a reputation as a real estate developer that doesn’t just complete successful infill projects, but makes lasting positive changes to communities. She’s particularly passionate about affordable housing and says that was what initially drew her to Williston. The mixed-use Renaissance on Main project is set to be complete in September and will include affordable housing units, as well as needed retail and office space, and is already having a positive impact on other developments in the Bakken hub city. Read “Jumpstarting downtown Williston” for more details.

Finally, we also bring you up to speed on the recent fast-moving developments surrounding the blossoming unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry. On Feb. 18, industry leaders and officials gathered at the Grand Forks Air Force Base to commemorate the official execution of an enhanced use lease agreement for Grand Sky — the first UAS business park in the nation. It’s been a long time coming and leaders say it should soon translate into new businesses for the region that will bring cutting-edge advancements to many of our core industries, including agriculture. Read “Set to Launch” for details.

KORRIE WENZEL, Publisher

KRIS BEVILL, Editor

BETH BOHLMAN, Circulation Manager

KRIS WOLFF, Layout Design, Ad Design

Sales Director:

JOHN FETSCH 701.212.1026 jfetsch@prairiebizmag.com

Sales:

BRAD BOYD

western ND/western SD 800.641.0683 bboyd@prairiebizmag.com

NICHOLE ERTMAN

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

Editor:

KRIS BEVILL 701.306.8561 kbevill@prairiebizmag.com

Prairie Business magazine is published monthly by the Grand Forks Herald and Forum Communications Company with offices at 375 2nd Avenue North, Grand Forks, ND 58203. Qualifying subscriptions are available free of charge. Back issue quantities are limited and subject to availability ($2/copy prepaid). The opinions of writers featured in Prairie Business are their own. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork are encouraged but will not be returned without a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

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Target markets and products

BY MATTHEW D. MOHR

Upon reviewing results for the previous year it is usually helpful to determine which products succeeded and failed along with what customer segments provided growth and which contracted.

Uncovering product successes in conjunction with customer successes should help establish viable targets and propel a business into bigger success. Most established businesses do this exercise continually. Along with product and customer success, profitability needs to be evaluated. A business may grow dramatically with one customer or product line, but do so unprofitably.

Sales success (growth) is exciting, but if done without contributing to profit such growth is a recipe for disaster. Few successful entrepreneurs will embark on a rapid growth strategy without paying attention to the costs and profits. Growth at any cost generally leads to business failure. Growth in revenue along with improving profitability is business success.

In our region today a transportation firm could grow dramatically by cutting prices to move oil in the western part of the state, but the cost of finding employees and paying for necessary equipment would likely far outweigh the revenue generated. By looking at the growth potential only, an unsophisticated transportation enterprise might put a lot of resources into this market, which could turn out to be a disaster. On the other hand, a more intelligent business initiative in the transportation of oil might be to target specific customers while using existing resources enabling both profit and revenue growth.

Every business and every market is different and may be challenging every year, but choosing what and where to put efforts can enhance the results of any enterprise. PB

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

Chad Rettke

Wellness center puts community on new path

BY CHAD RETTKE

With state-of-the-art amenities including an aquatic center, multi-purpose gym, running track, racquetball courts, weight room, cardio equipment, whirlpool and sauna, Wadena, Minn.’s new wellness center could give many a trendy urban health club a run for their money. Instead, the newly completed Maslowski Wellness and Research Center is the focal point for a multifaceted plan to put this rural Minnesota community on track to better health.

Wadena celebrated the grand opening of MWRC, or “The Mas,” on Dec. 6, 2014, marking another milestone in the community’s dramatic comeback from a devastating category EF4 tornado in June 2010. The tornado wiped out 20 city blocks of Wadena, including the school, a community center, municipal swimming pool, fair grounds, two city parks, as well as many homes and businesses. Working with Kraus-Anderson to sort through FEMA and insurance claims, Wadena

has rebuilt, with well-planned infrastructure and incentives designed to attract business and residents. The 174,000-square-foot Wadena-Deer Creek Middle and High School, a LEED Gold, high-performance facility, features a combination auxiliary gym, community room and safe room shelter built to withstand an E5 tornado.

Now, right next door, MWRC continues that momentum. The center combines community and recreational resources in a 52,500-square-foot, two-story facility, offering a 13,200-square-foot aquatic facility with a lap pool, recreational pool, therapy pool, whirlpool, steam room and sauna; an 8,600-square-foot gymnasium, two racquetball courts, a fitness center with cardio and strength training equipment, walking track, locker rooms, community meeting space and party rooms next to the pool. A supervised Kid Zone is available for children ages 3-11 while their parents work out.

MWRC will also play a major role in a groundbreaking rural health research study fund-

The newly completed Maslowski Wellness and Research Center in Wadena, Minn., is the focal point for a multifaceted plan to put the community on track to better health. PHOTO: KRAUSANDERSON CONSTRUCTION

ed by a grant from the Maslowski Charitable Trust. Wadena is one of the unhealthiest counties in the state, ranking 79th out of 87, according to 2013 statistics from the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute. The community shows a higher than state average incidence in adult obesity, premature deaths and smoking. The U.S. Census also ranks the Wadena area among the poorest in the state. To address these issues, Tri-County Health Care is in the early stages of what is expected to become a 7-10-year study measuring the health outcomes of Wadena residents.

“The new wellness center will drive the research needed for the study,” said Joel Beiswenger, president and CEO of Tri-County Health Care. “We will be working in conjunction with area employers and in the community at-large and through our various health engagement events to lead the health and wellness study. We are confident we will truly make a difference in the health status of our service area.”

Community members and local and state officials worked tirelessly to make the wellness center a reality. In the aftermath of the tornado, KrausAnderson worked to ensure the city’s needs were being addressed during development of a funding plan which involved numerous entities, including insurance companies, FEMA, the state and private donors. Along with Steven Miller Architects, a proactive approach was taken during design by doing budget estimates during each stage of design, pricing up various design options and alternates to allow the city to make informed design decisions.

It took nearly two years for the funding plan to be finalized, including a $4.2 million matching grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, along with a grant from the Cargill Foundation and CentraCare Foundation, which gave the project the final push forward. Remarkably, the $12.4 million facility opened debtfree. In addition, a number of community partners have also stepped up to help residents overcome any financial barriers to using the facility. More than $330,000 in financial assistance is available to offset the cost of membership for low-income residents, thanks to grants from HealthPartners, Tri-County Health Care Foundation, South Country Health and other donors. A number of health insurance providers are also offering substantial reimbursements of membership dues to encourage more use of the facility.

“The vitality of a small town depends on many economic and social elements, including education, health care and other services to strengthen businesses as well as families,” said Bradley Swenson, Wadena’s city administrator. “Likewise, our new wellness center is an important asset for our area and will bring residents together for years to come.” PB

Chad Rettke Senior Project Manager Kraus-Anderson Construction Chad.Rettke@krausanderson.com

Finding a business mentor

BY MATT VARILEK

Finding a great mentor is one of the smartest moves an entrepreneur can make to boost their chances of success. If your New Year’s resolution involves starting a small business, or growing an existing one, SBA and its partners can help. Our partner network of business experts can boost your chances of success with free and confidential one-on-one counseling, training and mentorship. Last year, these efforts helped small firms throughout the nation secure more than $4.7 billion in capital, start more than 13,500 new companies, and create and retain more than 70,000 American jobs.

SBA’s business resource network is comprised of SCORE, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Women Business Centers (WBCs), and in some states, Veterans Business Outreach Centers. Last year, SBDCs counseled and trained 485,487 clients, SCORE counseled and trained over 442,000 clients, and WBCs provided assistance to 140,037 clients.

In North Dakota, there are seven SBDC centers scattered across the state, four SCORE offices and a WBC located at the Center for Technology and Business in Bismarck. North Dakota entrepreneurs such as James Van Raden, founder of ICare Repair and Design in Fargo, and the owners of Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park, also in Fargo, have all utilized SBA’s business mentors when building their companies.

In keeping with the evolution of the SBA itself, our vast network of resource partners works hard to be “smart, bold and accessible.” Together we serve and mentor the dynamic demographics of the United States, including women, entrepreneurs over the age of 50, veterans, and millennial entrepreneurs. So if your plans involve starting, growing or managing a small business, connect with one of SBA’s resources partners or your local SBA office by visiting www.sba.gov/nd. PB

Matt Varilek Region VIII Administrator U.S. Small Business Administration Matthew.varilek@sba.gov

Matt Varilek

The importance of women in agriculture

BY MARK LUECKE

An image that many who grew up on a family farm have burned in to memory is dad walking through the door of the house, covered in dirt from a long day in the field, or covered in something else from a long day in the barn, and mom working tirelessly around the house, supporting children, putting food on the table, and generally managing every other aspect of the operation.

While that image may represent past generations and the roles that many men and women in agriculture previously served, it is not reflective of agribusiness today.

Large and small companies now recognize that the talent, creativity and leadership of women around the world is required given the serious challenge our generation is facing: an increasing global population, and the need for 100 percent more food by 2050, 70 percent of which must be produced with efficiency-improving technologies given the limitations of our natural resources.

