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Cleveland Smith firs t notice d the pain while teachinghis Zumba -inspired clas s, Dance At tack .
He had been teaching the clas s for abou ta year when discomfor t sur faced inhis le ft knee Cleveland was unde terred
“Not hing wasgoing to stopme fromdoing what I love d, bu t over time I was doing it in pain,” said the 54 -year-oldMoorhead resident , who als o li ft s weights and helps ot her wi th st reng th training.
Up on re covery, Dr. Lindemeier turned to Cleveland’s right knee and discuss ed a ne w surg ic al opt ion –a robotic- as siste d proce dure–introduced to Essent ia Heal th -Far go in July
“T he proce dure islike a tradit ional total knee replacement, bu t wi th a robotic as sis tant , the ROS A Knee Sy stem ,” ex plains Dr. Lindemeier. “T he sur ge on is st ill in cont rol, bu t it allows fora hig her le vel of accuracy and precision. This proces s is taking what has beena succes sf ul procedure to the ne xt le vel.”
The ROS A sy stemuses data collec ted beforeand during surgery to inform the surgeon about the patient’s unique anatomy, which mayaffec t the implantfit. By using real -time data, the surgeon can plan for and carr y outa customized operation.
Cleveland’s right knee was replaced in September. Hele ft the hospit al the same day, which is ty pical.
“T he sooner we get patients backhome and moving , the be tter they do,” says Dr. Lindemeier.
Af tera we ek of physic al therapy, Cleveland felt back to normal. Wi thin two, he was back to work . Being an ac ti ve pers on aide d hissucces s.
Cleveland ex plains that , beyond the physical,a p art ofhis re cover y was also mental. “I t’sa whole mind game,” he says “I f your mind is st uckon the ‘should have s’ and ‘should dos ’, that ’s going to hur t you.”
Ex periencing both procedures , Cleveland de scribe s fe elinga grea ter range of motion wi th his right knee
One of Cleveland’s de dica te d follower s, a nur se prac titioner, notice d he was in pain She would appro ach him af ter clas s, event uall y conv incing him to make anappointment
It wasquick ly discoveredthat Cleveland’s le ft knee was bone -on-bone due todamage d cart ilage, which serves as a cushion and aids in heal thy movement
Cort isone shot s were administered , bu t Cleveland’s pain persiste d. He was re ferred to Dr Samual Lindemeier, an or thopedic sur ge on at Ess ent ia Heal th.
“Despi tehis pain , Cleveland was at tempt ing to maintain an ac ti ve li fe st yle,” says Dr. Lindemeier. “W it hX- rays ,I could see thatboth knees were bone -on-bone, so we discus se da sur gical replacement opt ion start ing wi th his le ft knee.”
Cleveland underwent sur gery in Febr uary 2022 Ini tially, his movementwas limi te d. During follow -up visi ts , Dr. Lindemeier told Cleveland to move his knee more orhewould move it for him “T his realiz at ion helpe d moti va te me to bend my knee at 10 0% and domy physic al therapy! ” admi ts Cleveland.
Cleveland’s physic al therapis t helpe d him achie ve his post-sur gery go als.Af ter thre e week s, he was movinghis knee on his ow n. Wi thin four week s, he was running, jumpingand back at wor k.
While st udie s have not show nmajor shor t- term di fferences bet we en robotic and non- robotic procedures , the ROS A sy stem ’sincreas ed accuracy and pers onaliz at ion can mean improved longe vi ty ofimplants
“T he go al is that by improv ing precision,the knee will be more balanced which may lead to be tter pat ientou tcome s,” Dr. Lindemeier st ates . “Eit her way, wewant toimprove, if not eliminate, a pat ient ’s pain , and improve their func tion and abili ty to re turn to the ac ti vi ties and li fe st yle they enjoy.”
While many pe ople li ve wi th ar thri tis and can manage the p ain non- sur gicall y, the de cision hinges on quali ty ofli fe.
“Ifyou are experiencing pain thatimpac ts dail y ac ti vities, that ’s when you know surger y really needs to be considere d,” says Dr Lindemeier.
To learn more about our Or thopedic & Spor ts Medicine serv ices , visit EssentiaHealth.or g
SAM UA L LINDE ME IE R, DO Or t hopedic Sur ge on Cleveland Smit h teaching his Da nce At ta ck clas s.
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ALERUS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THE HIRING OF TWO NEW INDIVIDUALS TO THE GRAND FORKS OFFICE. TONY MEYER HAS JOINED THE COMPANY AS A FINANCIAL ADVISOR. MEYER HAS ALMOST 10 YEARS OF FINANCIAL SERVICES EXPERIENCE, WITH AN EMPHASIS IN PROVIDING A HIGH-LEVEL OF CLIENT SERVICE AND SOLUTIONS TAILORED TO EACH CLIENT’S SPECIFIC NEEDS. CODY JENNEWEIN HAS ALSO JOINED THE COMPANY AS A FINANCIAL ADVISOR. HE HAS SEVERAL YEARS OF FINANCIAL INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE. IN THEIR ROLES, MEYER AND JENNEWEIN DELIVER COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL ADVICE TO MEET CLIENTS’ HOLISTIC AND UNIQUE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES. THEY WORK CLOSELY WITH OTHER ALERUS SPECIALISTS TO BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM FOR EACH CLIENT’S CIRCUMSTANCE TO HELP ENSURE THEY ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN FINANCIAL WELLNESS.
A reader once asked, “why does Prairie Business do an annual Top 25 Women in Business edition? I don’t see the magazine publish a list of its top 25 Men In Business.”
Our answer came organically and without hesitation. Essentially, it was this: “When Prairie Business feels that businesswomen in the Dakotas and western Minnesota are getting their share of credit for the great things that they’re doing, perhaps we’ll consider a change.”
March, by the way, is Women’s History Month – 31 days set aside by Congress in 1987 and re-upped each year after by a series of congressional resolutions.
According to the website Womenshistorymonth.gov, “since 1995, presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as ‘Women’s History Month.’ These proclamations celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields.”
This is easily found via a simple Google search. Do a little deeper dive and ask Google, “why isn’t there a men’s history month.”
Sure enough, the website Parents-together.org tackled that one, answering the question with a series of bullet points. Our two favorites – and ones we probably will tweak and commandeer going forward – are these:
• “Everyday life is already full of events, names and images that commemorate things men have done.”
• “For centuries, men have had significantly more power than women.”
Women’s History Month has only been around since the 1980s. Similarly, the Prairie Business Top 25 Women in Business edition has been an annual event since 2014. The point is that any effort made to better promote the accomplishments and victories of women is still relatively new and deserves more time to develop.
We believe it’s important to splash these achievements throughout the pages of Prairie Business, and it’s apparent the people who work with these women feel the same.
“Two words best describe Kristi Nicholson: Trustworthy and loyal,” one person wrote to Prairie Business during the nomination process. “Kristi has always had a reputation for going above and beyond what is expected, and then she does a little bit more. It’s what drives her. It’s part of her DNA. She sees each day as a chance to make life easier for someone else. Kristi knows her purpose in life is to help others and feels she is in the perfect position to use her gifts to accomplish that. At Apex, we know we are fortunate to have her.”
And this came to us about Top 25 winner Amie Aesoph: “Amie has brought new fantastic ideas, projects and improvements to our organization. While she’s an idea person, Amie’s talent lies in the fact that she can also execute those projects simultaneously in her busy, demanding role.”
All told, 62 women from the region were nominated. Whittling the finalists to 25 isn’t easy, because each has a fantastic story to tell.
It’s our privilege to pass along those stories to you, the readers. And it’s a privilege to meet many of these winners, if even for a moment, at our annual recognition event each September.
And that’s why we continue to publish our annual Top 25 Women in Business edition, presented for you here today.
Korrie Wenzel has been publisher of Prairie Business since 2014. Send story ideas to Interim Editor Sydney Mook at smook@gfherald.com.
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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. 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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Going by the data alone, one could argue North Dakota’s airline industry makes a good comeback story.
Passenger boardings had crashed during the pandemic — falling in 2020 to less than half their 2019 level and, at their lowest levels, leaving even major airports empty and quiet. But figures tracked by the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission show that in 2022 air travel rebounded almost all the way back to pre-pandemic heights.
The numbers don’t lie: in 2022, the NDAC tracked 1,028,159 boardings across eight airports. That’s 170% of the boardings it tracked in 2020 — when air travel cratered — but 98% of what it tracked in 2016.
Passengers are back at airports. The pandemic’s vice-grip on aviation has finally loosened.
But while industry observers celebrate the rebound, many of them point out that it’s still not as robust as it could be — held back both by airlines’ labor shortages, which crimp available flights, and by the advent of remote work, which many suspect is capping the number of travelers who have returned to the skies.
“If we had the same amount of flights and seats available today as we did pre pandemic, we would probably already be back to pre-pandemic levels,” said Kyle Wanner, director of the NDAC. Airlines are struggling to add more flights amid workforce shortages, he said, leaving many flights relatively full, but options for flights more limited.
