Prairie Business May 2023

NEW WORKPLACE EXPECTATIONS

WORK-FROM-HOME FLEXIBILITY, UNLIMITED PTO ARE PERKS EMPLOYEES GRAVITATING TOWARD

Scanhere to subscribe and lis ten

Apodcast discussinghowwecan redesign thefuture, together,amplifyingthe unheard voiceswithinthecommunit y. Season 1ask sthe question: Whatis thepurpose of incarceration?

NORTH DAKOTA TESTS PUBLIC-PRIVATE SOLUTION TO WORKFORCE NEEDS Working Parents Child Care Relief Pilot Program

There is widespread agreement that solving North Dakota's child care needs is the key to healthy, vibrant communities and to unlocking the state's workforce capacity and ensuring North Dakota is open for business.

North Dakota has an estimated 35,000 job openings and the nation's lowest unemployment rate at 2.1%. North Dakota is also getting younger - attracting younger people who are having families.

State lawmakers, Gov. Doug Burgum's administration, and business and community leaders have discussed the child care and workforce connection, along with strategies to improve access, affordability and quality.

During the 2021 special legislative session, lawmakers acted and approved allocating $9 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the development of a public-private solution to child care needs.

"With this investment and support and input from multiple stakeholders, we worked to create a strategy employerscouldusetomakeadifferenceforemployees - especially those families with infants and toddlers who shoulder the highest child care cost burden," said HHS Commissioner ChrisJones.

That led to the announcement this spring by HHS of the new Working Parents Child Care Relief pilot program. It involves employers, the state of North Dakota and parents, pooling resources to maximize employersponsored child care benefits and offer financial relief for qualifying families.

Participatingemployersopt inand of fer childcare benefits to employees at the $150or $300 per child, per monthlevel. Eligible working parents apply. Employers verify paymentof childcare benefits, and HHS paysamatching benefit directly to qualifying, participatingemployees.

To qualify, working parents must work fora participating employer and have a household income at or below 10 0%of the state medianincome fora household their size Their young children (bir th - 36 months)need to at tend a North Dakota licensed childcare program.

Urban and ruralemployers, both large and small, are optinginto participate.

One of thoseemployers is Hear t of America Medical Centerin Rugby, N.D. Human Resources Manager Sara Radomski said, “We area family-focused organization in a rural community. We have made many great strides in improving the benefit options for employees. There aremany critical jobs in our organization that are not all professionallevel positions, and it is impor tantto have af fordable childcare optionsfor frontlineemployees.”

Scot t Staudinger, VicePresidentof Government Af fairs and Human Resources at Cloverdale Foods Company inMandan, N.D., estimated that up to 15% of their workforcemay qualify and applyto participate.

“Cloverdale strongly feels that by providing this benefit, it will assist us in at tractingand retainingtop talent,” he said. “This multi-faceted cost-sharing program will alleviate some of the economic pressure employees face in providing qualit y childcare for their children.”

Staudinger said signing up was easy “Cloverdale signed up to participateon April 13, and wewere approvedon April 14. We arecurrently creating a policy and craf ting employee communications, and we look forwardto rolling it out this year,” he said.

During the three-yearpilotprogram, North Dakota hopesto assist up to 1,00 0 families and learn more about what works and how best to move for ward with additional policy solutions.

Greater North Dakota Chamber Chief Executive Of ficer andPresident Arik Spencersuppor ts piloting this andother solutionstomeet workforceneeds “This program will providehelpful data as we work toward a retention strategy that helps combat the af fordability component that is pushing some families out of the workforce.”

“When more options are available to families, thereare more winners: families, businesses and North Dakota,” he said.

“There aremanycriticaljobs inourorganizationthatare notallprofessionallevel positions,anditisimportant tohaveaffordablechild careoptionsforfrontline employees.”

SarahRadomski

“Cloverdalestronglyfeels that by providingthisbenefit, itwillassistusinattracting and retainingtoptalent.”

ScottStaudinger

BETTER INTERNET: ESSENTIAL IN CONNECTIVITY

The internet has become an essential part of our lives. From entertainment to work, education, and even communication, we rely heavily on the internet to keep us connected. With more people working from home, streaming their entertainment and connecting with loved ones virtually, a stable and reliable internet connection is more critical than ever before. That’s where BeMobile Internet comes in.

BeMobile Internet is a high-speed, reliable internet service that provides a fast and consistent connection to your home or business. With download speeds up to 940 Mbps, BeMobile offers internet as a seamless online experience for your business and home, allowing you to stream, browse, and work without interruption.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF BEMOBILE INTERNET:

Fast and Reliable Internet Speeds

BeMobile Internet offers some of the fastest internet speeds available in the market. Whether you’re streaming your favorite shows, video conferencing with colleagues, or gaming online, you’ll enjoy a consistent and fast internet connection that won’t let you down.