Some of the largest agriculture companies in the world with corporate headquarters located in our region have implemented programs to support women executives and operators in agribusiness. These companies also lead by example by placing women in executive leadership positions, including Archer Daniels Midland’s Chairman, Patricia Woertz; DuPont’s Chairman and CEO, Ellen Kullman; Cenex Harvest States’ EVP and COO, Shirley Cunningham, and Land O’ Lakes’ EVP and COO, Beth Ford.

A significant number of small business operations, agricultural technology-based startup companies, government agencies, and non-profit organizations in our region also count on women executives in leadership roles to help grow the industry and solve the global food security challenge. Prairie AquaTech’s CFO, Jill Holt, and CTO, Sue Lancaster, provide leadership by advancing new technologies that upgrade plant-based commodities, such as soybean meal, distillers grains, and canola meal, to high-quality ingredients for aquaculture and other animal feeds. South Dakota BioTech Executive Director Joni Johnson provides leadership by expanding research, advocacy, funding, education, infrastructure

development, and promotion of the agriculture and biotechnology industries. Trudy Wastweet provides leadership as the deputy secretary of agriculture for South Dakota. And in fact, 2012 U.S. Census data released last spring indicated that women now make up over onethird of all farm operators.

However, even with these shining examples of women in leadership roles, the global food security challenge that agribusinesses are responsible for solving requires more engagement of women. A recent publication in Nature revealed that U.S. women receive patents about 40 percent as often as men, start businesses half as often, and receive significantly less funding for the startup companies they do launch. The publication went on to highlight that this is not only a problem in the U.S. Women are under-represented on the boards of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics companies around the world, despite the fact that companies with women on the board have higher share prices.

According to the World Bank Group, even though women form the majority of the agricultural workforce in many developing countries, and specifically in rural areas where 98 percent of active women are involved in agriculture, women do not have access to the land, financing, training, equipment and other resources required to be successful due to limitations in leadership, government regulations and culture. As a result of limited access, opportunities for women to be leaders of technology invention, entrepreneurship, and legal and regulatory change throughout the agricultural sector do not exist.

There are many opportunities for you to become more involved in this discussion and take action, both inside our region and on a global basis — send me a note. PB

Mark Luecke Managing Director/CEO South Dakota Innovation Partners mark@southdakotainnovation.com

Mark Luecke

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The value of values

BY ERIC NEWELL

To me, there are three kinds of companies when it comes to the importance of core values: 1) companies that haven’t defined any values, 2) companies that have values but they are just wall decorations in a conference room and 3) companies that incorporate their core values in everything they do.

Core values are principles that guide internal conduct and a company’s relationship with the external world. Core values provide a company with an aspiration to live up to and a means of attracting like-minded people to the organization. We did not start our company with values in place, which might have been OK in retrospect. It took us to the point where we had 15 people, then we decided we needed to make it part of the fabric of the company. We got our leadership team together and spent a day working through the values and then spent the next day affirming them with our team.

The values we decided on were:

• Integrity

• Technical Excellence

• Tenacity

• Lifelong Customers

• Enjoy Our Work

We picked these values for a few reasons. We felt like the team we had fit well with those values and we wanted to make sure we aspired to ideals like having lifelong customers and making sure we enjoy our work.

Defining the values is the easy part. As I stated previously, many companies have values. The trick is making them part of the fabric of your company. To do that, you really have to make the values part of how you hire and how you run your company on a regular basis. As a business leader, thinking through the values should be part of your decision-making fabric. A few months ago I found myself in a situation where we had a

customer, who provides us with very low revenue, asking us to work after hours on a project for them. In my mind, I had two values conflicting with one another. We wanted to keep the customer happy (Lifelong Customers), but we also had to keep the team happy by not having them work overtime (Enjoy Our Work). In this case we decided it would be best to talk with the customer about pushing back their project to a time that still worked for them, but could be done within a reasonable timeframe on our part.

Here are some tactical things we do to make sure our company is living the values:

• We ask questions related to our values in our interviews to make sure the candidate is a fit.

• We provide “kudos” to our team during a short weekly company call that highlights people who have displayed the values in some way that week.

• We challenge each other as leaders to think through our values when we make decisions as a company.

• We talk about them at every quarterly meeting as a team, to make sure they are still the right values to guide us into the future.

I’d love to say everything we do fits the values, but we’re certainly not perfect. We have hired people who weren’t tenacious and we’ve had several occasions when people didn’t enjoy their work, but we try to recognize that quickly and course correct as soon as we can. The ability to operate with these values has helped us build a cohesive and successful team. As an added benefit, in a recent meeting, we were told by a prospective customer that they wanted to work with us due to the fact our values matched theirs. They appreciated that we took the time to learn their values and compare them to ours. So it turns out, having defined core values can be a pretty good sales tool, too. PB

Eric Newell President Stoneridge Software eric@stoneridgesoftware.com

Eric Newell

partnership between DCN and

DCN’s North Dakota Fiber Optic Network

KLJ has operations in 23 different locations employing over 750 professionals. With KLJ’s significant growth, reliable network connectivity is a priority. DCN’s services give KLJ the capability to directly collaborate between offices via their Ethernet connections utilizing DCN’s fiber network

“DCN has proven to be a trusted advisor by providing quality service and expertise for our corporate technology needs for more than 10 years,” said Kenneth Redinger.

3901 Great Plains Drive South, Fargo, ND • 800-814-3333 4202 Coleman Street, Bismarck, ND • 877-258-2124

Wide Area Network | High Speed Internet | Data Storage Carrier Ethernet Service | Co-location Facilities www.DakotaCarrier.com

“The quality service DCN provides has fostered a unique

KLJ.”

Kenneth Redinger, Information Technology Director, KLJ Dakota Carrier Network Customer

Coeur Mining buys SD gold mine

Chicago-based Coeur Mining Inc. announced Jan. 12 it has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Goldcorp Inc. to purchase the Wharf gold mine near Lead, S.D., for $105 million. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter.

The Wharf mine is an open-pit gold mine that has been in production for more than 30 years, producing more than 2 million ounces of gold to date and possessing a reserve base of 560,000 ounces of gold, according to the company. Approximately 190 people are employed at the mine.

JLG expands to Brookings

Grand Forks, N.D.-based JLG Architects has opened a branch office in Brookings, S.D. It is the firm’s first office in South Dakota. JLG has eight other locations throughout North Dakota and in Minneapolis and Alexandria, Minn.

“We are very excited to be able to expand to South Dakota,” JLG President Lonnie Laffen said in a statement. “We love Brookings and look forward to working with and employing graduates from SDSU’s department of architecture.”

WCCO Belting donates boots to local fire departments

Wahpeton, N.D.-based manufacturer WCCO Belting Inc., along with Airboss Rubber Compounding and Honeywell First Responder Products, recently donated more than 80 pairs of boots to the Wahpeton and Breckenridge (Minn.) Fire Departments. WCCO Belting President and CEO Tom Shorma, was inspired to donate fire boots to local departments after seeing the product being manufactured at one of Airboss’ facilities. Jeremy Wallender, a long-time WCCO employee and volunteer firefighter at the Wahpeton Fire Department, coordinated the project through the company’s recently formed wellness committee.

Construction soars in Fargo metro

Housing starts in the Fargo metro area hit 1,178 in 2014, accounting for 27 percent of the 4,436 building permits issued in the metro, and representing the highest level of housing starts in the metro since 2005, according to the Home Builders Association of Fargo-Moorhead. The metro area consists of Fargo and West Fargo, N.D., and Dilworth and Moorhead, Minn.

Total building permits issued in the metro last year were valued at nearly $1.4 billion, more than double the construction value of 2013. Total permits increased 8 percent; housing permits increased 2 percent.

Wahpeton, N.D.-based WCCO Belting recently presented more than 80 pairs of fire boots to volunteer fire departments in Wahpteon and Breckenridge, Minn., as part of the company’s community support initiative. From left, Tom Shorma, president/CEO of WCCO Belting Inc.; Jeremy Wallender, WCCO employee and volunteer firefighter, and Derek Miller, Wahpeton Fire Department chief.

PHOTO: WCCO BELTING

Daktronics to build first-of-its-kind circular display

Brookings, S.D.-based Daktronics has been selected to build a first-of-its-kind circular LED video display for the Atlanta stadium, currently under construction in downtown Atlanta. Totaling approximately 63,800 square feet, the display will be more than five stories high and three times as large as the current single largest display board in the NFL. Referred to as the “halo” board, it will be built into the stadium’s retractable roof structure and will be positioned above the center of the field.

The stadium is expected to be complete in spring 2017 and will be home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and MLS Atlanta.

First Interstate Bank opens Sioux Falls branch

Billings, Mont.-based First Interstate Bank announced in January it plans to open a limited services branch in Sioux Falls, S.D., this month. The office will offer residential home mortgages and construction loans. First Interstate Bank has 79 other locations throughout Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota.