“When you look at the load factor of flights around the state, they’re averaging currently around 84%,” Wanner said, referring to how full flights are at takeoff. “Which is, historically, a very high load factor. Anytimes it’s around 80% or higher, the airlines are
very profitable.”
Kim Kenville, an airport management professor at UND, said the problem is a pilot shortage — one that was driven before the pandemic by a lack of interested applicants. But now, after the pandemic, it’s been compounded by training issues, as pilots who were grounded during lockdown often still need to re-update their training to get back in their air.
And that’s just the pilots.
“I don’t know if you’ve flown lately, but you get to a gate and there’s no one to park the airplane, there’s no one to unload it.” Kenville said. “We’re kind of short all the way around.”
On January earnings call, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby pointed out that the pilot shortage continues to bedevil the industry — among other difficult factors.
“We believe any airline that tries to run at
TheUniversit yofNor th Da kota is proud to recogn izeone of thereg ion’s most successf ul andnot ewor thy busi ness womenin2023.
the same staffing levels that it had pre-pandemic is bound to fail and likely to tip over to meltdown anytime there are weather or air traffic control stresses in the system,” he said. “(Manufacturers) are behind on aircraft, on engines, on parts. Across the board, there are supply chain constraints that limit the ability of airlines to grow.”
And it could continue to pose a problem for a while longer. Shawn Dobberstein, the executive director of the Fargo Airport Authority, points out that falling numbers of high school graduates (a figure expected to decline in coming years) could make labor shortages worse — in aviation and beyond.
“So when you look at bodies that are going to be available to fill seats in airplanes or hospitals or tech companies or gas stations or hotels, they aren’t going to be there,” he said. “It’s a birth rate issue.”
The current shift in flights doesn’t always mean fewer passengers can get seats. Dan Letellier, the executive director of the Sioux Falls Regional Airport, pointed out that it’s also possible that more seats are being grouped onto bigger flights — though that can also pose a problem for passengers.
“You still may have the same number of seats per day to that destination,” he said. “It’s just you have far fewer flights. And you might say, well, that’s OK. That’s OK. Unless you go into Denver, and you have a six or seven hour layover to your next flight instead of 60 to 90 minutes.”
But there’s another issue flagging flying: remote work. Some observers see it as a reason why business air travel hasn’t rebounded as quickly as leisure air travel; others see it as a kind of competition for jobs throughout the aviation industry.
“Are you going to take a job that you can be in your pajamas at home? Or are you going to stand out in 40-below weather throwing bags on an airplane?” Kenville asked. “Our location isn’t negotiable. We’ll never be a remote-work (industry) because everything happens at the airport or in the airplane.”
Travel experts around the upper Midwest have seen varying results in their communities. In some places, business travel doesn’t seem to have slowed. In others, Like Sioux Falls, local leaders are still climbing back to pre-pandemic levels.
“We are working the market hard but bookings are taking longer,” Teri Schmidt, CEO of Experience Sioux Falls, said in an email. “We’re finding some are choosing to simply cut back, others are choosing to continue with remote work and meetings, and some are truly delaying their conventions and meetings.”
Daniele Villa, president of Visit Duluth, said he couldn’t speak specifically to business travel — but he said his organization is seeing event organizers look for more date flexibility in their schedules.
“And even in terms of numbers, probably there is an increasing number of events, but smaller, so they want to keep it like probably more regional, yet not back to big international or nationwide travel,” he said.
Not everyone is feeling the pinch. In Fargo, Charley Johnson, president and CEO of the Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau, said he’s been pleased to see what looks like full recovery by the end of 2021. Local hotel revenue that year, he said, was higher than 2019.
Even where travel is still recovering, all agree that it will bounce back soon. It’s just a matter of how long it takes. Wanner said he’s hoping to see flight numbers in North Dakota fully recover by the end of the year.
“That’s a goal, obviously, of the industry,” Wanner, the NDAC chief, said. “We’d like to see that happen. Whether it happens or not is yet to be seen.”
Prairie Business Magazine is pleased to present our Top 25 Women in Business for 2023. More than 60 qualified and experienced business leaders were nominated for the recognition, making the task of whittling down the field to 25, a tough one. Each of the women in these next few pages brings a myriad of experiences to their workplace and their leadership shines through. We’ve been lucky over the years to profile so many of the top women business leaders in our region, and this class is no different. Congratulations to each of these individuals for being selected, and we thank them for their hard work to help make the Dakotas and Minnesota a great place to work!
Amie Aesoph has a passion for people. As the chief human resource officer, she knows that people are the key to a successful organization. Aesoph’s background in HR spans more than 20 years and there’s no doubt her expertise in recruitment, communication, culture and performance strategy has aided in FCCU’s growth. Aesoph has also served as an instructor at the University of Jamestown since 2017, where she is an adjunct for the online business program.
Aesoph holds a bachelor of science degree in mass communication with concentration in public relations from Moorhead State University and master’s in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. Most recently in her career, she has contributed to two Credit Union National Association whitepapers on important topics impacting workplaces today. She earned the designation of Credit Union Human Resources Compliance Professional in 2021.
Throughout the years, Aesoph has served on the many volunteer boards from the Downtown Association and Buffalo City Tourism foundation, to Basketball Boosters and Kiwanis. She started the Jamestown BIO Girls program and currently serves on the Credit Union National Association Human Resources & Organizational Development Council.
Outside of her career, Aesoph enjoys attending her three children’s athletic events with her husband Steven, traveling as a family and spending time at their lake home in Minnesota.
Tina Amerman’s passion for community and Bobcat can be seen not only in how she fills her workday, but also how she lives her life. For over 20 years, Amerman has advanced through the HR department at Bobcat Company where she now serves as the director of talent experience. In this role, she drives acquisition strategy to meet workforce needs, supports employee experience, cultivates talent and inspires innovation through the management of the early talent programs, and plays an integral role in Bobcat’s community outreach to include Doosan Day of Community Service and various STEM initiatives.
Amerman currently gives her time and talents as a board member on the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce where she partners to support regional growth and prosperity by advocating workforce needs and talent development. Prior to this, Amerman was the president and a board member of the Agassiz Valley HR Association from 2019-2021 where she collaborated with professionals to advance organizational strategy through HR practices.
Outside of work, Amerman and her husband Mike are proud parents of three teenagers.
Amerman earned her bachelor of arts degree in business administration and a master’s in management with a concentration in human resources from the University of Mary.
Nicole Bredahl is a skilled attorney at Barkus Law Firm, P.C. With her license to practice in both North Dakota and Minnesota state and federal courts she has a vast area of expertise, particularly in criminal and family law.
A native of Fargo, Bredahl completed her education at the University of North Dakota and went on to obtain her law degree from the same institution. Before starting her law career, she spent a year working on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. Bredahl believes everyone has a right to a defense and should have representation. She enjoys volunteering her time as a pro bono attorney to aid those who cannot afford to hire an attorney in family law matters and representing indigent defendants in state and federal court. These experiences sharpened Bredahl’s litigation experience.
She has a passion for courtroom representation and has secured successful outcomes for clients in trials ranging from DUIs to murder. Bredahl is listed as a Super Lawyer’s Rising Star Attorney from Thomson Reuters, Best Lawyer’s Ones to Watch and various other awards.
She resides in West Fargo with her husband and two children.
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Legacy Financial Partners
Bismarck, N.D.
Mallory Brown is the marketing director for Legacy Financial Partners of Ameriprise Financial. Legacy Financial Partners has grown to be the largest team at Ameriprise Financial since it originated in 2013. Her department has impacted the team’s organic growth by driving the execution of marketing activities that aid in lead generation and brand awareness outcomes for individual advisors and the firm. These efforts have resulted in industry recognitions including Barron’s Top Wealth Management Team and Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Team.
She’s passionate about marketing, business development, creating efficiencies and collaboration. In 2021, she completed the master of arts in leadership degree from the University of Jamestown. She was asked to speak at the 2022 commencement ceremony sharing her perspective about leadership.
Brown gives her time by serving on the marketing committee of BIO Girls. She truly believes in the empowerment of women, starting with building their confidence at a young age. Her passion for giving back is seen in the company’s 28 offices as well. Legacy Financial Partners proudly support more than 250 organizations that bring joy to its employees and make a difference in communities. (Ex: junior achievement, Angle Tree, Hope Blooms, women’s shelters, local schools etc.)
She and her husband Craig reside in West Fargo with their son, Boden, and dog, River.
ExecutiveDeAnna Carlson Zink has been with the University of North Dakota Alumni Association & Foundation for most of her 37-year career. She became the CEO of the nonprofit fundraising organization in January 2014. Under her leadership, donors have given nearly $500 million to benefit UND students, faculty and staff. Records for giving have been set in three of the past four fiscal years.
She started with the organization upon graduating from UND in 1986. She has served in a variety of roles during her tenure. She was the executive vice president and campaign director for the $324 million North Dakota Spirit Campaign, at the time the most successful campaign ever completed in North Dakota.