Easy to Set Up and Use

BeMobile Internet is straightforward to set up and use. All you need to do is plug in the modem, and you’re ready to go. Plus, with the My Verizon app, you can manage your account, pay your bill, and troubleshoot any issues quickly and easily. You’ll have local support at BeMobile and 24/7 online support with Verzion.

Flexible Plans to Suit Your Needs

Whether you’re looking for a basic plan or a more advanced one with higher speeds, you can find a plan that works for your business. In your home you can enjoy speeds on LTE or 5G capacity depending on your area. In many instances your internet bill can be as much as half your current cost. BeMobile internet packages start as low as $25 per month for home and $29 per month for businesses.

If you’re looking for a high-quality internet service provider that delivers on its promises, BeMobie Internet is definitely worth considering. Find a location to learn more at bemobile.com

Mallory Hestdalen

ESSENTIA HEALTH-FARGO WELCOMES

NEONATOLOGY SPECIALIST MALLORY HESTDALEN

ESSENTIA HEALTH-FARGO IS EXCITED TO WELCOME FARGO NATIVE MALLORY HESTDALEN, AN ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSE AND CERTIFIED NURSE PRACTITIONER SPECIALIZING IN NEONATOLOGY. “I CHOSE ESSENTIA HEALTH BECAUSE ITS MISSION AND VALUES ALIGN WITH MINE,” SAID HESTDALEN. “ESSENTIA HAS A SUPPORTIVE AND POSITIVE WORK CULTURE THAT IS VISIBLE IN EMPLOYEES FROM EVERY LEVEL, AND THAT TRANSCENDS TO EACH PERSON’S WORK.” HESTDALEN RECEIVED HER MEDICAL EDUCATION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI–KANSAS CITY. SHE IS CERTIFIED BY THE NATIONAL CERTIFICATION CORPORATION. “I LOVE HELPING THE TINIEST OF PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES,” SAID HESTDALEN. “WORKING IN THE NICU IS SO SPECIAL BECAUSE WE CAN SEE INFANTS TRANSFORM FROM VERY ILL TO HEALTHY BABIES WHO ARE ABLE TO GO HOME WITH THEIR FAMILIES. WE TRULY SEE MIRACLES EVERY DAY.” TO SEE HESTDALEN’S FULL PROFILE, PLEASE VISIT ESSENTIAHEALTH.ORG AND CLICK ON “DOCTORS & PROVIDERS.”

SEE THESE AND OTHER NEW HIRES, PROMOTIONS AND AWARD WINNERS IN THE REGION.

Health care, insurance, HR and a new editor

Welcome to the May edition of Prairie Business. This month we feature an interview with North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread, some creative solutions to the region’s health care worker shortage, and how human resources departments handle unlimited PTO, among other topics.

I’m Carrie McDermott, the new editor of Prairie Business and I want to take this time to share a bit about myself.

I’m a southern California native, from the Riverside area, and graduated from California State University San Bernardino with a bachelor of arts degree. My goal was to work on magazines. Life had another plan.

I immediately went to work for a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper, The Press-Enterprise, and was bitten by the news bug. During my 17 years there, I worked in news, features, special sections, marketing and even under the business development department, where I worked on websites and special publications. Part of my job assignments included helping produce several community, lifestyle and business-to-business magazines, which satisfied my college dreams.

My heart eventually brought me to North Dakota, where I worked for a small community paper in Wahpeton called the Daily News, as well as the weekly News Monitor. After 12 years covering the ins and outs of the southern Red River Valley communities, I was ready for a new challenge.

Prairie Business called and I answered.

I’m now in Grand Forks and learning all about the large region we cover. I’m looking forward to meeting the business leaders we write about, hearing about your industries and finding out what makes your organizations successful.

Please continue sending in your employee announcements for our Prairie People section, which is also featured on our website.

If you’re new to Prairie Business, you can subscribe for free thanks to the support of our dedicated advertising partners. To get on our newsletter mailing list, visit our website, https://www.grandforksherald.com/prairie-business, and click on “Subscribe” in the top menu. Scroll down and select “Prairie Business Monthly e-edition” and give us your email address at the bottom of the page. It’s as easy as that, and you’ll get the digital magazine delivered to your inbox each month.

Finally, it’s time once again to send in your nominations for our annual Leaders & Legacies awards, Prairie Business’ most prestigious honor bestowed on the region’s top executives.

The award category was created to recognize executives in the Dakotas and western Minnesota for their outstanding achievements in business. Tell us about business and organization founders, owners, CEOs and presidents who you believe should be recognized for their excellent work.

Whether the great work has been done in recent years or over a lifetime, we want to hear about them. To nominate, fill out the online form at https://gfherald. wufoo.com/forms/q146bbu19nkyg6/. We’ll feature the outstanding leaders in our July issue.

Until next time, Carrie

McDermott

I look forward to hearing from you at cmcdermott@prairiebusinessmagazine.com or 701-780-1276.

