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

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.