With a passionate belief in the value of a college education, Carlson Zink inspires her team to help donors find their philanthropic purpose to become part of the collective “We” that gets the job done for UND and its students.
She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and serves on a number of university and community boards. She is also currently on the advisory council for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s College and University Foundations Board and serves on the Council of Foundation Leaders for the Association of Governing Boards. She also has been a leader in North Dakota with the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Vice President of Client Services EpicosityHeather Covrig is the vice president of client services for Epicosity, a full-service agency in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that focuses on brand development, media planning/placement, and ever-evolving digital and social strategies. In her role, she not only manages her own set of local, regional and international clients, but also directs and coaches the client services team through communication, organization, big-picture industry insights, marketing strategies and boots-on-the-ground execution.
Covrig and her husband, Eric, have three children; Gavin, Taylor and Harper. Both she and her husband Eric are very involved in supporting, growing and attending all of their kids sporting events. Softball, volleyball, gymnastics and a lot of hockey. Covrig has sat on the Sioux Empire Staters, South Dakota Advertising Federation Boards and is active in Junior Achievement.
Houston Engineering, Inc.
Fargo, N.D.
Naomi Disrud is no stranger to the art of the written word.
As communications manager at Houston Engineering, Inc. (HEI), Disrud oversees a team that provides marketing, graphic design, technical writing and editing, business development, and communications services to the company’s 250 employees spanning across 11 offices in five states.
A native of Saint Paul, Disrud moved to Fargo to attend North Dakota State University where she received her bachelor of science degree in English and psychology. She began her career teaching English while a graduate student at NDSU before delving into the software quality assurance and technical writing world of several Fargo-based software development companies.
Disrud, first a civil engineering major, got the best of both worlds when she joined HEI’s team in 2012, calling her position a perfect fit as it married her love of language with her interest in STEM fields.
Outside of work, she enjoys partnering with HEI in supporting Feed My Starving Children, United Way of Cass Clay, and Ronald McDonald House in addition to serving as a board member for the Bleeding Disorders Alliance of North Dakota (BDAND).
An avid animal lover, Disrud and her husband live in Fargo with their daughter and three rescue pets.
Shannon Full became the president and CEO of the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce in December 2020. Full has led chambers and economic development organizations for more than 20 years across four states.
Full previously helped lead the chambers of commerce in Plymouth, Minnesota, as well as in Appleton, Wisconsin, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Melbourne, Florida.
Full has received numerous leadership awards and recognitions, but said nothing has been more important than the positive impacts that have been made with people she has met, collaborated with and worked alongside.
Although she’s only been working in the Fargo region for a short time she has had tremendous success in building a team of passionate people that are dedicated to advancing the entire region.
Full has her bachelor of arts degree from UW-Eau Claire in mass communications and her Institute for Organizational Management Certificate from the US Chamber of Commerce.
She is originally from northern Wisconsin, and currently lives in West Fargo, North Dakota, with her husband and two children.
Jessica Fyre’s career is focused on serving two of her passions: agriculture and rural America. As chief operations officer & general counsel for AgCountry Farm Credit Services, Fyre works across all of AgCountry’s business to deliver outstanding customer experiences to more than 20,000 member-owners. She provides advice and counsel on legal, regulatory, and legislative matters, and leads a diversified team that supports, develops and implements business strategies for optimizing processes and advancing technology to 44 retail offices. She is known for her practical approach to problem solving, tactical and strategic leadership skills, and extensive knowledge of the lending industry and the Farm Credit System.
Holding a bachelor of science degree from North Dakota State in business administration and political science, and a J.D. from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Fyre began her career in private practice, later joining AgCountry as assistant general counsel in 2012. She was appointed to the executive leadership team in 2013 as general counsel, and COO in 2020. Fyre also serves as board vice chair at Farm Credit Financial Partners, Inc.
She and her husband, Robert, are parents of three active boys. Her free time is spent volunteering and supporting the activities of her family, church, school, and community.
Member FDIC Fargo, N.D.
Sheila Gerszewski is an influential and energetic leader with a passion for people. She brings more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry and impacts so many with her unique abilities and overall approach to business. As the director of retail banking, Gerszewski oversees First International Bank & Trust retail offices across North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Arizona. Her strong leadership has made her a sought after advisor amongst various topics including leadership, coaching, product, and service development, cross-functional support, strategic decision making, and many other banking functions.
Gerszewski sits on several committees at First International Bank & Trust and has been selected as a panelist at the bank’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference where she shares her journey and best practices. She developed and presented a business leadership program over nine years titled “The Leader In You” focused on professional accountability and the privilege of supervision.
Gerszewski earned a bachelor of arts degree in communications from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota. She resides in Fargo with her husband Jeff.
Missy Hall is the vice president of new market development for Digi-Key Electronics, and she has been with the company for 17 years.
Starting in an entry-level inbound sales position, she quickly moved into human resources where she spent five years, then another nine years leading international sales teams and cross-functional corporate initiatives related to international expansion.
Hall is currently leading new market development initiatives including Marketplace, Fulfilled by Digi-Key, PCB Builder and DKRed.
Digi-Key Electronics
Thief River Falls, Minn.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of North Dakota with a major in social studies education and minors in health education and athletic coaching.
Amy Hass’ journey with EPIC spans the professional gamut. A graduate of North Dakota State University with eight years of management experience, she became EPIC’s first full time employee in 2016. In seven years, she has led the company through dynamic expansion, growing the team to more than 85 employees and overseeing a development portfolio of over $700 million. She is thankful for her mentor and relative, Kathi Seifert, for coaching her through how to lay the foundation of a successful company.
Hass enjoys the fact that her role continues to evolve. “In the development industry’s fast-changing landscape, I strive to meld a focus on numbers and people- with humor and heart,” she says. Navigating rapid growth presents challenges and opportunities, but her can-do team embraces it all. “No task is beneath us. We adapt and collaborate.”
To scale the company in a time of inflation and labor shortages, Hass doubled down on what makes EPIC unique; the team-centric culture. Her relationship-driven style shows in her passion for people and community. “Focusing on culture and development enables each team member to feel cred for and empowered to reach their full potential. I love when new hires truly begin to feel and see that EPIC has their back, and they understand how their role fits into the broader company vision of enhancing quality of life.
When not focusing on her career, Hass enjoys traveling, reading personal and professional development books, doing puzzles, watching Golden Girls and spoiling her two nephews, Nathan and Evan.
As SRT’s chief executive officer, Cassidy Hjelmstad champions economic development for the region, digital inclusion and education for customers, advocacy for telecommunications at state and national levels, and financial stability for the health of the broadband cooperative and its employees and members.
While she served as chief marketing officer, Hjelmstad successfully advanced SRT’s business goals, built its brand, and positioned SRT for its next phase of broadband growth. Prior to joining SRT in 2010, Hjelmstad was director of community relations for the Phoenix Suns. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications-journalism, and communications studies from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Equally embracing servant leadership and cooperative principles, Hjelmstad’s core values include accountability, integrity, humility, teamwork, relationships, and empowerment.
She is a member of the NTCA Government Affairs Committee (NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association) and NTCA Smart Rural Community Advisory Committee; board chair-elect of the Minot Area Chamber Economic Development Corporation; board vice chair of Prairie Grit Adaptive Sports; an Honorary Commander with the Minot Air Force Base 91st Missile Wing; chair of the Broadband Association of North Dakota (BAND) Marketing Committee, and board member of DCN and NISC. She and her husband have three children.
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Sanford Health Bismarck, N.D.
Stacie Iken, PhD, ACC, has spent nearly 30 years coaching individuals and groups to develop skills in communication, emotional intelligence, leadership, and teamwork. Her philosophy: meet people where they are at and guide them to where they want to grow.
Iken’s professional journey began as an occupational therapist before shifting her focus into higher education. She trained future health care practitioners and advanced into a variety of executive roles which influenced learning at an organizational level. Iken joined Sanford Health six years ago lending her skills in developing effective strategic partnerships to support key business initiatives. She completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in occupational therapy from UND and Colorado State University respectively and a doctorate in education from UND. She is a Certified Executive Coach and achieved advanced certification through the International Coaching Federation.
Iken enjoys engaging in a variety of personal and professional activities, including serving as a Peer Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission and mentoring several individuals in their professional journey. She previously served on state occupational therapy boards in Wyoming and North Dakota. She is most proud of one role that outshines all others: the privilege of being called “mom” by her two adult children, Abby and Tommy.
Bolton & Menk Fargo, N.D.
With a passion for her community, Alex Larson has always loved being a part of its growth. Larson was raised in Moorhead, Minnesota, a place she and her family still call home.
Staying close to her roots has given her a strong sense of belonging and a desire to be part of her community’s success.
This passion was easily complimented with her career in engineering. As a design engineer for development and site designs at Bolton & Menk, Larson is directly involved in Fargo-Moorhead’s growth and development. Working with both developers and municipalities,
Larson has an incredible ability to understand the needs of her clients. She brings their designs to life, delivering projects on time and exceeding expectations. She has developed a reputation for understanding a project’s needs and delivering a well thought out and clear plan. Larson has proven herself to be an excellent project manager time and time again.