PUBLISHER

KORRIE WENZEL

AD DIRECTOR STACI LORD

EDITOR

CARRIE MCDERMOTT

CIRCULATION MANAGER

BETH BOHLMAN

LAYOUT DESIGN

JAMIE HOLTE

ACCOUNT MANAGER

NICHOLE ERTMAN 800.477.6572 ext. 1162 nertman@prairiebusinessmagazine.com

Prairie Business magazine is published monthly by the Grand Forks Herald and Forum Communications Company with offices at 375 2nd Avenue North, Grand Forks, ND 58203. 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.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Subscriptions are free prairiebusinessmagazine.com

ADDRESS CORRECTIONS

Prairie Business magazine Box 6008 Grand Forks, ND 58206-6008

Beth Bohlman: bbohlman@prairiebusinessmagazine.com

ONLINE www.prairiebusinessmagazine.com

HELLO GOOD LIFE!

Baker Boy in Dickinson, ND is seeking an HR Director!

The HR Director will be responsible for developing and executing a human resource strategy to support Baker Boy’s business plan.

QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management, Business Administration, or a related field. Seven years of experience in HR leadership with progressively responsible roles.

Human Resources Certification Preferred (SHRM-CP or PHR).

PAY

$110,000 - $140,000 - DOE CONTACT

Katrina Johnson 701-456-1507

KatrinaJ@bakerboy.com

A Legacy of Giving

It started with basketball at the YMCA. When Charles Dawson was young, he spent many days and nights playing ball with his buddies at the downtown Fargo YMCA. That’s where, in addition to perfecting his free throw shot, he learned about the importance of supporting the community.

After he started his insurance business on Broadway, Tom Dawson said his grandfather was still at the YMCA almost every day. Charles served as the mayor of Fargo from 1946 to 1950, and during this time, Tom says his grandfather—and the family business—solidified their commitment to giving back.

“The experience helped him understand what goes on in the community, and the need to support nonprofits and the community as a whole,” the younger Dawson said. Today, the tradition that began with youth ball games continues as Marsh McLennan

Agency (MMA) strengthens its commitment to service and philanthropy.

“As an agency, it matters that we are here for our communities and that we honor the Dawson family philosophy long into the future,” said Karlie Solum, MMA’s Director of Community Relations. “We want to be a part of making sure our communities are places where we can live, grow, and play.”

Solum said MMA efforts are guided by four pillars: improving children’s quality of life, supporting veterans, creating opportunities for workforce development, and supporting economic development and community vitality.

“We are involved with the community because the community is involved with us,” said Penny Crowder, Private Client and Life Insurance Advisor. “Because we have been blessed with success, our responsibility is to give back to the very people who have supported us.”

As a business leader, Dawson recognizes the importance of civic engagement. “Our success doesn’t just come from the good people on our team, but also from being in a vibrant community with a lot of other strong, successful businesses,” he

said. “That helps you realize you have an obligation to give back.”

Crowder has served on MMA’s Community Relations Committee, which works to align the agency’s resources with their giving priorities and with organizations employees are passionate about. Crowder said she appreciates the company’s matching programs. “I love that there are incentives for us to be generous. They compound your efforts, and it really adds up.”

Marsh McLennan Agency’s Social Impact Platform allows individuals to multiply their financial contributions and volunteer time with matching funds. Employees receive up to $1,000 per year to match donations made to organizations they support personally.

A newer member of the team, Georgina Corral Sandoval was drawn to MMA through the Business Connections program at NDSU. She has appreciated the culture of giving and support and the opportunities to volunteer side-by-side with her colleagues. “Everyone is working together as a whole,” she said. Sandoval has assisted with the United Way’s school supply drive and will be walking with a team for the Alzheimer’s Walk in September.

MMA has been a long-time partner of the United Way of Cass-Clay and in 2022 received the Magnificent Marvel award for standing out as a “local company that brought energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to their campaign”. MMA was also named to the organization’s Top 50 Generous Workplaces and Top 25 Engaged

Workplaces. Other organizations the company supports include Fargo Parks & Recreation, Hospice of the Red River Valley, the Village Family Service Center, NDSU, the FM Area Foundation, and BioGirls.

Eric Wilkie, CEO of the FM Area Foundation, expressed gratitude for the partnership the organization has shared with MMA. “The FM Area Foundation has worked closely with Marsh McLennan Agency for almost five decades in business and philanthropy. What drives us is our commitment to creating a vibrant community

full of opportunities for everyone. We are grateful to work with a company synonymous with philanthropy in our region, which is why we have and will continue to associate with MMA,” Wilkie said.

Wilkie added that Tom Dawson’s leadership as board chair in 2017 and MMA’s commitment to being a signature sponsor for the FM Area Foundation’s community Caring Catalog are examples of the successful partnership between the two organizations. “MMA’s compassion for others and dedication to ensuring our community remains strong is why the FM Area Foundation is proud to partner with this impactful local business.”