Retirement services firm opens in Bismarck

Capital City Wealth Management, a fee-only retirement planning service firm, has opened in

Bismarck N.D. The firm specializes in overseeing clients’ transitions into retirement and is focused exclusively on retirement income distribution.

Bremer Bank acquires Eastwood Bank

Bremer Bank has completed the acquisition of Rochester-Minn.-based Eastwood Bank. With the completed acquisition of Eastwood’s 13 southeast Minnesota locations, Bremer has added more than $675 million in assets. Terms of the sale were not released. Bremer now employs about 2,000 people across 90 bank branches in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Capital Commercial Realty opens Fargo office

Capital Commercial Realty Group LLC, a full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm, has opened in Fargo. The firm is led by Arthur Rosenberg, a Bismarck, N.D., native who has worked previously with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, Urban Plains Development and The Marcil Group. He also owns and operates Davinci Management LLC, a real estate venture capital fund manager.

A rendering of the Atlanta stadium shows the view from the west end zone with the “window to the city” in the background. A circular LED video display to be built by Daktronics is also shown.

IMAGE: ATLANTA STADIUM

Marvin Windows and Doors’ Next Generation Ultimate Double Hung window has been recognized for its innovative design by the National Association of Home Builders. PHOTO:

Marvin Windows receives international industry recognition

Warroad, Minn.-based Marvin Windows and Doors received the coveted best product award from the National Association of Home Builders during the 2015 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas for its Next Generation Ultimate Double Hung window. The product, which is produced at Marvin Windows’ Grafton, N.D., plant and combines a state-of-the-art hardware system with American craftsmanship, was selected from a record pool of submissions as the most innovative window product on the market.

MARVIN WINDOWS AND DOORS

Groton, SD manufacturer wins ag award

Groton, S.D.-based Leading Edge Industries has been named a 2015 FinOvation award winner by Farm Industry News for The Load Judge. The product uses patent-pending high-tech sensors and a user-friendly smartphone app to load grain trailers with a high degree of accuracy, helping grain haulers and farmers achieve optimal loads that maximize the value of every trailer load.

NetWork Center becomes employee owned

Fargo-based technology solution provider NetWork Center Inc. recently became 100 percent employee-owned through the implementation of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The switch was made to enhance the company’s culture and provide its employees with the benefits of company ownership, accord-

ing to the company. It will not change the company’s management, services, operations or business strategy.

Sioux Falls Development Foundation invests $3M in biotech firm

The Sioux Falls (S.D.) Development Foundation recently announced a $3 million equity investment in Sioux Falls-based SAB

Biotherapeutics to help grow its unique disease-fighting platform. The company’s technology, the DiversitAb Platform, is a natural system for producing clinical-grade fully human antibodies to treat human diseases ranging from cancer to Ebola, and diabetes to influenza. The company is currently located in the Sanford Research Park.

Starion Financial names Zetocha market president

Starion Financial has named John Zetocha president of the Oakes, N.D., market. Zetocha joined Starion in 1996 as a loan officer. He was promoted two years later to business banking officer and assistant vice president. In 2004 he was named business banking officer and vice president. In addition to his career at the bank, he has operated a corn and soybean farm and small livestock operation in the Oakes area since 1984.

Interstate Engineering announces CFO

Interstate Engineering has promoted Kristin Syverson to chief financial officer. Syverson joined the company in 2011 as marketing coordinator. She has since served as office manager and accounting manager for the Jamestown, N.D., and corporate offices. In the newly created role of CFO, she will work with office managers, regional vice presidents and other managers to continue developing an organized and profitable financial structure.

Bartmann joins Dakota Resources

Joe Bartmann has joined South Dakota’s Dakota Resources as the vice president of program development. In this role, he will focus on capacity building and stewarding the ongoing design and implementation of Dakota Resources programs. Bartmann spent a decade leading innovative community and economic development nonprofits before cofounding Rural Weaver LLC, which helps leaders engage in meaningful conversation. As a site coach for Dakota Resources, he has worked for the past three years with the statewide programs of the organization.

WSN names architecture director

Brent Dammann has been promoted to director of architecture at Widseth Smith Nolting. Dammann, a WSN vice president, has been with the firm since 2000. As director of architecture, he is responsible for project coordination across multiple offices as well as implementation of WNS’s quality management plan. For the Greater Grand Forks area, he manages project budgets, staffing resources and schedules for multiple concurrent projects. He also leads the design process through all project phases.

Dammann holds bachelor’s degrees in architecture and environmental design from North Dakota State University.

LBG names Kannenberg associate vp

Groundwater and environmental engineering services firm Leggette, Brashears and Graham Inc. has named Mitch Kannenberg associate vice president. Kannenberg is based in the firm’s Sioux Falls, S.D., office and has 25 years of experience in groundwater quality and groundwater resource evaluation projects. He was recently elected to the American Water Works Association board of directors, where he will serve a three-year term beginning in June.

Downtown Minot association hires executive director

Chelsea Gleich has been selected to serve as the executive director of the 125-member Minot Downtown Business and Professional Association. Gleich worked most recently as a communications specialist for the North Dakota University System. Prior to that, she was a staff member at the Bismarck-Mandan Home Builders Association. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Mary and is a member of the Bismarck-Mandan Young Professionals Network Leadership Team.

Starion Financial promotes 2

Starion Financial has promoted Lee Weisbeck to Mandan, N.D., market president. He joined the bank in 2007 as a business banking officer. He was promoted to assistant vice president in 2009 and vice president of business banking in 2011. Todd Neurohr has been promoted to business banking officer/senior vice president. He joined the bank in 2013 as a business banking officer/vice president. He has more than 20 years of agricultural lending experience.

Mitch Kannenberg

John Zetocha

Kristin Syverson

Chelsea Gleich

Brent Dammann

Joe Bartmann

Lee Weisbeck Todd Neurohr

Chad Engels Engels receives engineering award

Chad Engels, a professional engineer and certified floodplain manager at Moore Engineering Inc. in West Fargo, received the 2014 Steamboat Award from the Red River Joint Water Resource District during its joint water convention and irrigation workshop in December. The award is presented for distinguished service of management of water resources in the Red River watershed of North Dakota. Engels has provided leadership for a number of basin-wide initiatives. Most notably, he has studied the benefits of distributed floodwater detention in the Red River basin.

USD announces first entrepreneurs in residence

The University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business has selected Ben Hanten and Sue Lancaster to lead its newly established entrepreneur-in-residence program. Hanten has owned several media ventures and is the founder of Ben’s bar. He co-founded Rockin’ Ribfest in 2007 and founded media and events company Think 29 in 2014. He was named to Prairie Business magazine’s top 40 under 40 list in 2014.

Lancaster is director of business development at South Dakota Innovation Partners and has extensive experience launching research-derived innovations, particularly in the life sciences and agriculture markets.

Through the EIR program, Lancaster and Hanten will be available for one-on-one mentoring and speaking engagements with classes, student organizations and faculty as they develop products and services with an economic impact for the region.

EERC names O’Leary associate director for business

The University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center has named Erin O’Leary associate director for business and operations. O’Leary had been serving as interim associate director since July 2014. In her new position, she oversees the financial and operational activities of the EERC.

O’Leary joined the EERC in 1989 as a research technician. She has since served in a number of roles and worked most recently as deputy associate director for business prior to her appointment as interim associate director.

Erin O’Leary

Ben Hanten

Champion for women

Deb Eslinger devotes career to helping female entrepreneurs succeed

BY KRIS BEVILL

Deb Eslinger, executive director of the Center for Technology & Business, leads a popular six-month leadership course designed specifically for women in business.

PHOTO: WILL KINCAID

Deb Eslinger probably has every bump on most of the highways in North Dakota memorized. As executive director of the Center for Technology & Business in Bismarck, N.D., she spends countless hours every year traveling to communities to host training programs and provide support to entrepreneurs and would-be business owners — particularly women business owners, whom she says sometimes require just a little extra encouragement to get things going. “Sometimes they need a confidence boost, a person walking alongside of them, encouraging them and helping them get through the obstacles,” she says.

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As a former business owner herself, Eslinger understands exactly the pressures of small business ownership as well as the unique challenges faced by women in business. Before joining the CTB in 2011, Eslinger operated a successful photography business in Bismarck, which she thoroughly enjoyed despite the occasional frustrations of being a woman business owner in a male-dominated field. She eventually sold the business to a partner to spend time with her young children, but the entrepreneur in her soon took over again and she began a business consulting and marketing business from her home. She also started to get active in the local entrepreneurial community and became more deeply involved in women’s business development as she became aware of their need for assistance. Her skills and passion for entrepreneurship caught the eyes of fellow female entrepreneur Kari Warberg Block, founder and CEO of earthkind, who recruited her to her current role at CTB.

“For me it’s always been about being the champion for women in business, trying to help them the best we can,” Eslinger says. “I see women do things a little bit differently. A lot of them are solopreneurs, where they don’t really have a sounding board. We get to be that for them and help coach them from Step 1 through Step 10 and celebrate every win. It’s just been so much fun.”