Larson strives to be a leader in all aspects of her life. She continues to be part of innovative projects in engineering, expanding her growth in the industry. As a mentor for women in her company as well as a mother of girls, she is an advocate for women both throughout her company and for young women interested in STEM.
Nan Larson Senior Vice President Frandsen Bank
East Grand Forks, Minn.
Born and raised in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Nan Larson started her banking career working part-time as a teller while attending the University of North Dakota. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, she stayed on at Citizens State Bank (now Frandsen Bank & Trust) to create an audit and operations department before transitioning to a lending position with the company in 1991. Currently a senior vice president, Larson is a mortgage loan specialist and an integral part of her home town office leadership team.
For more than 30 years, Larson has focused on developing relationships with clients that extend beyond their immediate credit needs. Her personable approach to advisory banking provides multiple opportunities for her customers to achieve financial success, and her greatest satisfaction is facilitating and nurturing those connections. Her work experience across many facets of the banking industry have made Larson a valued and trusted resource for coworkers and clients alike.
A supporter of all things community, Larson has served on numerous boards, including the Chamber of Commerce, the East Grand Forks School Board, and the East Grand Forks Economic Development & Housing Authority. She is a passionate volunteer and shares her time and talent with several church and civic organizations in the region. Larson and her husband, Darin, have two grown children and reside in East Grand Forks.
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PE, LEED AP Strategic Operations & Innovation, Vice President, Office Manager Widseth Mankato, Minn.
Kaeko Leitch is an innovative thinker, problem solver, designer, and engineer. Her precise yet thoughtful approach permeates her work, community and family activities, and creative pursuits.
With more than 25 years’ experience, Leitch is licensed in five states as both a mechanical and an electrical engineer. Her projects have ranged from pro bono work for non-profits to the $200 million Minneapolis Public Service Building. Having joined Widseth in 2022 as a vice president, Leitch has seamlessly woven herself into the firm’s culture. With an emphasis on strategic operations, she is guiding firm leaders to identify innovative approaches to client management, talent development, and providing clients with an exceptional project experience. She serves on the program advisory committee for the Architectural Drafting & Design program at South Central Community College, North Mankato, Minn., and has served as a volunteer and board member for organizations such as VINE Faith in Action.
She is committed to fostering community among young adults, particularly international students, and encourages young people to explore engineering careers and to persevere in their aspirations. Leitch balances her technical vocation with hands-on pursuits that tap her creativity. Leitch is a strong leader and a calming, forward-thinking influence across the firm.
Ulteig Engineers, Inc. Fargo, N.D.
Rachel Martin has a passion for leadership, innovation, and helping others, which is what led her to pursue a career in the legal field. After many years in private practice, Martin joined Ulteig Engineers, Inc., where she is the corporate governance and legal operations manager. In this role she is able use her talents to elevate her team through strategic thought leadership.
Ulteig provides Martin the opportunity to delve into her real passion, helping women help women. She serves as co-chair of Ulteig’s first Employee Resource Group, Women@Ulteig. This group is dedicated to advancing the voices of women by building awareness, advocating for equitable representation, and providing opportunities for women to be valued, seen, and heard. Through this ERG, Rachel helped launch a women-centered mentorship program to provide a path for employees wanting to further their careers.
Outside the office, Martin is a board member of the Red River Valley Paralegal Association, as well as the MState Paralegal Advisory Board. In addition, she volunteers her time with many local organizations, including Hope Blooms, Junior Achievement, Ronald McDonald House, Cats Cradle, and the Great Plains Food Bank. She and her husband, Shawn, make their home in Fargo with their two children.
Kristi Nicholson’s 23-year career started at the front desk and her responsibilities have progressed to where she has become the “go-to” person for the operations and administration team at Apex Engineering Group.
She has worn many hats over the years and is now the operations coordinator. When Apex was formed in 2010, her role in managing administrative tasks was vital as the company established itself. Nicholson was also the one that prepared proposals and reports for the project managers, which allowed her to learn what every engineer in the company did and who Apex’s clients were.
As the company has grown to more than 100 people across five offices, Nicholson still communicates with many people across the organization in a given week. Company leadership leans on her for assistance in getting key company initiatives kicked off and completed.
Kristi Nicholson contd.
She helped launch, develop, and volunteered to lead Apex’s Employee Engagement and Brand Ambassador Group. Nicholson has always had a reputation for going above and beyond what is expected, and then she does a little bit more. 2023
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Cornerstone Bank
Bismarck, N.D.
Originally from Grand Forks, North Dakota, Nancy Petersen has worked in banking for 23 years with Cornerstone Bank in New Town and Bismarck, North Dakota. As a part of the human resources team and a current member of the Cornerstone Bank Board of Directors, she values where she works and the people she works with.
Petersen graduated from the University of North Dakota with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She is also a graduate of the Human Resource Management Graduate School of Banking in Madison, Wisconsin. She earned her HRCI Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification in 2012 and her SHRM Senior Certified Professional Certification in 2015.
She is a trustee and past chair of the ND Banks Benefit Trust in Bismarck and volunteers at various events with the Missouri Slope Area United Way.
She currently lives in Bismarck, North Dakota with her husband Gary. They have two adult daughters and one son-in-law in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Heather Rye joined Gate City Bank in 2014 and was promoted to senior vice president of human resources and development in 2019. In this capacity, she provides leadership and strategic direction for human resources, aligning team members with business strategy to strengthen an engaging and high-performing culture. In her role, Rye oversees various HR functions of the bank, including recruiting, performance management, compensation, benefits and wellness, learning and development – all while ensuring the bank is compliant with state and federal laws and regulations. In addition, she keeps a top-of-mind awareness on market trends and shares that knowledge with the bank’s leadership team.
Fargo, N.D.
Rye has been extensively involved on the board at Creative Care for Reaching Independence (CCRI) in Moorhead, Minnesota, over the past five years. After serving in a variety of board positions, she recently completed her term as CCRI Board President.
A certified HR professional for 15 years, Rye has an undergraduate degree in business from the University of North Dakota and an MBA from the University of Mary.
Altru Health System
Grand Forks, N.D.
Heather Strandell serves as the senior director of clinic operations at Altru Health System in Grand Forks. Strandell has held leadership positions at Altru since 2004, with oversight of a variety of areas including quality and performance improvement, care management, primary care clinic operations, and has served interim leadership roles with supply chain management, revenue cycle, reimbursement, and coding.
As incident commander for Altru, Strandell led the organization through the COVID pandemic, partnering with local and state agencies, coordinating vaccination, and testing efforts and ensuring Altru’s operations were maintained while the community was safely cared for.
Within the community, she is incredibly generous with her time, talents, and financial contributions. She has been committed to many important efforts to ensure a safe, vibrant community, including serving on the boards of Community Violence Intervention Center, Sharon Lutheran Church, MN/ND Alzheimer’s Association, and is actively involved with school volunteering.
Strandell earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota and is currently pursuing her MBA through the University of Mary. She and her husband Jon have two sons, Sam and Leo.
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With a focus on community planning for rural areas across the Midwest, Wendy Van Duyne is a landscape architect, project manager, design principal and regional practice leader with Stantec Consulting. In her professional role, she successfully leads multi-disciplinary teams of designers and engineers on a wide variety of community development projects such as downtown revitalization, campus planning, placemaking, brownfield redevelopment, neighborhood planning, and parks planning & design.
Originally from Kansas, Van Duyne moved to Bismarck in 2014, and immediately became an engaged member of the community. Over the past nine years, she has solidly established herself within regional business networks and has volunteered her time with numerous community organizations and committees including current board chair of the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber EDC, Bismarck-Mandan Junior Achievement, the Missouri Valley YMCA Board of Directors, the City of Bismarck Planning and Zoning Commission, the Capitol Grounds Planning Commission, and the Bismarck Mandan Development Association. As is evident by her community involvement, she is passionate about promoting everything the Bismarck-Mandan region has to offer, for other transplants to our area.
A native of Casselton, North Dakota, Kresha Wiest graduated from Jamestown College (now University of Jamestown) in 1996 with bachelor of arts degrees in accounting and business administration with a finance concentration. She obtained a master’s in business administration, finance concentration in 2005 from the University of Mary. She is certified as a Yellow Belt in Six Sigma, has obtained the Certified Payroll Professional and Customer Relationship Manager Administrator credentials, and was appointed to the American Payroll Association National Committee.
Wiest is currently the chief financial officer at the University of Jamestown. Previously she held the positions of chief information officer, director of management systems, and interim privacy officer at the Anne Carlsen Center. She held the positions of finance, planning and analysis manager and head of payroll at Aberdeen, South Dakota, for Wyndham Worldwide. She began her professional career at Interstate Engineering, Jamestown, North Dakota, as accounting and payroll manager. Wiest serves her community by participating in athletic booster clubs, chairing fundraising dinners, and serving as an athletic task force member. She inspires confidence in her knowledge and abilities while supporting the career development and cohesiveness of her staff. She and her husband Mark have three children, daughter Jayden at home and sons Jaxton and Trey, students at the University of Jamestown.