Employees also serve on the boards of local organizations including The Alzheimer’s Association, The

Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, the FMWF Chamber of Commerce, and the Fargo Rotary.

“In my opinion, our legacy in this community always will be that of a servant leader,” said Ryan Hoffman, MMA Vice President and Managing Director. “We cannot be a great community without the collective and continued commitment of our time, talents, and possessions,” Hoffman added. “We strive to live out this value in all that we do at MMA.”

For 106 years, the agency started by Charles Dawson has grown through dedication not only to providing excellent service to its clients but also to serving the needs of the community. “It starts at the top,” Tom Dawson said. “When leaders translate their vision to others and make them feel proud to get involved, the business will prosper.”

Dawson added, “We know, if you let people give to the places they care about, they will be happier, feel more satisfied, and be proud when working with their clients. That’s the power of all of us working together.”

New workplace expectations

Work-from-home flexibility, unlimited PTO are perks employees gravitating toward

Elevate Rapid City’s Tom Johnson has seen the future — and in his office, it looks like a four-and-ahalf-day work week.

Elevate is the local chamber and the economic development group for South Dakota’s Black Hills region, and Johnson has been chief executive since 2019. That’s enough time to have ridden out both a global pandemic and a seismic change in office culture that Johnson said is reshaping American working life.

“I think it speaks to the heart of the future of the American workforce,” Johnson said. “I think pre-pandemic, we sort of had this idea of what work looked like. It meant coming into the office, it meant being here from eight to five, it meant taking lunch hour, maybe.”

Now the sky – or more aptly, the home office – is the limit.

At Elevate, work-from-home flexibility is just one of the perks. There’s also a loosened dress code for those days spent “crunching spreadsheets” away from politicians and big-name clients. Elevate gives 21 days of PTO each year, he said, and 12 sick days.

The four-and-a-half day work week, Johnson added, just recognizes the drop in productivity nearly every American worker has as the weekend looms and the busy pace of the business week slackens.

“So we just decided to say, ‘Hey, listen, if you can get all your stuff done, in four and a half days, that’s great, go ahead and leave at noon,’” Johnson said.

Johnson talks like something of a work-perk evangelist. But the core idea — more flexibility for workers — is increasingly popular, establishing an office-culture beachhead during the pandemic and

growing increasingly entrenched in a tight labor market. As more businesses court fewer workers, it’s become a critical part of employee recruitment and retention.

By Sam Easter

According to MetLife’s 2022 annual study of workplace benefits, the number of workers who said that flexibility is a “must have” when looking at a new role jumped from 37% in 2020 to 57% in 2022; the number of employees who said flexibility would help retain them also made a big leap, from 30% in 2012 to 59% in 2022 (the study broadly defined “flexibility,” but said “key factors” were things like dress code, PTO use and working arrangements).

“If you look at survey results conducted by consultants and business articles today, more executives are calling for employees to return to offices,” said Ryan Smith, director of human resources at JLG Architects. “When you actually talk to employees and managers in larger cities, this isn’t what’s being practiced as most companies balance losing top performers and gaining access to new talent who expect workplace flexibility.”

The trend toward more flexible work is everywhere. Notably, in Massachusetts, a proposed pilot program would trade businesses a tax credit for participating in a study of a shortened week.

“Americans have not had a meaningful reduction in days off since the 40-day work week was invented nearly a century ago,” state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat, told Boston.com. “There’s been huge technological improvements, and we’ve become much more efficient workers, but we’re still working the same amount of hours.”

Tom Johnson

Ryan Smith

And those employee interests are crucial when there’s fewer of them in the labor market. The fight to control inflation has sent uncomfortable ripples through the economy — especially the banking sector — but the unemployment rate remained at 3.5% in March, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Flexibility is definitely a perk and a benefit to many, so that works for a retention tool as well as a recruitment tool,” said Heather Rye, senior vice president of human resources and development with Gate City Bank. She and her colleagues said in a phone interview that Gate City also has a strong company culture as well as a tight focus on the communities they serve — which are also important parts of the picture of employees.

“It’s sharing your story and showing your culture (that also matter), and I think showing our connection to our community and all of that has created that retention as well,” she said.

But not every change is an easy decision — and some aren’t always what works best for workers. One of the more contentious major changes is unlimited PTO. It’s precisely what it sounds like: a bank of PTO that workers can draw upon whenever, for whatever (with various fine print for every employer). That’s a sharp departure from the norm, in which workers get a finite bank of time off.

But what often happens, experts say, is that when workers see the boundaries for PTO go away, they become much more self-conscious about asking for time off, policing themselves more harshly than they would have with a bank they’re expected to draw upon.

In 2018, Namely — the human resources company — found that employees with unlimited paid vacation took only about 87% as much time off as employees on traditional plans. One 2022 study found that “early adopters reported that employees took less time off than previously, presumably leading to higher burnout rates.”