One of the most successful efforts undertaken by Eslinger since joining the CTB has been the Women’s Leadership Program. Now in its fourth year in Bismarck and third year in Minot, 82 women have attended the program to date. Another class of leaders will graduate from Bismarck and Minot in June. This fall, the program will launch in Fargo, funded through a $75,000 Bush Foundation Leadership Grant. The grant will also allow Eslinger’s team to host one-day sessions in smaller communities next year, including Standing Rock, Harvey and Dickinson.

Eslinger says the program was developed primarily to connect professional women with their peers. Participants also receive health and wellness training, which Eslinger believes is a critical component of women’s overall success in business. “Women do so many

things for everyone else that we forget about ourselves,” she says. “We’re teaching these women how to take care of themselves first so they can be better moms, better workers, better spouses, better board members and better leaders, ultimately.”

The program also includes a fundraising component, which often surfaces as the most challenging and rewarding part of the program for attendees. Each participant receives $100 in seed money and is given four weeks to turn it into more. Eslinger says it’s not uncommon for students to feel uncomfortable with this task, but with guidance from her team, the outcome is always successful. In the last three years, more than $110,000 in community giving has been raised by program participants. “Going through that process and that challenge equips them so much more to kind of be unstoppable,” she says. “The gratitude that they feel after they’ve completed the project is so awesome and humbling.”

Heather Welle, a Realtor at Trademark Realty in Bismarck and president of the Bismarck-Mandan Young Professionals, says she signed up for the program in 2013 to enhance her leadership skills, which she achieved. She also found an inspiring business mentor in Eslinger. “She doesn’t settle,” Welle says. “She always wants to give more back. For her to constantly improve her own self says a lot to me about how much she wants to give back to others — especially to women. It’s not only because she’s a woman and had her own business. Sometimes as women we don’t always give ourselves enough credit and have higher expectations for ourselves and know that we can do it.” Eslinger, she says, makes sure women know they can succeed even when they themselves might not think it’s possible. PB

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

Breaking the Mold

The northern Plains’ top 25 women in business

BY KRIS BEVILL

Our region of the country ranks among the best in terms of employment rates for women — North Dakota, in fact, was determined to be the best state for women-owned firms based on the growth rate of women-owned businesses and overall economy, according to American Express OPEN’s 2014 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report — but the number of women-owned businesses, locally and nationally, continues to lag compared to male-owned firms. Nationwide, about 30 percent of all privately held companies are owned by women, according to the report, and only about 4 percent of those women-owned firms have revenues of $1 million or more. All the more reason to celebrate the groundbreakers and leading women in business, we thought. Therefore, we are proud to highlight this year’s top 25 women in business in the Dakotas and western Minnesota. They represent nearly every industry you can imagine and have success stories built upon years of hard work and dedication. Honorees include South Dakota’s only female licensed plumber, a fourth-generation real estate brokerage firm owner, a rancher and serial entrepreneur, a general contractor, a published research scientist, tech experts, bankers and more. Read on for details on these inspiring leaders of the region.

LAUREL NELSON

Co-owner and General Manager

Nelson Auto Center and Abra Collision Center

Fergus Falls, Minn.

Laurel Nelson’s business career might have ended before it really started if it weren’t for grasshoppers. A love of flying had tempted her and her husband, both just few years out of high school, to launch a crop spraying business in 1979 in Huron, S.D., called Dakota Air Spray, but the pair was deep in debt after financing their first plane in an economy that was less than business friendly. “It was a terrible time to start a business,” she says. “Interest rates were terrible. I think we were floating at 21-22 percent interest.”

The couple’s saving grace came in the form of a devastating pest. Drought brought on grasshoppers that plagued farmers throughout the region, and they need aerial sprayers to fight back. “Fields were disappearing literally in days because of grasshoppers, so that put the airplane to work,” Nelson says. “What was a real catastrophe for all the farmers at that time ended up being what was the blessing to get us out of debt and on our feet.”

The Nelsons operated the crop spraying business until 1991 when they sold it to another operator. Eager for another business adventure, they then purchased a struggling car dealership in Fergus Falls and set out to turn the business around. They succeeded and continue to operate Nelson Auto Center to this day. Over the last two decades they have also bought, improved and sold several other dealerships in the area, including one which they developed from the ground up.

While managing the business side of the family’s crop spraying business, Nelson was also a registered nurse for 14 years and worked in intensive care units at hospitals in Fargo and Huron before teaching the profession at the University of North Dakota and Huron University. She says she will always identify as a nurse, but she also has a clear passion and knack for business, particularly the startup side of entrepreneurialism. “Getting something started or buying something that’s troubled that you believe you can fix is very exciting,” she says. “Definitely stressful … but if you can tolerate some insecurity and you’re not real risk-adverse, it’s just such an exciting thing to do.”

One of the more exciting business ventures the Nelsons have been a part of in recent years was the startup and operation of Red Rock Transportation, a Watford City, N.D.-based oilfield services trucking firm. The business launched in 2007 during the early days of the energy boom with four trucks and a plan to grow the business to a fleet of about 20 trucks. Before long, the company was operating nearly 50 trucks and shuttling drivers from Minnesota to Watford City to overcome worker shortages. The company was acquired last year by Crestwood Inc. Nelson says the experience of doing business in North Dakota was a great one, and it may not be her last. “To have something like the Bakken oilfields in your backyard, that’s just kind of a dream come true if you’re an entrepreneur at all,” she says.

Having been raised on a farm in North Dakota, Nelson believes the entrepreneurial spirit is an inherited trait that has helped her to persist in difficult times and navigate her way through new business experiences, despite the unknown. “I’m afraid a lot, but I do things anyway,” she says.

In 2001, the Nelsons had the opportunity to return to their agricultural roots with the purchase of a cattle ranch in South Dakota’s Black Hills. The 275-head cow-calf operation is a dream come true for Nelson, who says it was also “an expensive hobby” until beef prices came on strong recently. Nelson is a seasoned horsewoman (the family also owns quarter horses and competed in timed cattle events throughout North America for nearly 20 years) and the couple spends as much time as possible at the ranch, participating in all of the annual rituals associated with running a livestock operation. “When you’re young and you think about the cost of [owning a cattle ranch] you think you’re probably never going to be able to do that,” she says. “So to be able to do it — it’s better than I ever thought it could be.”

CAROL HALLOCK

Owner, Town-N-Country Plumbing Manager, Rockingtree Floral & Garden Center Sturgis, S.D.

Carol Hallock did not expect to become a business owner, and she certainly never anticipated becoming a plumber, but she believes in opportunities and taking advantage of them when they are presented, so that’s exactly what she did. When the owner of a plumbing shop she was doing bookwork for was looking to sell, she and two partners bought it. When she saw the opportunity to improve the business as a sole owner, she bought out her partners, despite the fact that she was not yet even an apprentice plumber. Instead of letting that derail her, she hired a plumber and employed that person for six years while she worked through her apprenticeship, journeyman and licensing process. That was years ago, but she remains the only female licensed plumber in South Dakota.

In the early years of owning Town-N-Country Plumbing, Hallock took on extra jobs to supplement her income. One of those jobs was at Rockingtree Landscaping, where she discovered a love for plants and trees, and the owner. She and Randy dated for years while he operated his business with her helping out part-time and she operated the plumbing shop. Shortly after they were married in 1999 he asked her join him at the landscaping business, which had recently expanded to a larger space and was servicing clients in a five-state area. Carol agreed, and retained ownership of the plumbing shop but left the day-to-day operations up to the store’s plumbers. “I told them they could run the shop as long as they broke even, and they do more than break even,” she says. Hallock’s son now manages the shop and she returns occasionally to help with large jobs and bids. She also returns every year during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to run the pop-up restaurant that she has operated from the store for years. She credits her former partner for the idea to sell roast beef sandwiches from the shop to hungry bikers, but she has taken the idea and ran with it, building the temporary restaurant’s reputation over the years to the level at which it has become an annual pit stop for many rally attendees. For the past three years, she’s taken it to yet another level, using beef from her own ranch for the sandwiches and Indian tacos served at her store.

Hallock is passionate about giving back to her community and helping those in need. “I believe everyone deserves a second and maybe a third chance,” she says. “Anyone of us could have gotten into trouble when we were young adults. We’re just lucky we didn’t.” She is a board member of the Serenity Building in Sturgis, which provides a meeting location for various addiction support groups and collaborates with the Northern Hills Drug Court. She has donated her plumbing and landscaping goods and services to worthy causes and created a program several years ago called Santa’s Recycling, which raises money for the local women’s shelter through the donation and sale of used Christmas decorations.

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PAULA KLEIN President

Smartt Interior Construction LLC

Fargo, N.D.