Carrie Wilson began her career in 1986 as an executive assistant with Vaaler Insurance. With the help of mentors and coaches, she worked her way to her current role, serving as executive vice president.
Wilson oversees operations and organizational culture and empowers colleagues to grow and embrace their passions — both in their careers and outside of work.
Throughout her career as an insurance & risk advisor and manager, Wilson has worked specifically with healthcare organizations, providing them with specialized, comprehensive risk management programs. Her depth of knowledge and passion for the healthcare industry creates a client experience that is second to none.
Carrie Wilson contd.
For Wilson, culture and relationships are critical and sit at the core of her passion. She treasures the people she has the privilege of interacting with now and throughout her career—colleagues, clients, carriers, and professional contacts.
Wilson attended the University of North Dakota, holds a Certificate in General Insurance from the Insurance Institute of America, and participated in the Greater Grand Forks Women’s Leadership Cooperative, Dale Carnegie Leadership Training, and the Grand Forks Chamber Leadership Program. She is an active supporter of CVIC, Cheerful Givers, and Altru Family YMCA. Her family includes husband, Jeff; sons AJ & Tyler; daughter-in-law Cassie, and three grandsons.
South Dakota’s tourism department set records in 2019, as 14.5 million people visited the Black Hills, Badlands National Park, Falls Park in Sioux Falls and many sites in between.
The state’s Department of Tourism expected nothing less going into 2020, but we all know what happened next.
COVID-19 canceled vacations and kept people from making grand travel plans, and visitor numbers fell 13% from the previous year, though it was far worse in other parts of the country.
Visitors returned to South Dakota in 2021, as the state became the first in the nation to reach pre-pandemic levels of travel, according to the U.S. Travel Association. By 2022, visitor spending reached a record $4.4 billion, and 14.4 million people visited the state, just shy of the 2019 record.
“We very quickly recovered,” South Dakota Department of Tourism Secretary Jim Hagen said. “Part of that was our great outdoor offerings. The American public just wanted to get outside.”
And South Dakota, with its “open for business” mantra shouted from the rooftops by Gov. Kristi Noem, became a top destination.
Across the country, 2023 is expected to be the year most states
By Michael Klinskireach pre-pandemic levels of visitors. The pandemic is in the rearview mirror, and people want to travel. Tourism experts in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota expect a big year.
Though there remains one wrinkle: A sluggish economy is expected to shorten trips and keep people closer to home to save money. All three states are ready and making their pitches to prospective tourists.
From a boom in agritourism to the promotion of unique experiences, here are the trends that the regional experts are seeing heading into the summer travel season:
Visitors to Minnesota can experience the swans at Swan Park in Monticello, the SPAM museum in Austin and the Como Zoo and Conservatory in St. Paul all without spending a dime.
Explore Minnesota promotes free things to do in the state on its website, knowing that cost- conscious travelers are looking for activities that won’t break the bank.
It’s especially important this year, experts say, because a down economy, inflation and high gas prices are likely going to affect how people travel.
While a study of 1,000 U.S. adults by Longwood and Miles showed that 52% agree or strongly agree that inflation will affect their travel decisions this summer, 92% said they will travel.
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The regional state tourism departments say that means many tourists will be driving instead of flying, reduce their stay times and look for cheaper lodging.
“There is overall concern about inflation pressures, however, the desire to travel is still strong,” Explore Minnesota Communications Director Amy Barrett said. “Minnesota has a reputation as an affordable destination.”
Sara Otte Coleman, director of tourism and marketing for North Dakota Department of Commerce, said people are waiting to book closer to their travel times in hopes of finding better deals. She said another trend is more travelers are adding vacation time to their business trips and experiencing the state more.
“North Dakota experiences are affordable, experiential and offer a strong value,” she said. “We also market road trips in regional markets that are more resilient in economic downturns.”
Otte Coleman pointed to a recent report by Google that searches for day trips have grown 70%. “People are thinking, ‘What can we do closer to home that exposes us to something new and different?’” she said.
Travelers have always used vacations as a chance to get away, but agritourism has shot up in popularity over the past few years as vacationers look to leave the city lights and experience the serenity and beauty of rural life firsthand.
It’s a way for rural property owners to supplement their income and showcase their land and give visitors an up-close look at ranching, farming or just the beauty of nature.
Pipestem Creek Bed and Birding near Carrington, North Dakota, lures visitors with “rare bird” sightings, tours of private gardens and the experiences of life on a rural, small grains farm.
The Scanlan family opened its acreage southwest of Rochester, Minnesota as a learning farm experience” where visitors can climb in the silo, jump on straw bales and visit their barnyard animals.
The South Dakota Department of Tourism is aiming to capitalize on the growth in the sector by teaming up with South Dakota State University Extension to help rural property owners get into the sector.
The two-year program aims to provide “the tools and skills needed to develop a successful agritourism enterprise.” The program includes eight two-day workshops and visits to other locations in the area to help provide applicants with inspiration. In 2021 and 2022, the group visited agritourism farms and ranches in Nebraska and North Dakota, including Pipestem Creek.
Barrett said Minnesota business owners are trying to diversify experiences even further. At a recent conference, she said she met with an agritourism business that is offering guests a chance to enjoy pizza on a blanket on the farm that’s made by ingredients that were grown on the property.
“There are places you can stay overnight at the farm,” she said. “For someone who has never had that experience, that can be an exciting and relaxing way to spend time in the country. There is a lot of interest in expanding those opportunities. There is an increased interest in immersing yourself in the local culture, supporting local business and having an authentic experience.”
VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK AND THE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA RECEIVED “DARK SKY” DESIGNATION IN 2020, MEANING THEY BOTH OFFER VIEWS OF THE NIGHT SKY FREE FROM LIGHT POLLUTION. THEY ARE THE ONLY SITES IN THE THREE-STATE REGION TO RECEIVE THE DESIGNATION. ERIK FREMSTAD VIA EXPLORE MINNESOTA
Otte Coleman said North Dakota visitors are increasingly looking for agritourism destinations that offer more than formal tours and ride-alongs.
“What we are finding is people don’t necessarily want organized activities,” she said. “They just want the idea of meeting people that produce their food and getting out and experiencing farms and ranches. … Farm stays are growing in popularity.”
She said the North Dakota tourism department capitalized on visitor interest in sunflower blooms every summer by providing a resource page and map for where to see the best blooms. The page, which was more popular than the North Dakota tourism homepage in the month of August, includes weekly bloom reports. Some farmers on the route put up mailboxes where visitors could get a free sample of seeds.
“Those are the things that are organic and attract people to our state as something different,” she said.
Travelers are increasingly looking for unique offerings that they can’t find where they live, according to the regional travel experts. And millennials, those currently in the 27-42 age range and a large segment of the travel market, are looking for things that are authentically local – including food and beverages.
In Minnesota, that could mean eating dinner at Owamni — the 2022 James Beard winner for Best New Restaurant — visiting the Minnesota State Fair or sampling one of the many breweries in the Twin Cities.
The South Dakota Tourism Department unveiled a “Great Finds” campaign in 2022 that aimed to showcase the hidden gems of the state. Visitors were encouraged to share their photos using the #SDGreatFinds hashtag for a chance to win prizes, and the state’s tourism website promoted experiences that locals swear by, such as the Faulkton grain elevator mural.
“It’s an effort to take visitors off the beaten path,” Hagen said. Getting outside and away from the city lights became especially popular during the pandemic, and interest hasn’t slowed.
Voyageurs National Park and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota recently received “dark sky” desig-
nation, meaning it’s among the best places in the country to see the stars without light pollution. They are the only sites to receive the designation in the three-state region.
“That is something really special worth traveling for in Minnesota,” Barrett said.
Both North Dakota and South Dakota have seen a burgeoning market for tourism to reservations so visitors can experience the tradition and history of Native Americans in a way that contributes to the tribe’s economy.
The North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance was formed in 2016 to help the five tribal nations in the state promote tourism and “facilitate the development of cultural tourism enterprises.”
“There are a lot of really interesting, unique experiences (on the reservations),” Otte Coleman said. “That is one of the things that our global audiences is most interested in.”
South Dakota’s Native Tourism Alliance formed a couple of years after North Dakota’s, but the goal is similar.
Hagen said the alliance puts together suggested itineraries and promotes events and different cultural offerings from the tribes, with the goal of visitors spending time on the specific reservations.
Regional states unveil summer travel marketing themes
When it comes to travel marketing, a few words can mean a lot. That’s why travel departments spend a lot of time coming up with a catchy campaign that tugs at the heart and appeals to people to experience their state.
Here are the three current marketing campaigns for South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota travel departments:
• “So Much South Dakota, So Little Time”: Hagen said he is constantly told by visitors that they are surprised by just how much there is to do in the state. He says he is told people have wished they would have allotted more time to stay. “We love that the state is surprising them when they get here and it is so much more than what they expected.”