A headline from Fortune says it all: “Unlimited PTO sounds great on paper, but the reality could mean you never take a vacation.”

There are also limits on what works for individual offices. Matt Norby of Grand Forks’ Norby’s Work Perks said that work-fromhome policies are great — unless it’s the kind of office that thrives on community.

“What we found, people went home and for a while it was great,” Norby said — though he said as time passed, the benefits of being in the office felt more obvious. “The culture of your business is a big thing and being able to see people every day and say hello, I think that face-to-face personal touch is important.”

But the chorus of workers who are seeking more flexibility and more options for their working conditions is growing. The offshoot, Johnson said, is that it’s not just businesses that are competing for workers.

“No longer do you go to the place where your employer is,” he said. “You can go to the place where you want to work and so you’re seeing cities and communities now compete and offer up their amenities to attract workers.”

Matt Norby Heather rye

Closing gaps in the health care workforce

Health care systems, higher education use innovation to fill workforce shortages

By Carrie McDermott

Nationwide labor shortages that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic are not over. The health care industry was hit especially hard. The impacts strained hospitals, taxed caregiver well-being and resulted in many departures from health care jobs, according to the American Hospital Association.

North Dakota alone had 4,300 job openings in the field of health care at the end of 2022, Dustin Hillebrand, the director of Grand Forks’ workforce center, told the Grand Forks Herald in late December. His office coordinates workforce development programs in North Dakota’s fourth region, which includes Grand Forks, Walsh, Nelson and Pembina counties. Within that region, there were 932 health care-related job openings at the time.

Health care systems are challenged with finding creative solutions in regard to workflows, workplaces and teams, all while continuing to maintain a high-level of care for patients. Health care organizations may turn to non-traditional partnerships and use advanced technological supports to continue the innovation process.

Closing the workforce shortage gap

Altru Health System, which serves more than 230,000 residents in northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota, is one of the health care providers working to close the labor shortage gap. Todd Forkel, CEO of Altru, said the issue is multi-faceted.

“First and foremost, it’s a demographic issue. As baby boomers retire and subsequent generations are just not having as many kids, it’s a math problem,” he said. “There are three nearby institutions that have nursing programs, which helps. What is scary, is several of them have talked about not filling all their slots. We’re going to need to work hard to get young people excited about getting into health care.”

Todd Forkel

What might help, Forkel said, is a project underway in Grand Forks that community leaders hope will ease the worker shortage in northeast North Dakota. The Career Impact Academy is expecting to break ground later this year; it came to fruition after a number of businesses and individuals donated $10 million in less than three months. The project then qualified for a matching $10 million in state funds.

The Career Impact Academy will be a collaborative partnership that includes K-12 school districts in the Grand Forks region, post-secondary education institutions, private sector Grand Forks region employers and the Grand Forks region community.

Altru is working hard to improve the culture and be a welcoming place for employees, Forkel said, and innovation will play a role.

“We’re going to have to start to innovate and use technology where some of these workforce gaps exist. I don’t have a crystal ball to identify every one of those – this gets back to the demographic issue. I just think there are not enough people,” Forkel said. “If we’re going to do this, we need to utilize technology.”

Dr. Joshua Deere, Altru president, agreed that innovation is key.

“We’re going to all have to work differently going forward in health care, to deliver the same or better quality care. That’s our goal, to build the best quality care and to continue to make that better and more safe,” he said.

No matter the position – lab tech, nurse, physician – there are gaps that need to be filled.

“We’re all going to be competing and we have to be the best place to work,” Deere said.

The paramount factor health care systems are grappling with is creating ways to do the work differently, more efficiently and yet continue to provide the same or better quality of care.

“That’s going to be the future of medicine, no doubt,” Forkel said.

Another regional health care system, Essentia Health – which serves North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin – has created a workforce development department to recruit and retain professionals in the industry as a way to close the gap.

The organization has a “Critical Eight” list, compiled of the most integral patient-facing openings across the system, according to Michelle Ufford, workforce strategy director with Essentia Health. Those positions include acute nursing, clinical assistant, surgical technician, lab technician and technologist, LPNs, certified nursing assistant, radiology technicians and respiratory therapists. The supporting positions are also required to keep the entire system running.

Like other health care systems, Essentia Health partners with area colleges and universities to support and inspire the future workforce and build enrollments in secondary programs.

“Nursing is a really great example of that. We have developed a number of academic practice partnerships as part of our magnate nursing journey which are really deliberate, and intentional strategic partnerships with colleges, nursing programs specifically,

continued on page 18

Dr. Joshua deere

Michelle ufford

WE’RE GOING TO ALL HAVE TO WORK DIFFERENTLY GOING FORWARD IN HEALTH CARE, TO DELIVER THE SAME OR BETTER QUALITY CARE. THAT’S OUR GOAL, TO BUILD THE BEST QUALITY CARE AND TO CONTINUE TO MAKE THAT BETTER AND MORE SAFE.