Paula Klein’s building method of choice, DIRTT, is an acronym for “doing it right this time.” The phrase is intended to describe the modern approach the process takes toward construction projects through the use of prefabrication and technology, but it could also be used to describe Klein’s career path. A native of Valley City, N.D., Klein holds a degree in mass communications from Minnesota State University Moorhead. After graduating from college, she opened an antiques/interior design retail store in Fargo along with her mother, who operated a sister store in Valley City. Through that business, she had the opportunity to try her hand at residential design, which exposed her to commercial design and ultimately to the construction industry, which peaked an interest in general contracting. In 2007, she was introduced to DIRTT Environmental Solutions and was inspired to launch her own construction firm to sell and install the products. In 2011, her first year of business, Smartt Interior Construction had a mere $3,000 in sales. By 2013, the company’s business had ballooned to more than $2.1 million in annual sales and a project list that included locations throughout the Dakotas and Minnesota.

“Doing it right this time,” isn’t intended to imply that traditional construction methods are wrong, Klein says. Rather, the concept celebrates modern advancements that allow building interiors to be repurposed in ways that reduce the amount of waste created and repurposed to make more efficient use of spaces than would be possible using traditional processes. Likewise, there was nothing wrong with Klein’s initial business venture, but she is the first to admit she found her true calling in construction and design. “It ended up being kind of a natural fit,” she says.

She’s self-taught in design and in the software used to create DIRTT projects and now spends much of her time educating other general contractors, architects and end users about the DIRTT process and how it could be applied to their projects. Her company’s projects already encompass a large range of industries and include the Kilbourne Group’s Loretta Building in downtown Fargo, an 18,000-square-foot new construction building in Sioux Falls, S.D., a medical facility in Duluth, Minn., and a rural school in North Dakota that needed to repurpose its 1960s-era large classrooms to accommodate smaller class sizes and modern teaching methods. In the future, she hopes to expand her staff of four to include more construction managers, designers and project champions who can help educate potential clients on the DIRTT approach. Crossing over to apply DIRTT to residential projects is also on her bucket list. “I would love to do a ‘smartt house’ and infuse a lot of technology into it,” she says.

It may have taken her years to identify and pursue her true passion, but Klein believes it’s never too late and says business ownership has been worth the long hours and working vacations. “My absolute favorite thing is when I have a project and the client not only loves the project, but the process,” she says. “There’s obviously a lot of risk involved, but there’s also a great reward in doing something and knowing that our team did great. I went to Mexico recently and it was great. Was I sitting on the balcony reading blueprints? Yes. But that’s what you do.”

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JILL DUEMELAND CEO

Duemelands Commercial Real Estate

Bismarck, N.D.

Five years ago, Jill became the fourth generation, and the first woman, to lead the family’s 115-yearold business. “I always say, I don’t want the ship to sink with me! No pressure there,” she says. Pressure hasn’t proven to be an inhibitor to her success so far. By the age of just 26, Jill had completed more than $15 million in real estate transactions, earning her a Certified Commercial Investment Member designation. In 2010, she was deemed a rising star by CCIM institute. She currently specializes in tenant and landlord representation and the sale and leasing of commercial properties in the Dakotas and Minnesota and has become a prominent presence in the increasingly competitive (and male-dominated) Williston market as well as the Bismarck-Mandan market.

While the entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in her family, Jill says she didn’t initially intend on joining the business despite a childhood that included frequent education on the finer points of business management and the real estate industry. (“I have distinct memories of learning about Cap Rate [capitalization rate] on the way to school in third grade.”) She wasn’t interested in real estate at all, in fact, until the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., launched a real estate program while she was a student there. She took it as a sign, enrolled in the program, and spent three years working for a firm in Minneapolis before rejoining her father and the family business in 2004. Jill says her time spent working outside of the family business was extremely beneficial and she recommends all family business owners do the same for their children. She intends to encourage her own children — ages 7, 3, and 1 — to spread their wings before hopefully returning to take the torch, whether it be as business owners or owner/operators. “Even though our kids are still little — that’s something we want to instill in them as they’re growing up.”

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CAROL ROGNE

President/CEO

DFC Consultants Fargo, N.D

Carol launched DFC Consultants in Dickinson, N.D., in 1989 to improve businesses’ finance management through her independent certified public accounting services, a goal which she realized early on could be aided through the use of technology. She became a reseller of Great Plains Software (now Microsoft) products and has grown DFC Consultants to include three locations in North Dakota. The company is known for its technical expertise and has earned more than 30 awards for excellence.

Carol is the 2007 recipient of the YWCA Woman of the Year in Business award and the 2006 North Dakota Entrepreneur of the Year award. She currently chairs the board of directors Plains Art Museum of Fargo and is the vice chair at the Sanford Health Foundation. She is also a member of the Information Technology Council of North Dakota board of directors and a member of the Fargo West Rotary.

KARI KNUDSON

Vice President National Energy Center of Excellence

Bismarck State College

Bismarck, N.D.

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1990, Kari spent more than a decade working in analytical and financial supervisory positions for Conoco and ConocoPhillips in locations around the globe. In 2003, she returned to the U.S. and served as vice president of finance and administration at the independent power production subsidiary of MDU Resources Group in Bismarck. She accepted the vice president position at BSC in 2007, where she leads BSC’s energy programs and provides oversight for the Great Plains Energy Corridor. She also leads BSC’s embracing diversity team, is a member of the Bismarck Rotary club and an active participant in United Way activities. Kari and her husband are active supporters of their two children’s extracurricular activities and rarely miss a game.

TAMMY PETERSON

President/CEO

Bremer Bank

Grand Forks, N.D.

Tammy joined Bremer Bank soon after graduating from the University of North Dakota in 1996. She has since worked her way up the ladder, taking on expanding supervisory and leadership roles with each new position. She was appointed the Grand Forks region president and CEO in 2013 and is responsible for nine bank locations with loans totaling nearly $900 million.

A mom of two boys, ages 10 and 8, Tammy also contributes to the community through volunteerism with groups including Junior Achievement, the American Diabetes Association and Girl Scouts-Dakota Horizons, where she served as a board member for five years. She currently serves as an advisory member for the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corp., the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals and UND’s College of Business and Public Administration.

AMY NOVAK

President

Dakota Wesleyan University Mitchell, S.D.

Amy accepted the president position at DWU in 2013, making her the first woman to serve in this role at the university. She joined the university in 2003 and served most recently as provost and executive vice president. Now, backed by an all-female leadership team, she is leading DWU through an extensive strategic planning, marketing and master-planning effort. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in economics from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a doctoral degree in interdisciplinary leadership from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. She is also a mom to eight kids, all under the age of 20.

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TAMARA SOMERVILLE

Corporate Vice President/ President, Global Initiatives and Strategic Alliances

Posi Lock Puller Cooperstown, N.D.

Tamara’s first job at Posi-Lock Puller — a gear and bearing puller manufacturer founded by her dad, Dean, in 1978 — was on the assembly line when she was just a kid. She worked as an auditor and stockbroker early in her career before returning to the family business in 1992, a decision which has proven beneficial for the company. In 2002, Posi Lock Puller was the first North Dakota company to receive the Export Achievement Certificate from the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 2013, the company was named North Dakota’s Exporter of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Tamara is the company’s key international representative and her industry expertise and product knowledge has helped mold relationships with others in the male-dominated manufacturing industry all over the world. When she’s not traveling she spends as much time as possible with her two children and supports the local community as a corporate participant in fundraisers and other events.

TONI SANDIN

Owner/Attorney Sandin Law LTD Fargo, N.D.

Toni graduated from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 2005, and after working as an attorney with Dorsey and Whitney in Fargo, she opened Sandin Law in 2009, a boutique estate and business planning law practice. The firm has since grown from being a solo law practice to a two-attorney firm with a staff of paralegals and an administrative assistant in just five years. As an attorney and certified public accountant, Toni has a unique blend of legal and accounting expertise which has allowed her to excel in her chosen niche of estate and business planning. A Fargo native and mom of three, Toni currently serves as a board member, treasurer and legal counsel for the North Dakota Autism Center.

DEB NELSON

President DLN Consulting Inc. Dickinson, N.D.

Deb’s career began as an educator and included several different paths until 1998, when she founded DLN Consulting with a mission of aiding nonprofits and other organizations in achieving their highest level of success through effective strategic planning and grant writing services. The firm works with a wide variety of entities, including Vision West ND, the North Dakota Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties and the Impact Foundation. Deb is a willing mentor and advocate for other women-owned businesses in southwest North Dakota and frequently contributes her firm’s expertise to nonprofits in partnership with the Dickinson Regional Small Business Development Center and The Strom Center at Dickinson State University.

LONNI FLECK

Vice President Interstate Engineering Williston, N.D.

Lonni joined Interstate Engineering in 2005 and has since tackled the leadership role for the firm’s western North Dakota branch head-on, successfully navigating through several years of incredible growth in project activity. She has gained experience on a broad spectrum of municipal-related projects including water and sewer mains, streets, landfill design, road design and water studies. As a project manager, she’s done it all, from planning to design, funding administration to surveying. She also serves as a member of the company’s board of directors.

