Prairie Business is proud to present the Top 25 Women in Business 2018

We salute these women, all of whom are leaders in their communities and in their careers. Congratulations to them all.

Becky Baker Environmental Planner KLJ Sioux Falls, S.D.

Becky Baker began her career with KLJ nearly two years ago, bringing with her many years of experience providing environmental compliance services in the Dakotas and Wyoming. Throughout her career, she has served as a biology and environmental sciences teacher, water biologist, environmental scientist and environmental project manager.

Baker has been the environmental lead on many infrastructure projects throughout the region. Thanks in part to her leadership, many communities across South Dakota and the region have been able to enhance the infrastructure that makes them better places to live and work.

Baker earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and environmental management and her teaching certificate from South Dakota State University. She was a member of the Society of Wetland Scientists and is a graduate of Dale Carnegie.

Baker also sits on the South Dakota Early Hearing Detection and Intervention–Professional Learning Committee. She and her husband, Keith, have one son, Bennie.

Associate state director

North Dakota Small Business Development Centers Grand Forks, N.D.

Tiffany Ford started her career at the University of North Dakota in 2009. She transitioned to the North Dakota Small Business Development Centers program in 2015 as the associate director, overseeing all fiscal and project management for the program and its statewide network of service centers.

Since joining the ND SBDC, Ford helped the program achieve mandatory national reaccreditation and become the administrative entity for the federal Procurement Technical Assistance Centers program in the state.

Since becoming associate director, Ford has improved policies, procedures, program compliance and accountability, and has launched new efforts for professional development and personal growth.

A proud graduate and employee of UND, Ford is completing her MBA at the university and sits on a number of university committees and task forces, including UND’s 2017-2022 Strategic Planning Committee and Economic Development Resources group.

An avid promoter of the arts in communities, she has served on the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra board and serves on the executive committee for the North Dakota-Manitoba District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

At home, Tiffany is a proud mom, wife and rescue-dog lover. #NDsmallbiz!

Haylee Cripe Attorney and vice president Mackoff Kellogg Law Firm Dickinson, N.D.

Haylee Cripe, vice president at the Mackoff Kellogg Law Firm, focuses her practice on commercial transactions, estate planning and municipal representation. Her background in accounting lets her help clients address issues not only from a legal perspective, but also with an understanding of the greater implications of legal solutions on their business.

Cripe is licensed in North Dakota and Montana. In addition to her leadership role at Mackoff Kellogg, she is a co-owner and president of CrossFit Amicus, a CrossFit gym in Dickinson, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Dickinson State University.

Over the past three years, Cripe has taught a variety of classes, including Business Law I & II, Business Ethics and 21st Century Leadership. She has served on a variety of local boards including the Dickinson Chamber of Commerce and Dickinson Dollars for Scholars, as well as on fundraising committees for the CHI St. Alexius Health Dickinson Foundation. She is also a member of Vistage International.

Cripe graduated from UND with a bachelor’s of accountancy in 2009 and her Juris Doctor in 2012. Prior to law school, she served as the director of finance for the U. S. Hockey League.

Amber Ferrie joined Eide Bailly in 2006 and has worked in various areas of the firm. Currently, she specializes in business transaction advisory services, providing sell-side advisory services to lower- and middle-market clients who are looking to sell their business, as well as buy-side advisory services for parties interested in purchasing an existing business. Before entering the transaction space, Ferrie spent time in audit and business valuation at Eide Bailly.

Helping business owners recognize the true value of their years – sometimes a lifetime – of hard work is one of the most rewarding aspects of the job. Mergers and acquisitions are some of the most personal business transactions. Ferrie considers herself lucky to be a part of the team helping people achieve their goals.

Laura Hagstrom

Water resources engineer Widseth Smith Nolting

Alexandria, Minn.

Jen Hanley Technical manager Ulteig Fargo, N.D.

Jen Hanley has 19 years of public- and private-sector engineering and environmental compliance experience. In 2008, she joined Ulteig Engineers as a project engineer/environmental lead. In 2015, she was promoted to technical manager for transportation services and is currently responsible for leading transportation operations in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Additionally, she leads large-scale Department of Transportation projects and is currently managing tribal coordination for the construction of the new Williston Basin International Airport. Hanley has served in various leadership roles, including president, in the FM Engineers Club and currently serves as a board member for Fargo Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest. In 2015, she received the Patriot award, which honors individual supervisors for their support of the National Guard and military reserve employees.

Hanley received her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University in Fargo and is licensed as a professional engineer in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana. She earned an MBA in 2006.

Deidre Hillman Program Director

North Dakota Women’s Business Center Bismarck, N.D.

Laura Hagstrom has distinguished herself as an engineer, community leader, coworker and parent.

After working as a water resources engineer in Denver for eight years, Hagstrom joined Widseth Smith Nolting in 2013. There she is responsible for hydrologic and hydraulic analysis of watersheds and river systems, storm sewer design, water quality control design and bridge hydraulics.

She serves as manager and technical advisor to Alexandria’s Stormwater Management Committee and manages the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System programs for Alexandria and other cities.

Her work has been recognized by her peers, including when she wrote “Too many pollutants are still reaching our waters — MPCA tightens the reins” in 2014 and for her Barnum Park Wetlands design by the Colorado Association of Stormwater and Floodplain Managers’ 2012 Stormwater Quality Tour.

As program director at the North Dakota Women’s Business Center, Deidre Hillman hosts a statewide Women’s Leadership Program, two annual Leading Ladies Luncheon events and the annual North Dakota Women’s Business Summit in Bismarck.

All the events are meant to inspire and encourage women to find the leaders within them. In 2016, the North Dakota Women’s Business Center was awarded the Women’s Business Center of Excellence on a national level.

Hillman enjoys conducting training on business topics including business development, entrepreneurship and leadership. She is a certified John Maxwell trainer, speaker and coach.

Hillman also makes community development a priority. She is a co-founder and committee chair of BisMan Power of 100, an active volunteer with Make-A-Wish foundation and a board member at the Dakota Zoo.

She is credited with the launch of a Nursing Room at the Dakota Zoo, which started a statewide initiative. As a result, all zoos in North Dakota soon will have breastfeeding accommodations for visiting mothers.

Hillman earned an MBA from University of Mary and is a graduate of the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber Leadership program.

Brittney Hogan started her career in the nonprofit sector in 2012 by grant writing for the YWCA women’s shelter in Minot. She then began working at the Minot Public School Foundation as assistant director in 2014 and became executive director in 2015.

Continuing her love for grant writing, she is the current chair of the North West North Dakota Grant Writers Roundtable.

Hogan has a passion for strengthening the nonprofit sector and serves as the current president for the Minot Alliance of Nonprofits. Another passion of hers is advocating for people with disabilities to live independent lives. She is the chair of the North Dakota Statewide Independent Living Council and a peer mentor at Independence Inc., in Minot.

Hagstrom is the local Kiwanis Club’s membership director, a graduate of Leadership Alexandria and a dedicated volunteer for her children’s activities. Her leadership roles with clients, experience as a water resources engineer and dedication to her family and community show her to be an asset to WSN and part of the firm’s next generation of leaders.

She is a member of the Minot Optimist Club, Minot Community Concert Band and Minot City Band.

Our Senior Water Resource Engineer, Tom, loves a challenge. That’s why when designing a solution for stormwater retention/detention, Tom got creative. By creating an eco-friendly solution over a traditional pump station, this portion of flood control provided an innovative approach and saved the Souris River Joint Board millions of dollars in the process.

Turning his passion into progress, that’s what Tom is most proud of. And we are, too.