- DR. JOSHUA DEERE, ALTRU PRESIDENT

continued from page 17

that create more of a partnership on how Essentia can support curriculum development, and has opportunities for students to gain experience while they’re still in school. That’s a relatively new initiative and is really in development but is a really great example of how we formally partner with schools,” Ufford said.

Matthew Naugle, workforce development director at Essentia, said part of his department’s focus is on career awareness for students and creating authentic, real-world experiences for them.

“We try to connect our public schools in the area with institutions of higher learning with opportunities to engage with mutual programming. For example, offering dual credit or concurrent classes that combine that high school experience with earning early credentials or credit at the college level as well. In doing so, I think we also create and highlight the pathway to what’s available to our students regionally for their next steps,” Naugle said.

Educational supports offered by Essentia Health include Education to Employment, a program that allows students to get a leg up financially as they pursue their goals. The program is also available for employees who qualify. Participation in lunch-and-learn events at colleges, as well as career fairs and hiring events, are additional ways Essentia is educating students on the variety of careers available in the health care field.

Essentia Health’s Michelle Stenbeck, chief nursing officer, said the company’s transition coaches are used to help ease the change from being a student to becoming a professional, including providing emotional support as well as professional support.

“Our transition coaches are different than somebody who precepts you right on the nursing floor or in a clinical space,” Stenbeck said. “They get that group together with a frequency to make sure that they are supporting them (students) and mentoring them when they’re not front facing for patient care. They can get into these deep and meaningful conversations. Transition coaches are really key people who are turning out to be an absolute asset to us.”

Staff retention

In addition to recruiting people into the health care sector, retention of staff is a priority for all health care organizations.

Sanford Health, headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, serves more than one million patients and 220,000 health care members. Sanford uses a three-pronged approach to employee retention: a Sanford leader model program; addressing diversity, equity and inclusion; and creating programs to support and sustain a large and diverse workforce.

DJ Campbell, executive director of human resources at Sanford,

said the company has two main strategies when it comes to workforce development. First is growing the talent organically in North Dakota as much as possible. But also, knowing there just aren’t enough people in the state to fill all the needs, Sanford Health is bringing in 700 to 800 internationally trained nurses to fill the shortages across the system.

“There’s a high demand within the marketplace and it’s a challenging time. We’re trying to compete to keep those individuals and recruit the best talent, but there’s just not enough supply to meet the demand,” Campbell said.

At Essentia Health, nurse retentionists partner with on-site leaders to make sure they are allowing growth and development to nurses in a way that keeps them satisfied in their roles.

“The role of the nurse retentionist is evolving,” Stenbeck said. “We have somebody that’s in the space, that’s learning and evolving as she gets to know our new hires more intimately. We’re very fortunate to have those two roles.”

Home grown health care

Challenges aren’t limited to providers. Health care educators are tasked with recruiting and training enough students to help fill the shortfalls.

Matthew Naugle

DJ Campbell

Michelle Stenbeck

Joshua wynne

Dr. Joshua Wynne, dean of UND’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences, spoke about the university’s health care workforce initiative that was created over a decade ago. It identified specific steps to reduce disease burden and increase the provider workforce through programs designed to increase provider retention for practice within the state, as well as expand the provider network through class size enlargement. The plan works to improve the health of the population, retain more providers, train more providers and expand class sizes and improve efficiencies, according to the university.

Over the last decade, the program has been successful with health care’s professional roles – physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses and occupational/physical therapists, for example. The university leadership knows that one of the best indicators to get more doctors to practice in North Dakota is to recruit them from within the state, Wynne explained.

“By increasing the number we retain in the state, we’ve increased the class sizes by almost 25 percent,” Wynne said. “We start getting students, pre-college, interested in medicine and health sciences through Scrubs camps and academies. The colleges have programs to get them interested in a career. To come to medical school, we give extra credit if you’re from North Dakota, and rural North Dakota. About 85% of our class is either North Dakota people or those who have ties to North Dakota.”

All of the program’s students are required to take a rural rotation during medical school training. Those in the rural medical program who agree to practice in North Dakota have their tuition paid by the state.

“It’s helping, but there’s more we need to do. It’s been exacerbated by the pandemic, the provider burnout, a population that may have high regards to a provider in general but the public discourse has been divisive and providers are caught in the middle. They’re trying to do the best for their patient, but it’s not being appreciated,” he said.

Travel nurses were used more frequently during the pandemic as well, but their higher wages became a strain on health care systems.

“The good news in North Dakota is we have a plan that’s helping the problem,” Wynne said.

UND works with the state’s health department and the major health care providers in the state to coordinate routinely on how to address the labor shortage. The university could expand the number of students it accepts into the medical program – the university has enough quality applicants, has the physical space and enough faculty – but clinical training sites are now saturated and can’t add any more students.