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MITZI BESTALL

Mitzi and her husband initially ventured into Williston in 2010 in search of new opportunity after the nationwide recession had nearly wiped out the real estate market elsewhere. The pair marketed a subdivision in Williston from a borrowed RV until winter convinced them to head back to Colorado for a few months. They returned in the spring and launched their own real estate office, Bakken Realty, focusing on new home construction, land and lot sales. Within a year, they were able to hire one associate. One year later, the company employed nine agents. Today, the company employs more than 20 licensed agents, has two offices and recently changed its name to RE/MAX Bakken Realty to reflect its new affiliation.

Mitzi has been an active member of Rotary International for more than 16 years and is a member of the American Petroleum Institute and the Williston Area Builders Association.

LYNN MOSER

Lynn has more than 35 years of experience in the male-dominated oil and gas industry. She took over as president of the family-owned full-service land brokerage company in 1991 and oversees the company’s involvement as a non-operator drilling the company’s leasehold and minerals in the Bakken and Three Forks formations of the Williston Basin. In 2012, she became the first women to receive the Landman of the Year award from the Landman’s Association of North Dakota — an award which her father, the founder of Inland Oil and Gas, had received in 1982. Now, she is guiding her daughter through the family business.

Lynn is a board member for the North Dakota Petroleum Council, the North Dakota 4H Foundation and U.S. Bank in Bismarck. She is a past president of the North Dakota Landman’s Association.

POLLY PETERSON

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

A 1989 graduate of the University of Jamestown (then Jamestown College), Polly returned to the school in 1992 as controller. In 2006 she was named vice president for institutional advancement. Last year, she accepted the role of executive vice president, which includes oversight of the business affairs and institutional advancement offices. A lifelong learner, she is also currently enrolled in the higher education graduate program at North Dakota State University and is expected to earn a doctorate’s degree later this year.

Polly is known for being the first to volunteer and the last to go home, whether the occasion is community-focused or one of her three children’s many athletic activities. She has been a volunteer member of the St. John’s Academy school board for more than decade.

KARI REICHERT

Vice President of People Services

National Information Solutions Cooperative Bismarck, N.D.

A graduate of Yale Law School and the University of Minnesota, Kari joined NISC in 2009 as assistant general counsel. In 2011, she was selected for her current role, where she leads a team of eight and has initiated cutting-edge changes to the company’s hiring practices which have helped the company identify and retain quality candidates in a tight labor market.

Kari is halfway through a four-year term on the North Dakota Board of Higher Education and was also recently appointed to serve as North Dakota’s representative on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. When she’s not at work or participating in a higher ed board activity, she can be found on the sidelines of her eight-year-old son’s soccer games or taking part in his Cub Scout activities.

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Broker RE/MAX Bakken Realty Williston, N.D.

President Inland Oil and Gas Bismarck, N.D.

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MICHELLE WALL

Business Coach, Area Manager, Speaker Dale Carnegie Business Group of North Dakota Bismarck, N.D.

Michelle coaches organizations, teams and individuals across North Dakota to boost their performance, implement change and develop and execute strategies that get results. She is a member of the VI Class of Rural Leadership North Dakota, where she focuses on strengthening the agriculture community and the state, and a founder of the Women’s Leadership Program through the Center of Technology & Business. She helped found NDSU’s Sigma Alpha Alumni Chapter, served as its first president, and was the sorority’s first Hall of Fame inductee. She is a member of the Human Resource Association and the American Petroleum Institute.

MICHELLE KOMMER

Chief Administrative Officer/ General Counsel Western State Bank Fargo, N.D.

Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree from Mayville State University, a master’s degree from the University of Mary and a law degree from the University of North Dakota. She spent a decade serving in various roles at Community First Bank, followed by six years as senior vice president of human resources and inside legal counsel for Otter Tail Corp., and two years as senior vice president of human resources and development for Noridian Mutual Insurance Co. (dba BlueCross BlueShield ND) before joining Western State Bank one year ago. In 2014, she received the Distinguished Alumni award from Mayville State University in recognition for proven leadership in her profession.

A mom of three daughters, Michelle, along with her husband, Toby, is active with many organizations and associations in the Fargo area. As an adoptive parent, she is a passionate supporter of adoption and helped to establish the North Dakota Heart Gallery in 2008.

HEATHER JONES

CEO City Air Mechanical Bismarck, N.D.

For the past 15 years, Heather has led the only woman-owned mechanical construction company in North Dakota. She currently chairs the Bismarck/Mandan Development Association and serves on the North Dakota State Plumbing Board. Additionally, she is a member of Vistage Group 3133 and was one of 18 finalists selected out of 18,000 members for the Vistage Member Leadership award. In 2012, she was named North Dakota’s Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

SARA WATSON

Owner, Business Manager Mosaic Foods LLC Fargo, N.D.

Chef Sara was on maternity leave with her second child in 2003 when she created a business plan and menu for a catering business. She delivered menus to businesses in downtown Fargo, with her two small children in tow, and prepared the company’s initial orders in her family’s apartment. Within a few months she relocated the business to a commercial kitchen and her husband, Eric, also a chef, left his job to help build the company. Today, Mosaic Foods employs 85 people and includes three entities — Mosaic Catering & Events, Mezzaluna restaurant in Fargo and Rustica Eatery & Tavern in Moorhead, Minn. The company’s eateries have received numerous awards for excellence. Sara frequently contributes to area youth programs and art programs and is passionate in her support for organizations that support those in need.

Sara and Eric now have four active children in addition to their growing business. She continues to master the finer points of juggling business management and serving as the kids’ taxi driver.

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DAWN LAHLUM

President/Owner

Park Co. Realtors Fargo, N.D.

Dawn joined Park Co. in 1993 and has been instrumental in implementing technology in real estate used throughout the region every day. She was one of 500 Realtors nationwide to test and establish a technology certification called e-PRO that continues to be used to Realtors how to use technology to grow their businesses. She was at the forefront of initiating the use of electronic signatures in real estate transactions in North Dakota and led the development and integration of a real estate management system at Park Co. which allowed associates to mobilize their businesses. She became president of the company in 2012 when she purchasing the company.

Dawn is a member of many industry groups and organizations, including the United Way of Cass Clay’s Women’s Leadership Council and the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce business training committee. She mentors other business professionals within Park Co. and through the United Way’s 35 Under 35 program. In addition to her numerous volunteer activities, Dawn and her husband have two children.

SANDI PIATZ

Senior Manager Eide Bailly LLP Fargo, N.D.

With more than 15 years of experience in the tech industry, Sandi has gained expertise in understanding an organization’s technology initiatives and identifying ways to use technology to better enable a company to meet its business objectives. In her current role, she manages the business development and marketing team for Eide Bailly’s technology consulting team. She also provides IT account management services for her clients. She has earned several accolades for exceptional performance throughout her career and is a graduate of the United Way 35 Under 35 Women’s Leadership Program as well as Eide Bailly’s Leadership Training Program. She is an avid runner and has competed in 2 full and 11 half-marathons over the past 11 years. When she’s not running marathons, she and her husband are often running along the sidelines at their two children’s sporting events.

SUE LANCASTER

Director, Corporate Development and Strategy

South Dakota Innovation Partners

Sioux Falls, S.D.

Sue is a founding team member of the venture capital firm. She manages its research and industry advisor network for technology sourcing, due diligence, and startup company formation and investment. She also develops and manages analytical and operational processes, data and the R&D strategy for the firm’s portfolio companies, and was recently named acting vice president, research/development and chief technology officer for Prairie AquaTech. In addition, she has been named one of two inaugural entrepreneurs-in-residence at the University of South Dakota, where she provides mentoring for students and faculty.

She holds a masters degree in biomedical engineering from the University of South Dakota and her work in cardiovascular drug delivery has been published by multiple scientific journals. She is completing her black belt certification in Lean/Six Sigma and volunteers for a number of organizations throughout the region, including The Banquet in Sioux Falls.

SARAH ATCHISON

President/CEO

Midwest Fire Equipment & Repair Company

Luverne, Minn.

Sarah had worked for 15 years as a dental hygienist when she set out on a completely different path with the purchase of Midwest Fire in 2013, making her one of only a few female CEOs in the firefighting and manufacturing industries. Her commitment to creating a company culture focused on continuous improvement and growth has resulted in numerous staff promotions, increased sales and growing national recognition for the company. She has also invested in new technology across all of the company’s existing product lines and encourages employees to enroll in continuing education classes.

Sarah and her husband, Dean, have two daughters.

SHERRI THOMSEN

Since accepting her current position in 2011, Sher has implemented a strategic shift in the group’s investment strategy and continues to focus on garnering the greatest ROI while addressing the community’s needs, also managing an annual budget that exceeds $5 million and overseeing a staff of 11 people. She has nearly 20 years of non-profit leadership experience, including six years as regional executive director for the American Red Cross Minn-Kota Chapter. While there, she led the Red Cross’ emergency response efforts for the flood of 2009 and was responsible for 900 volunteers for 43 consecutive days.

Sher’s leadership qualities and willingness to help others are apparent in her personal life as well. When both of her sons were diagnosed with dyslexia she joined forces with others in the community to grow the region’s dyslexic tutoring and resource group. She and her husband have also remodeled more than 20 homes and fostered more than 100 homeless animals.