• “Enter your dream state.” (Minnesota): The theme, which was unveiled in 2022, embraces the idea that vacation stories get grander every time they are told, whether it be catching a big fish at a Minnesota lake or seeing the moon fill the entire sky at a state park. “The magic of the moment can sometimes be hard to put into words. After you take a trip, the memory of your trip gets more extravagant every time you think about it,” Barrett said. “There is a lot of magic in travel and a lot of wonder. … And it’s about entering your dream state when you travel in Minnesota.”
• “Hello North Dakota”: The state’s new theme embraces the friendliness of its residents and the fact that a lot of potential visitors don’t know much about what the state has to offer. “We haven’t spent a ton of money educating people with what we have,” Otte Coleman said. “Hello, this is North Dakota. Come see us. We have super friendly people who are here to welcome you.”
NORTH DAKOTA PROMOTED A “SUNFLOWER TRAIL” MAP LAST SUMMER ON ITS WEBSITE THAT ENCOURAGED VISITORS TO TAKE IN THE SUNFLOWER BLOOMS, AND SOME FARMERS OFFERED VISITORS FREE SEEDS IN MAILBOXES. THE PAGE RECEIVED MORE HITS THAN THE HOMEPAGE IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST.
NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM
Engaging with colleagues and clients from across the country, I’ve grown accustomed to quizzical expressions when I share that I grew up in Towner, North Dakota. “It’s not the middle of nowhere,” I assure them, “…it’s actually 19 miles west of that.”
Though clearly tongue-in-cheek, I don’t joke about how great it was to grow up in the rural upper Midwest. But with a population of about 500, exactly zero percent of my hometown’s citizens were architects, so it’s reasonable to wonder how I found my way to this profession, much less executive leadership.
In a pre-internet existence, my world view extended approximately one tank of gas in a 1976 Mercury Marquis station wagon, which got me as far as Fargo. There, I somehow stumbled into a History of Architecture class at North Dakota State University that introduced me to the vocation that would change the course of my life.
I got lucky. But it also made me think, how many other 10-year-old girls in the heart of America also waited in anxious anticipation of the Sunday paper to check out the published “floor plan of the week,” without recognizing that maybe this wasn’t exactly normal behaviorforafifthgrader?
This experience has shaped me as the leader of a sustainably growing regional design firm, because our growth is dependent upon making sure that everyone born with this DNA sees this amazing, fulfilling, and important vocation as an acces-
Michelle Mongeon Allen
sible and viable career – and that it remains accessible and viable throughout their careers.
And that’s where things seem to break down, particularly for women. Nationally, college graduating classes in architecture have held steady at a relatively even mix between male and female for decades1, yet that ratio drops to 17% for women when it comes to licensed architects2 , and just one in five executives in the World’s top 100 architecture firms are female3 – though this statistic represents an impressive doubling in the past five years.
Why does this matter? It matters because we believe that to be a thriving, sustainably growing regional business, we must have access to the largest possible pool of talent. If we are failing to advance over a third of all architecture graduates, then we are limiting our potential as a firm.
While course correction can be complex, increasing the number of female role models directly addresses one of the primary reasons women give for deciding to leave the profession. Without examples of other women who have been able to successfully navigate career advancement, many assume it’s just not possible.
Our assessment at JLG has always been that diversity brings a rich perspective that is simply good business. It makes us better collaborators and problem-solvers for our clients and communities, and it ensures some measure of representation to the ever-broadening group of stakeholders our design solutions aim to serve. Expanding that diversity across organizational leadership communicates the availability of opportunity; women in leadership show, through our lived example, that we can carry many responsibilities and still revel in a joyful life.
While the fact of my gender played no role, positive or negative, in my career path development (and I gratefully acknowledge the gen-
erations of women before me who did the hard work that made this accessibility a foregone conclusion), I did need to challenge some pervasive narratives. For example, that it’s ok to love my family and my work; that most things worth loving require seasons of sacrifice; that the oft-cited holy grail of “work-life balance” does not equate to an even parsing out of minutes, but rather to the satisfaction found in enjoying an abundant life; and that leadership is a viable option, not an all-or-nothing proposition.
I have long been among the contingent of women in leadership that eschews gender association when it comes to our success; “I am an architect, not a female architect.” But it has become clearer to me just how important it is that strong women leaders own our drive and achievement because in championing our accomplishments, we make success more accessible to the next generation of fifthgrade girls who don’t yet know they were born to be an architect.
Michelle Mongeon Allen is a mom to three teenagers, part-time golf widow, homemaker, musician, and CEO of JLG Architects – a 100% employee-owned, almost 200-person multi- disciplinary design firm with offices in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. JLG delivers sustainable, accessible, and award-winning design solutions across the region and country.
1 2019 Annual Report on Architecture Education (naab.org)
2 Around year 2222, will Equalize the Women Leadership in Architecture! -200 more years to go! (linkedin.com)
3 Women make up just one in five top positions at biggest architecture firms (dezeen.com)
ChiefHuman Resources OfficerWE DON’T PRODUCE VOLUMES OF THINGS (AT THE EERC). WE SOLVE PROBLEMS. SO THE BEST WAY THAT WE KNOW HOW TO DO THAT IS TO CREATE A GREAT TEAM CULTURE AT THE EERC
-The Energy and Environmental Research Center has been busy over the last couple of years.
Known mostly by its initials – EERC – the research hub sits on the campus of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and has been making waves in the energy sector for decades, most recently in carbon capture and storage.
At the beginning of February it was announced that the EERC had been awarded $1.4 million to enhance the capability of geologic carbon dioxide storage, the Grand Forks Herald reported. The award shows the “high quality work” and is “another step in the journey” toward successfully capturing carbon, according to regional leaders.
That award addresses carbon capture utilization and storage, or CCUS operations, at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant in Beulah, North Dakota. The expansion of CCUS technology under the award makes the plant the largest CCUS project utilizing geologic storage in the world.
But it’s not the only strides the EERC has been making over the last year.
Charles Gorecki, CEO of the EERC, said the research center had great fiscal years in 2021 and 2022. So far, 2023 is shaping up the same.
“(We’ve) been on a really great trajectory for the last decade,” he said, adding the organization has done more to invest in its people and focus on its core values. “We don’t produce volumes of things (at the EERC). We solve problems. So the best way that we know how to do that is to create a great team culture at the EERC.”
The EERC has seen growth in particular over the last three or four years, Gorecki said, and now has around 380 employees. And its project portfolio has continued to evolve, too, Gorecki pointed out. The EERC has had three successive years of record research expenditures, including around $50 million last year, made up of about one-third through state of North Dakota sources, a third through the federal government and the last third made up of industry.
And the Great Plains Synfuels project is just one part of a larger area the EERC is working on when it comes to carbon capture. Red Trail Energy in Richardton, North Dakota – in the state’s western side – is capturing CO2 from its ethanol facility and storing it in the
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Congratulations to Alex Larson onbeing recognizedinthe PrairieBusiness2023 Top25Womenin Business list!
While working full-time as acivilengineeringdesigntechnicianand keeping up withheractiveyoung daughters,Alexrecentlyobtainedhercivilengineeringdegreefromthe UniversityofNorthDakota.In addition,Alexplays an important role in business developmentandclientservicemanagementinthe privatedevelopmentfield,whilealsoprovidingcivilengineeringdesign forinternalprojects.Shehas developedanincredibleabilityto understandtheneedsofherclientsandhasdeveloped areputation forunderstanding aproject’s needsanddelivering awell thoughtout andclearplan.
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subsurface. After starting work in mid-June, the facility had already stored 82,000 tons of carbon dioxide, Gorecki said. The EERC has a research monitoring program that is overlaying on top of that, and the center is working with people in Japan to have real-time monitoring of the injected CO2.
“That’s the goal. It’s just very exciting,” he said. “Because that kind of technology helps reassure the public in particular that it’s safe, it’s permanently stored, these types of things. So, I think that was really exciting. And Red Trail is the first commercial project to start in the state. And it will be the first … I believe of many projects that will be coming soon.”
The EERC has been working on CO2 storage since 2003, Gorecki said. The organization has gone through the entire technology development process from first figuring out where and how the carbon could be captured, to where it could be stored, how it’s used for enhanced oil recovery all the way through pilot projects and now to where it’s being commercially deployed.
“(It’s) so exciting,” Gorecki said.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said the EERC is “cracking the code” in the energy industry.
“This is the second time North Dakota has cracked the code — the first instance being our discovery of both a commercially and technologically viable way to extract oil from the Bakken formation,” Hoeven said during the February press conference. “For many years, we have had the most advanced coal-fired energy industry in the nation, thanks to the work of the EERC and others. This …is just another step in the journey and path you’ve created toward successfully capturing carbon, and having a coal-fired energy program that not just survives, but thrives.”