“Our clinical partners don’t have room for them,” Wynne said, explaining that UND has intentionally not increased class sizes because it can’t ensure the students would have the type of education the university expects.

While solving the worker shortage problem is complicated, one thing is certain – health care systems will need to be agile and innovative to respond to the future of patient care.

Consider cybersecurity insurance

By Carrie McDermott

It’s hard to make business transactions without the use of the internet. Whether tracking inventory, storing customer information or managing payroll systems, the web is part of our daily lives. The internet is like a car – we know how to drive it, but not necessarily what makes the engine run. We need experts in that field to secure our information.

Businesses may either have an internal IT department or an IT support company to manage the company’s virtual engine and provide certain protections so email is secure, the supply chain is updated in real time and the business runs efficiently.

But what happens when a system is breached and held for ransom? Maybe an employee mistakenly clicks a link in an email that looks legitimate but has unknowingly downloaded malicious software onto their device. Their system is now locked up and the business comes to a standstill. The company has been hit with ran-

somware, a type of malware designed to encrypt files and make them unusable. The bad guys will release the system, for a price.

Americans lost more than $10.3 billion last year due to cybercrimes, according to a 2022 Internet Crime Report produced by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Among the complaints received in 2022, phishing, personal data breach and non-payment/non-delivery were the top incidents reported.

David Colter, owner of the DJ Colter Agency, American Family Insurance, with offices in Fargo, Grand Forks, Rugby and Cando,

wants the region’s business community to be aware of cyberthreats and know there’s protection available.

“There’s this big myth and fallacy: ‘I have everything backed up with an IT company, I don’t need cyber insurance.’ That is a huge fallacy. Not only do you need cyber, you need to have certain coverages,” Colter said.

Cybertheft is on the rise and isn’t relegated to large corporations in big cities – it’s happening to small organizations across the U.S., including the upper Plains region.

Chicago-based Hiscox, a leader in business insurance, reports the top three drivers of the increase are the higher number of attacks, more people working from home and more employees using their own devices for work.

Cyber insurance protects against computer-related crimes and losses. This could include targeted attacks such as malware and phishing, as well as the occasional misplaced laptop containing confidential material, according to Hiscox.

Zac Paulson, CEO of TrueIT in Fargo, said his company has seen an increase in email takeovers, where somebody is taking over an email account and sending emails on a person’s behalf.

“Typically what’s happening is wire transfers – they’re changing bank routing information,” he said.

Colter said cyber insurance is a new type of coverage in the insurance industry and there’s a lot to learn. He relies on experts like Paulson to help his customers understand how cybercrimes can happen, and what businesses can do to make sure they have the correct protection.

“My biggest fear is people assume it’s part of their general liability, and it’s not,” Colter said. “I talked to someone in town, a business owner and this (ransomware) shut them down for months. They told me that if they didn’t have the coverage, they’d be done.”

Paulson said he wants to make clear that the coverage an IT department or business offers is not the same coverage as insurance protection.

“There are some companies, that’s what they do, but they’re the firefighters, the hotshot people that dive into forest fires and have a whole other level of excitement,” Paulson said. “That’s not what a managed IT company does. The IT company is doing their best effort to protect you, but that’s like saying the sprinkler system is keeping the building from burning down.

“That’s not right – the sprinkler system is turned on once the fire starts to help put out the fire. But they’re not a guarantee. You don’t buy a sprinkler system and not buy insurance, which is also why you’re seeing insurance companies demanding a certain level of protection from the IT organizations, too.”

IT security costs a company about $25-50 a month per employee on average, Paulson said, and he expects that cost to double in the next three years.

THERE’S THIS BIG MYTH AND FALLACY:

‘I HAVE EVERYTHING BACKED UP WITH AN IT COMPANY, I DON’T NEED CYBER INSURANCE.’ THAT IS A HUGE FALLACY. NOT ONLY DO YOU NEED CYBER, YOU NEED TO HAVE CERTAIN COVERAGES.

- DAVID COLTER, DJ COLTER AGENCY

“From a support standpoint, it’s somewhere between $50-100 a month per employee. Now it’s about half the cost of supporting an employee to securing them. In the future, three years from now, I’d say it would be the exact same cost, if not more, just to secure them.”

So what does cybersecurity cover? It may vary but typically protects the following: breach costs, cyberextortion, cybercrime, business interruption and data recovery. Additional coverage may include a digital media upgrade.

What’s not covered may include claims brought in the form of criminal proceedings, transfer of funds lost due to cyber crimes, infrastructure interruption, intentional acts by the business or employees, prior acts or knowledge, subsidiary outside control of named insured and business interruption from systems under the control of third parties.

“It doesn’t have to be complicated. We just want to educate people,” Colter said. “We have someone like Zac that can help in that realm, and like us, to determine what policy best fits their situation. Getting something in place is better than nothing.”