President United Way of Cass Clay Fargo, N.D.

Set to Launch

North Dakota’s advancing UAS industry holds promise for ag, other industries

BY KRIS BEVILL

Ababy industry took a few big steps forward recently at the Grand Forks Air Force Base near Grand Forks, N.D. Military officials were joined Feb. 18 by North Dakota’s legislative delegation and more than 100 community members and supporters to commemorate the official signing of an enhanced use lease (EUL) establishing Grand Sky, the first unmanned aerial systems (UAS) business park in the country. While still in its early stages, the unique development offers potential huge impacts for not only the blossoming UAS industry but a number of the region’s largest established industries, including energy and agriculture.

and other large unmanned systems. The company has previously signed a letter of intent to establish itself as an anchor tenant of the park. During his comments at the Feb. 18 event, Sen. John Hoeven told attendees the company has assured him it will sign a lease and have employees based at Grand Sky next year.

More than 100 community and industry members joined local, state and military officials to commemorate the enhanced use lease signing for Grand Sky, an unmanned aerial systems business park, at Grand Forks (N.D.) Air Force Base on Feb. 18.

Construction of the 217-acre park is expected to begin this spring and will include 1.2 million square feet of hangar, office, shop, lab and data center space available on a build-to-suit basis. With lease in hand, the development group is now able to actively pursue potential tenants interested in acquiring space to conduct UAS-related research and test their products. It is expected that several companies will quickly sign on, including defense contractor Northrop Grumman, maker of the Global Hawk

Hoeven and other local and state officials have worked for years to establish Grand Sky. Speakers at the lease signing event, including Gov. Jack Dalrymple, Congressman Kevin Cramer, Grand Forks County Commissioner John Schmisek and Kathleen Ferguson, principal deputy assistant security of the Air Force for installations, environment and energy, noted the collaborative and years-long effort required to bring Grand Sky to life. Under the agreement, the Air Force will lease the park’s acreage to Grand Forks County for 50 years. The county has agreed to sublease the land to Texas-based Grand Sky Development Co. “This unprecedented public/ private venture between the Air Force, county and the private sector will allow government and private firms to have a home base as they fly their drones in

PHOTO: MEDIA PRODUCTIONS

North Dakota and around the country,” Grand Sky Development President Tom Swoyer says.

According to Swoyer, the unique lease agreement provides risk mitigation for the county, but he is confident his company will be successful in developing the property. “We couldn’t be more excited about it,” he says, adding that the company has been in talks with numerous potential tenants but wasn’t able to finalize lease agreements until the EUL was made official. “Before we were talking about what could be,” he says. “Now we have the opportunity to provide hard-bound proposals that are legally binding for us and the tenant so people can make a concrete business plan.”

Target industries for the park include the region’s largest and anticipated early adopters of the technology — energy and agriculture. Three data center groups have expressed interest in the park already, according to Swoyer, all of which work with agriculture and other industries including health care. Also, because the park is able to handle all types of UAS, companies which specialize in very large drones, such as Northrop Grumman, could utilize the park and test space to explore potential commercial applications of large UAS. “Imagine the kind of data we could gather flying a Global Hawk around the Red River Valley or across North and South Dakota combined,” Swoyer says. “The aggregation of agricultural data is what could be really great and that’s really what Grand Sky can do because we have access to the Grand Forks Air Force Base runway.”

Expanded Airspace Bodes Well for Research, Industry

Grand Sky’s official opening came on the heels of several announcements which bode well for the northern Plains’ UAS industry. On Feb. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration approved a request by the Northern Plains Unmanned Aerial Systems Test Site to conduct UAS test flights through an expanded area of North Dakota’s airspace. The expanded airspace is excellent news for research institutions including North Dakota State University, the University of North Dakota and Lake Region State College, whose previous research had been restricted to small portions of airspace.

John Nowatzki, agricultural machine systems specialist at NDSU’s agricultural and biosystems engineering department, says the expanded airspace will allow his department to conduct research projects throughout the state that were otherwise not possible. Last year, for example, the department was only allowed to conduct UAS flights within a two-mile area around NDSU’s research extension center at Carrington. Now, in addition to continued research at the Carrington location the department can move ahead with planned research specific to canola diseases at the Langdon research extension center and examine oil development’s impact on crops at NDSU’s Williston and Dickinson research centers.

Nowatzki firmly believes extensive research must be conducted to determine the economical uses for UAS in ag and other industries, and says that piece of the industry has been missing to date. He foresees three potential models for UAS use in ag: individual use by farm operators, UAS data provided by companies to farmers in certain areas, and large-scale data service providers which could provide a subscription service for farmers to receive their specific data. “What really needs to be determined is what’s economical and what’s not,” he says.

In Minnesota, Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls is also expected to benefit from Grand Sky and contribute further to advancing the industry, particularly related to agriculture. The school has been offering UAS maintenance training since 2011 and imagery analysis training since 2013, and last summer received approval to use unmanned systems to collect agricultural data in Roseau County. Jon Beck, UAS program manager at NCTC, says the school recently received a $250,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to continue researching the use of digital imagery in agriculture, which will enable it to continue building on knowledge gained through last summer’s research as well as participate in additional projects over the next three years. Among them is a project with a local implement dealer to explore how digital imagery collected by unmanned systems can be converted into data that would be accepted by a machine and used to conduct precision applications of herbicide.

Northland’s experience in successfully navigating through the FAA’s UAS certification process and expertise in UAS technology is also being put to use in a new partnership recently formed between Northland, Central Lakes College in Brainerd and Staples, Minn., and Ridgewater College in Willmar and Hutchinson, Minn.

Tom Swoyer, president of Grand Sky Development Co., speaks to attendees at an event to commemorate the the official opening of Grand Sky, an unmanned aerial systems business park, at the Grand Forks (N.D.) Air Force Base on Feb. 18. PHOTO: MEDIA PRODUCTIONS

Dubbed AgCentric, the program was developed to address the need for advanced agricultural training, including integrating high-tech tools such as UAS into training for ag students. The program allows Northland to expand its UAS expertise to provide training for additional students and to guide other colleges in their potential pursuit of FAA certifications to conduct UAS research.

Likewise, Beck says North Dakota’s recent UAS developments are good news for Northland. “Any win for North Dakota is a win for Northland,” he says, adding that as Grand Sky is developed, it will provide a boost in demand for Northland’s UAS students. “I think over the next few years developments like Grand Sky are really going to foster an environment where we aren’t going to be able to produce enough students to meet the demands.”

FAA Finally Speaks

After years of waiting, the FAA released its proposed regulations for small UAS (weighing less than 55 pounds) on Feb. 15, to mostly positive responses from stakeholders. The proposed rules require operators to obtain a UAS operator’s permit, rather than a pilot’s license as some feared, but also require operators to maintain a lineof-sight with the unmanned systems, making some potential projects impossible to pull off. Small UAS would also be restricted from flying at altitudes greater than 500 feet above ground level.

“We have tried to be flexible in writing these rules,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in a statement. “We want to maintain today’s outstanding level of aviation safety without placing an undue regulatory burden on an emerging industry.”

In its proposal, the FAA also said it is seeking comment on how it can further leverage the UAS test site program (Grand Forks is one of six test sites in the nation) and a UAS Center of Excellence to further spur innovation at “innovation zones.”

The proposed rules are open for public comment for 60 days, after which the agency will review and issue its final ruling, a process likely to take some time.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp said in a statement that the proposed rules “strike a much-needed balance between privacy and safety concerns, while providing room to develop innovative technology that can help embolden North Dakota farmers with agricultural production and spur more growth in our state’s energy sector, as well as encourage key safety technique like spotting energy pipeline leaks and ruptures.” Heitkamp and other legislators vowed to continue working with FAA officials to advance the UAS industry and ensure the Grand Forks test site remains on the cutting edge of innovation.

Industry Moves In

Meanwhile, just two days prior to the FAA’s long-awaited proposed rules, Wahpeton, N.D.-based ComDel Innovation Inc. announced it will manufacture unmanned systems and components for Florida-based UAS and data collections services provider Altavian.

Gov. Dalrymple heralded the agreement as the first state’s first UAS manufacturing venture. “This partnership represents another important step in our ongoing work to grow North Dakota’s UAS industry and to become a national hub for UAS manufacturing, research and development,” he said in a news release.

Construction of Grand Sky, a 217-acre unmanned aerial systems (UAS) business park located at Grand Forks Air Force Base, is expected to begin this spring. IMAGE: ICON ARCHITECTURAL GROUP/GRAND SKY DEVELOPMENT CO.

Jim Albrecht, president at ComDel Innovation, said the agreement with Altavian will allow his company the opportunity to expand its composite materials experience and extend its aerospace expertise into a new sector of the industry. ComDel was introduced to Altavian by Tommy Kenville, chairman of Grand Forks-based Unmanned Applications Institute International, and Brian Opp, manager of aerospace development at the North Dakota Department of Commerce, who he says had identified Altavian as having a premier product and suggested ComDel as a potential North Dakota-based manufacturer.