Gorecki said researchers have also been busy finding additional ways to use lignite coal, including the creation of graphite and graphene from North Dakota’s lignites. Gorecki called it a “really exciting prospect,” as the materials have several different uses.
Cory Lee has traveled to seven continents and more than 40 countries with the goal of helping wheelchair users travel the world. He has 32,000 followers on Instagram.
So when Explore Minnesota was looking to show off the state’s wheelchair-accessible tourist destinations, they partnered with Lee for a social media campaign.
Lee spent several days in Minnesota, visiting Legacy of the Lakes Museum and downtown shops in Alexandria, where he raved about the smooth curb cuts, as well as Westwood Hills Nature Center and the Minnesota Science Museum. Lee then posted about his experiences on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and wrote about it on his website and for a post on Explore Minnesota’s website.
“This is honestly one of the best accessible trail systems I’ve ever encountered,” Lee said on an Instagram post about Westwood Hills.
For Explore Minnesota, working with influencers on social media helps the tourism department reach diverse and younger audiences who are keen on seeing authenticity in posts.
“We asked (Cory) to visit some accessible sites in our state and share with his followers about how you can have an accessible vacation in Minnesota,” Explore Minnesota Communications Director Amy Barrett said. “When it comes from Cory, who actually has to get around in a wheelchair, it has a lot more credibility. That really helps us reach a target audience.”
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE AUTHENTICITY IN YOUR MARKETING. THEY WANT TO SEE, WHAT CAN I EXPERIENCE, WHAT CAN I SEE AND DO WHEN I GET TO THIS STATE OR REGION?
Working with influencers isn’t new for regional state tourism departments, but they say they are being more selective about who they choose to work with and what audiences they are trying to reach.
South Dakota teamed up with Irene Ogeto, who calls herself the Black Hiking Queen, and The Mom Trotter (Karen Akpan), who is the founder of the Black Kids Do Travel organization, in 2022 to showcase the state’s tourism scenes to a diverse audience.
Ogeto posted photos and Instagram reels of her hiking in the Black Hills and Wind Cave National Park, and Akpo and her family visited Crazy Horse and Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, among other experiences.
“We just introduced a new strategic plan to reach a more diverse group of audiences,” South Dakota Department of Tourism Secretary Jim Hagen said. “You will see us focus on influencers — Asian American, Latino American and others — to demonstrate that this is a destination that will be welcoming and you are going to have an amazing time.”
Hagen said authenticity is key when it comes to their influencer partnerships. That means no super-polished video or photos. The tourism department wants to see influencers be themselves and experience the sites naturally.
“People want to see authenticity in your marketing,” he said. “They want to see, what can I experience, what can I see and do when I get to this state or region? What is authentic about (our state)? And reaching them in a transparent and real way -- nothing that is overly produced.” When Explore Minnesota aimed to promote the 50th anniversary of the Twin Cities LGBTQ+ festival, they called on Justine and Sam of the Wanderful Wives to chronicle their experience visiting the event, the city and the parade.
“So thrilled to be working with an organization and state that values the queer community,” they wrote on one post.
They then wrote an article that was used in the Explore Minnesota magazine.
North Dakota worked with LGBT advocate and travel blogger and journalist Mikah Meyer to showcase the state in 2022. He first visited the state in 2017 as part of his record-breaking national parks tour and returned in 2022 to work with Travel North Dakota.
Meyer, who has 67,000 followers on Instagram, “uses travel to advocate for others and to take audiences on journeys that inspire them to live ‘beyond convention,’” according to his website.
Sara Otte Coleman, director of tourism and marketing for North Dakota Department of Commerce, said the state has been teaming up with influencers for almost a decade.
“For us, it’s about reaching that unique
audience,” she said. “Reaching new audiences in a way that would be credible and a little more organic than a paid advertisement.”
All three regional tourism departments said what they spend on influencer marketing varies depending on the person. Generally, states will pay all expenses associated with
the travel and sometimes additional fees in exchange for a set amount of social media posts from the visitor.
Other times, tourism departments have the influencer contribute blog posts to their website.
Expedition Kristen has teamed up with both Minnesota and North Dakota.
On her blog, she wrote about 10 dog-friendly things to do in Fargo, the 17 best museums to see in Minnesota and hidden gems in Duluth, among others posts.
Travel North Dakota says its 2022 influencer campaign reached an audience of 108,000 people and secured 725,000 impressions with 80,000 social media engagements. Otte Coleman said the state operates on a biennial budget for its media trip and influencer expenses. The most recent budget is $50,000.
She said the tourism department looks at several deciding factors when picking an influencer. What is their audience? How many followers do they have? How does North Dakota’s tourism goal align with what the influencer is producing?
“They have been important to us in reaching new and younger audiences,” she said. “We are really careful about who we select. We may select an influencer who might not have a huge audience, but it opens the doors to a newer audience.”
The world of corporate event planning is, and always will be, changing. But nothing beats the changes we saw as a result of COVID19. Fully virtual events posed a HUGE adjustment for not only the attendees and presenters, but the planning was a different beast all together. Even though we have seen the world returning to normal, the mark made on events has changed forever: there is no escaping the virtual landscape. When I stepped into my first role planning corporate events, it was the height of the pandemic, and I was also a student at NDSU. So luckily for me, virtual events have always been a part of my event knowledge base. Though this column focuses on a fully virtual event, all these tips can transfer into a hybrid layout as well. Here are Four things I keep in mind when planning a virtual event.
Consider the journey your virtual attendees will take
Try to put yourself in their shoes. You want it to be as clear and as simple as possible. In contrast to an in-person event, at any point during your virtual event, (especially the beginning) your attendees can easily leave if they get frustrated just by closing the window. So, consider what roadblocks or confusion they might have and think about how you can remedy them early on.
Unpopular opinion alert!
How many virtual bells and whistles do you need to make an impact on your attendees? In the past three years we’ve seen an explosion of new virtual event platforms coming out of the woodwork. Many offer fancy features for attendees to utilize like avatars, virtual lounges, interactive VR experiences and more. I understand and appreciate the desire to engage your virtual audience with a more interactive experience. However, from my experience, when I attempt to use the bells and whistles, I become frustrated and give up. My goal is to learn and consume the content in session(s), not create an avatar. Now I’m not saying these bells and whistles do not have a place in the event world; however, I would argue in the corporate landscape, a simple chat or question pane will suffice. In the end, when making your decision, consider your target audience, industry and investment.
Prepare, prepare, prepare.
Every time I host a virtual event, the stress of technical mishaps,
network bandwidth and presenter confusion are top of mind. Whether you’re hosting a 1-hour webinar, or a full day event, preparation and testing is key. Start early and make sure you are familiar with the platform you are using to host. If you are leveraging an outside vendor, meet with them to get a tour of the program and ask questions. Next, set up time with each of your presenters to do a tech check. If you are leveraging an outside vendor to host your event, ask if you can conduct the tech checks on their platform so everyone can see how the event will run. I recommend scheduling a time slot about 10 days in advance for the total time of their presentation slot, plus 10-15 minutes for them to ask questions.
For example, if their presentation is 45 minutes long, I would schedule a 60-minute meeting. For a full day event, this can be a considerable block of time for you to invest. However, I highly recommend making it a priority for many reasons. One, this gives each presenter time to rehearse their entire presentation in front of a small audience, while still giving them enough time until event day to make changes. Two, they have an opportunity to get comfortable with the platform from a presenter perspective: how their sideshow will advance and show their notes, how to see questions from the attendees, if they can use a virtual background or not etc. Last, but certainly not least, you are able to thank the presenter for all their
time and hard work they are putting into the event. Us event planners can’t do it without people willing to be on stage! Use this time to genuinely thank them. I firmly believe having a rehearsal makes everyone more comfortable and confident throughout the entire event.
Learn from others.
Now, more than ever, we can hop onto the internet and see how others are hosting virtual events. Sign up for events relating to your industry or even one outside of it. When you find one you want to attend, take note of your experience. How did you enjoy the journey? Were you confused? Did you get frustrated and need a support ticket for help? Were other attendees leveraging the bells and whistles available? Overall, see what pieces a good fit for your next event might be and what might not.
At the end of the day, we all want to give our attendees the best experience possible. That starts with the preparation and considerations by those planning the event. I hope these four things help make your next event a huge success! Happy planning!
McGinness is the marketing manager at Network Center Inc.
Flint Group has hired Tiffanie Honeyman and Megan Fletcher as an analytics lead and project manager, respectively.
Honeyman will use her skills to build out the Flint analytics team and support account leads with performance analysis and actionable insights.
Honeyman earned a degree from the University of Phoenix with a focus on marketing, advertising and illustration. She was the founder and CEO of OpGo Marketing before joining Flint Group.
Fletcher is passionate about branding, strategy and public relations and will use her skills in project management to support clients in the agriculture industry. She is most excited to jump into the agency world as this is her first full-time job out of college.
Fletcher earned a marketing degree with a minor in strategic communications from North Dakota State University.
Steven Taves and Sydnie Shepherd have joined Betaseed as sales associates working in four sugarbeet markets covering Minnesota, North Dakota and Canada, the company announced recently.
Taves is a new sales associate working with Cody Lehman, Betaseed key accounts manager, to serve sugarbeet growers in Minnesota, North Dakota and Alberta, Canada, in the Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative, Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative and Lantic Sugar sales regions.
Shepherd is a new sales associate working with the Betaseed sales team and John Samdahl, sales manager, in the American Crystal Sugar Company market in the Red River Valley region. Taves resides in Glyndon, Minn., and worked in sales with a regional seed company for two years before joining Betaseed.
Shepherd recently worked in sales for a heavy construction equipment dealer. Her experience includes working with sugarbeets as an intern with Betaseed for three summers. She currently resides in Leonard, N.D.
KLJ Engineering LLC (KLJ) recently announced that Ashley Johnson has been promoted to KLJ’s proposal manager. In this role, she will manage proposal document design, coordination, and support timely, accurate and costeffective proposal actions, according to a press release. Johnson will strategize with leaders on effective win themes specifically related to pursuits and provide support and guidance to the proposal process including Go/No-Go decisions, operations team coordination, writing, and overall quality control of deliverables. She first joined KLJ in 2017 as a graphic designer.
Jessica Egge has been promoted to the role of director of interior design, she has been with Ackerman-Estvold since 2017. Egge has spent more than 27 years in the field of architecture, from preliminary design, construction documentation and the bidding process to construction administration and project completion, the company said in a news release. Egge specializes in all things interior; by assisting clients in analyzing their needs and developing a plan that will best accomplish beauty and function for their project.
“In this role, Egge will continue to focus on assisting our clientele to create innovative concepts and vibrant spaces using the newest in materials, colors, textures and technologies and serve as a lead liaison for other team members as well as leading interiors business and proposal development,” the release said.
Alerus recently announced the hiring of two new individuals to the Grand Forks office.
Tony Meyer has joined the company as a financial advisor. Meyer has almost 10 years of financial services experience, with an emphasis in providing a high-level of client service and solutions tailored to each client’s specific needs.
Cody Jennewein has also joined the company as a financial advisor. He has several years of financial industry experience.
In their roles, Meyer and Jennewein deliver comprehensive financial advice to meet clients’ holistic and unique long-term objectives.
They work closely with other Alerus specialists to build the right team for each client’s circumstance to help ensure they achieve and maintain financial wellness.
As First International Bank & Trust ’s Director of Retail Banking, Sheila Gerszewski helps ensure our customers feel cared for in every interaction and through every transaction. We are grateful forher leadershipin our organization and communities.
As First International Bank & Trust ’s Director of Retail Banking, Sheila Gerszewski helps ensure our customers feel cared for in every interaction and through every transaction. We are grateful forher leadershipin our organization and communities.
Congratulations Sheila, named among this year ’s Top 25 Women in Business.
Congratulations Sheila, named among this year ’s Top 25 Women in Business.
Talent Acquisition Coordinator City of Sioux Falls
The City of Sioux Falls has a focus on a service and a hospitality-based mindset. It’s always been my belief that good people get good things done, and this is especially true at the City. Sioux Falls is a place to grow, learn, and become the leader and professional that you aspire to be.
The City of Sioux Falls has 12 departments with over 1,300 full-time employees and hundreds more part-time and seasonal employees. Each of us work together; it takes a team to get good things done. With a teamwork mindset, the City of Sioux Falls embraces the OneTeam Sioux Falls framework, which focuses on the core values of safety, teamwork, innovation, character, and respect. These core values are drivers in success and build community from the inside out.
The Ascend Internship program gives unique opportunities to students in post-secondary institutions and graduate degrees. The Ascend Internship Program isn’t just about the work experience. Being our intern means that you’ll have a mentor and projects for you to spearhead. Throughout the summer, our interns meet weekly for networking, tours, and leadership-building activities. Ascend interns gain a holistic understanding of how the City works. The City of Sioux Falls connects with colleges and universities to connect with faculty and staff to share knowledge and insight into our professions. We’re hiring interns now! To learn more, connect with me at recruiter@siouxfalls.org or by calling the City of Sioux Falls, Human Resources at 605-367-8740.
College students are a very valuable addition to the workforce of North Dakota. Job Service North Dakota works with colleges across the state to help connect college students with employers. Employers can post their internships into our state job bank, and college students can search for them at no cost to either party. Job Service holds in-person job fairs the public is invited to attend. Our business service staff posts our events in Handshake and works with the respective university Career Services departments to promote those fairs. We also hold statewide virtual job fairs which are promoted to North Dakota colleges and out of state colleges to share the available job openings throughout our state. Job Service Workforce Centers also support college career fairs on campuses across the state.
In Grand Forks, Job Service works with local partners to promote Career Conversations during the school year. These conversations are between college students and industry professionals where students learn about the different industries throughout the Grand Forks and Red River Valley region. This event has led to students being offered internships that lead to careers.
Individuals who are looking to start college, should inquire about the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act training program which can pay for up to three years of classroom training in a highdemand career. Anyone interested in this program should speak with their nearest Job Service Workforce Center to learn more. Additional information can be found at our website www.jobsnd.com.
Dustin Hillebrand
Forks, N.D.
The Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation partners with the University of North Dakota (UND) Center for Innovation to connect regional companies with college students by offering a program called InternGF. The program provides eligible regional companies with up to $3,500 in internship funding to connect with UND students. The program aims to aid in workforce pipeline programming and local recruitment and retention efforts by showcasing regional companies, career opportunities, and community assets to current students.
InternGF defines internships as experiences that provide employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent, and students the opportunity to gain hands-on, valuable experience in a field they are considering. The goal of a good internship is to provide students with professional experience, project and field-based experience, and the opportunity to build a professional network. To complement the learning and growth in the internship, intern program participants are required to connect weekly with a member of the UND Center for Innovation team. They help interns translate learned skills onto their resumes and help them think about how to maximize their internship experience.
InternGF applications are open to companies in three cycles that correlate with UND’s spring, summer, and fall semesters. To get started on the application process now, companies should develop a job description for a desired internship. Be sure to include the objectives of the job, key roles and responsibilities, and expectations. Companies are awarded preference points for unique internships, pathways to hiring, and first-time applicants. Applications for the summer 2023 semester open on March 1, 2023. Companies that are interested, and learn more and apply for the program by visiting grandforks.org/interngf
Mark Maliskey Marketing & Communications Manager
Digi-Key has a long history of hiring technical talent from regional universities. It’s been our most successful recruitment channel. We’re able to find bright minds with raw coding skills who have an open mindset. College students are accustomed to constantly learning and being thrown into new topics, so we find them very adaptable to our work environment and learning various technologies.
We’ve had an internship program for well over two decades where we embed computer science majors within teams and the interns perform the same development work as fulltime employees. It’s a win-win arrangement. This gives students a true experience of what it’s like to work for Digi-Key, and meanwhile, we can assess their fit with our organization as a potential full-time hire.
It’s definitely a time commitment for our software engineers to mentor interns, however, team members often enjoy the energy and fresh perspective that college students bring on a day-to-day basis.
We’ve also hosted an annual Digi-Key Collegiate Computing Competition (DKC³ Collegiate Computing Competition | DigiKey) at our headquarters in Thief River Falls since 2000. This is a fun event where teams from over a dozen universities compete for both individual and department cash prizes, along with the honor of showcasing the DKC3 bronze traveling trophy at their school for the next year.
The ECI measures the change in the hourly labor cost to employers, independent of the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. Labor costs include wages and salaries and the cost of employee benefits. As the economy began to open back up after shutdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic, employers struggled to fill positions and retain workers. Employers reported using higher wages to hire more workers and reduce turnover. However, the CPI increased at a faster rate than nominal wages. Consequently, the real wage index began to trend downwards. In March 2022, real wages for private industry workers were 3.8% higher than in March 2005, but 3.3% lower than in March 2021.
Unemployment rates were lower in December 2022 than a year earlier in 244 of the 389 metropolitan areas, higher in 115 areas, and unchanged in 30 areas. A total of 172 areas had jobless rates of less than 3.0% and 2 areas had rates of at least 10.0%. In December, Madison, Wisconsin, had the lowest unemployment rate, 1.6%, nearby included Fargo, North Dakota, 1.9%, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota at 2%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics produces long-term projections of the economy, labor force, and employment in industries and occupations each year. The development of the projections depends on many assumptions, BLS notes. One assumption is that the economy is at full employment in the target year. That assumption allows the bureau’s analysis to focus on structural instead of cyclical factors, according to its website. However, some of the projected 2021–31 growth is expected to stem from cyclical recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. From 2021 to 2031, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects total employment to increase by 5.3%. The chart shows total projected change for each occupational group, as well as the share of projected growth that had already been realized in available data as of August 2022, according to the organization’s website, which allows it to highlight some distinctions across groups that otherwise might seem similar.
Projected percent change, 2021-31, beyond realized employment growth
Projected percent change, realized as of August 2022
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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