Thomas Rambo, chief operating officer at Altavian, says his company was attracted to ComDel because of its reputation for producing quality products and because it had an interest in expanding into the UAS market. “They’re fantastic,” he says of the company.

Altavian’s products are expected to begin rolling off the assembly line in Wahpeton this summer, although it remains to be determined how quickly. Altavian is currently in the process of taking orders for its product and declined to release any specific goals for the year. Albrecht says that if demand warrants it, ComDel could add between four and 15 new employees to keep up with Altavian’s orders. ComDel would

also like to produce UAS-related products for other companies and has had early discussions with several, Albrecht says.

Altavian’s target applications for its products include precision agriculture, infrastructure analysis, natural resource management and conservation. The company, which launched in 2011, initially targeted the civil market but with an industry on the brink of booming it has now switched its sights to focus on commercial operations, according to Rambo. He also mentioned a specific focus on oil operations in North Dakota in addition to the state’s agriculture industry and said the company will likely establish a presence at Grand Sky, although it’s too early to speculate how large that presence might be. Rambo says Altavian views North Dakota as a great opportunity for the company as it represents “a microcosm of the entire U.S. airspace,” complete with a national test center, manufacturing capabilities, and demand from major industries like energy and agriculture. “It’s really a little test case,” he says. “If we can work in North Dakota, we can work anywhere in the world.” PB

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

Advice

An artist rendering of Renaissance on Main envisions the completed $15 million, four-story mixed use project, shown in the photo under construction in early February in downtown Williston, N.D. IMAGES: THE RENAISSANCE COMPANIES

Jumpstarting downtown Williston

Women-led development firm goes big with $15M multi-use project in downtown Boomtown

BY KRIS BEVILL

Nancy Kapp heard the term “wing walker” once in reference to risk takers and thought it was an apt description for herself. When she launched her Chicago-based real estate development firm, The Renaissance Companies, in 1985 she had no money, but she had a willingness to work hard and take necessary risks, and a partner with the monetary support to back it up. She has since succeeded many times in her goal of improving neighborhoods through infill developments that meet communities’ needs and provide new life to underutilized properties.

Kapp, whose daughter joined the company in 1989 and now works alongside her on the executive team, makes affordable housing a priority of her developments, which is what drew her to Williston, N.D. In September, the company broke ground on a $15 million four-story, multi-use project in downtown Williston which will include 30 apartments — 15 of them designated for essential workers — retail/restaurant and office space, heated parking and a luxurious rooftop terrace complete with fire pits for users to fully enjoy North Dakota’s warm weather nights. The project was initially proposed as a seven-story building with twice as many apartments, but construction costs in the Bakken region dictated a smaller project, and therefore fewer affordable housing units. “I wish I could have done more,” Kapp says. “Unfortunately, the cost of construction and the lack of gap financing makes it very difficult to do affordable housing, which is why there’s not much out there.”

Grand Forks, N.D.-based Community Contractors Inc. is the general contractor for the project. Several other local companies, including JLG Architects, Williston-based Ames Engineering, Blackrock Contracting and Development and D&R Construction have also been involved in the project. Ruann Deschene, project manager and company officer for Community Contractors, says her company was able to bid on budget and keep the project

on track in the Bakken’s challenging construction environment because it always includes the construction team in pre-construction meetings and incorporates value engineering during subcontractor bidding at all phases. The company has also been fortunate to maintain a steady labor force and expects to complete the project on schedule this September.

Almost equally important to Kapp’s goal of providing affordable housing is to spur the revitalization of the communities she works in, in this case downtown Williston. She recognized “what could be” when she saw the site at 2nd and Main Street, which at the time was a city parking lot, but she credits city leaders for their forward thinking and support to move the project forward. “They were already forward-thinking to the extent of planning a streetscape, they hired someone to do a city plan, they did a parking study,” she says. “They’d been pretty progressive and it’s been amazing to me that they’ve been able to do as much as they have done under the onslaught going on.”

That onslaught of development might ease now that oil prices have dropped, but Kapp is confident that her project will not be affected, noting its superb location, unique offerings and Williston’s population growth. She’s also already seen signs of redevelopment throughout downtown, including new businesses and an active downtown association, which is just what she was hoping for. “Our building is the jumpstart, if you will, which is why the city was supportive of it,” she says. “It’s an exciting story. We really love it out there — the potential and trying to make a difference.” PB

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

Mihir Varia operates equipment at Petroleum Services and Tools in Williston, N.D.

PHOTO: PETROLEUM SERVICES AND TOOLS

Conference to focus on enhancing Bakken’s supply chain

Williston Economic Development, DAWA Solutions team to connect manufacturers, energy producers

BY MARNIE LAHTINEN

The first annual Manufacturing and Logistics Conference (ManLog) will be held March 25-26 at Williston State College in Williston, N.D., and will also serve as the launch of the Enhanced Bakken Supply Chain Initiative. Williston Economic Development and Williston-based DAWA Solutions Group are collaborating for the event and initiative, both of which are intended to align regional energy industry stakeholders with local manufacturing and logistics companies in order to explore business development opportunities in the Bakken.

The production of North Dakota’s oil and gas demands an array of commodities and materials, many of which are currently outsourced nationally or internationally. Energy companies wait days — sometimes weeks — for product turnaround, and therefore face a higher break-even Brent crude price because of these, and other, inefficiencies. ManLog organizers hope to connect regional manufacturing and logistics companies with oil service companies to form local supply chains that could reduce the cost of doing business in the Bakken.

“This is an immature oil and gas market from a supply chain perspective,” says Jeff Zarling, president of DAWA Solutions Group. “We may not be able to create widgets in Williston because of the high costs of doing business in the Bakken, so then we create widgets in Wahpeton. But we want to have the supply chain relationship in the Williston Basin where the problems and the customers exist.”

The conference will serve as a “conduit” to bring two industries together to identify how they can serve each other’s needs, according to Zarling. “The oil and gas industry is not real accessible, and regional manufacturers don’t necessarily know how to engage them and get involved,” he says. “The Enhanced Bakken Supply Chain Initiative is a regional initiative … and will enable this to happen in an organized and ongoing effort.”

“ManLog will give us the chance to get that 30,000-foot-view of all the challenges, and then we can drill down hard to take a look at the opportunities and challenges,” says Shawn Wenko, executive director at Williston Economic Development.

Approximately 300 operators and suppliers, primarily based in the Dakotas and Montana, are scheduled to attend the conference.

Zarling and Wenko acknowledge it can be difficult to access the supply chains of large operators and service companies. Therefore, the Enhanced Bakken Supply Chain Initiative and ManLog are targeting smaller, nimbler and more entrepreneurial companies. “Fracking and completion techniques have been pioneered in small companies like Denver-based Liberty Resources,” Zarling says. Many of these smaller fracking companies don’t have their own manufacturing capacities, he explains, so they hire service companies and buy products from them to accomplish daily operations.

In addition to solving existing issues for the oil and gas industry in the Bakken, Zarling says the supply chain initiative places an emphasis on business development and innovation. “Local manufacturers can develop products that aren’t just used here, but elsewhere as well,” he says.

David Lehman is a manufacturing extension specialist at the North Dakota State University Manufacturing Extension Idea Center and will be moderating a panel at ManLog. “Having had major manufacturers here like Bobcat, Case and John Deere prior to the major Bakken activity, we have an established manufacturing base in our region with the capabilities required to make piece parts for major manufacturers,” Lehman says. “We need to showcase that and take a look at the opportunities that exist … this event will serve to open up that discussion.”

Zarling says the recent downturn in oil prices only adds value to the initiative. “The industry is more focused on the initiative now because it’s going to help to reduce costs and reduce break-even price so producers can be more profitable at a lower per-barrel price. We’re getting more interest in the initiative now than we were a year ago.” PB

Marnie Lahtinen Contributing writer MarnieLahtinen@gmail.com

Indicated

Monthly additions from one average rig

New-well gas production per rig

March-2014

March-2014

Indicated

Indicated monthly change in gas production (Mar vs. Feb)

March-2014

Indicated monthly change in gas production (Mar vs. Feb)

March-2014

March-2014

To Advertise:

John Fetsch 701.238.9574

jfetsch@prairiebizmag.com

Brad Boyd 1.800.641.0683

bboyd@prairiebizmag.com

Nichole Ertman 701.866.3628

nertman@prairiebizmag.com

Gas Captured/Sold

Employment

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

Minot—North Dakota’s Gateway to the Bakken™.

Minot investment opportunities are smart, grounded, and proven.

That’s what happens when a city has added more than 10,000 residents in the last several years. And is home to 53 energy and oil companies with almost 3,000 employees—in a city where more than half the business community is affected by the oil industry.

Because of energy’s impact on Minot, we have more than $350 million slated for improvements to roads, our airport, water and sewer mains, the landfill, buildings, and more. There’s no better region in the nation to put your investments. As a city, we're doing our part to keep pace, and continued state investment feeds an economic engine.

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