The Federal Trade Commission has cybersecurity guidance that can help small business when reaching out to insurance providers.

Zac Paulson

Helping risk takers take risks

By Carrie McDermott

North Dakota may have no new laws related to the insurance industry this legislative session, but there is an expansion of insurance products rolling onto the scene, according to state Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread.

“The changes we’re seeing are not driven by law or regulation, they’re driven by the evolution of the insurance industry,” Godfread said.

Talking protection with ND Insurance Commissioner Godfread Jon

Godfread

Cybersecurity insurance is one of the new areas the industry is tackling. Having an agent who specializes in this type of insurance can be very beneficial to a business. The agent works with experts to address holes in a business’s IT system and offers policies to protect against cyberthreats.

“The best thing that we’ve seen with the cybersecurity coverage and will continue to see in an advanced space is tying mitigation with coverage. If you can get the right cybersecurity coverage or the right agent that is really knowledgeable about the space, you can essentially buy coverage that not only comes in and provides coverage that’s a protection, but also helps mitigate some of your risks,” Godfread said. “We want to make sure you’re protecting yourself the

best you possibly can. We know with cybersecurity, the biggest risk is the human themselves.”

Business interruption policies are another area that’s becoming more understood. Godfread said one of the things the pandemic taught was that most business interruption policies don’t cover losses incurred due to pandemics. Because of that, more people now understand what that type of insurance can do and are opting to add it to their policies.

Business interruption policies can cover things such as physical damage from a weather event – the business can no longer operate until the repairs are made. The policy protects against loss of revenue or the interruption of being able to do business, but the business owner needs to be aware of this type of insurance and purchase the policy before an event occurs.

“All these things aren’t necessarily cost prohibitive and not necessarily overly complex but making sure you’re working with the right agent, working with the right companies, and looking at that mitigation, that security piece, that’s a critical component of not only being able to get the coverage but also protected from any losses going forward. A lot of these pieces are very business dependent, so we always recommend having a very good agent,” Godfread said.

When shopping for insurance by price, consumers will get what they pay for. At the lowest cost, the bare-bones policy will give only minimal protection.

A good insurance agent can do a full risk assessment of a company’s exposures and liabilities that allows a business owner to make more fully informed decisions on the coverages they want to buy.

“Nothing beats a really good agent that can walk you through your exposures and make sure you’re covered,” Godfread said.

Although his office doesn’t formally track the growth of the gig industry or side hustles, there is growth in that area over the last few years. With that increase, there’s also an increase in the need for insurance.

“When individuals are expanding into a side hustle or expanding into a new business or creating a new business, insurance is generally one of the things they forget about,” Godfread said. “You need to make sure you’re talking with your agent about whether that activity is covered out of your homeowner’s insurance policy or not.”

An example is a teenage driver who is on a parent’s car insurance policy. The teen driver takes a job driving for a food delivery service and now their vehicle is being used commercially. If the driver gets in an accident while on the job, they may not be covered by the parent’s policy.

“It’s a very low-cost rider to add onto your policy, but you’ve got to go and do that and let your agent know,” Godfread said. “You’ve got to have that discussion so if something were to happen, there’s coverage there.”

Umbrella liability policies can offer protection for companies whose employees may work off-site, remotely, or from home. That coverage is good for the consumer as well as the employees.

The North Dakota Insurance Department cannot make recommendations about specific insurance agents or companies, but can walk consumers through their policies and explain what their coverage entails.

“We are a state agency, so we are here to provide services to the consumers of North Dakota. We can actually step in the shoes of the consumers of North Dakota and negotiate on your behalf with those companies,” Godfread said. “We’re not going to say we’re always going to get you everything you hoped for, but we will certainly make sure that under the terms of your policy and contract, you’re treated fairly and covered appropriately. We can take that off of your shoulders if you’re putting your life back together or putting your company back together.”

Godfread encourages consumers to reach out to his office with insurance questions or issues.

“We can be a resource to help you navigate that decision and put you in the best position possible to be successful. We’re here to let risk-takers take risks,” he said.

Godfread was elected North Dakota’s 22nd insurance commissioner in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. He also serves as vice president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) for 2023. For more information on the state agency, visit www.insurance.nd.gov or call 701-328-2440.

WHEN INDIVIDUALS ARE EXPANDING INTO A SIDE HUSTLE OR EXPANDING INTO A NEW BUSINESS OR CREATING A NEW BUSINESS, INSURANCE IS GENERALLY ONE OF THE THINGS THEY FORGET ABOUT.

- JON GODFREAD, ND STATE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

Lila Gronseth

Dakota Wesleyan University

Major: Business, with finance and agriculture concentrations

Graduation: May 2023

Career path: Plans to work as either an insurance agent or ag underwriter

“I wanted something that kind of balanced between helping with finances and also getting that customer relationship.

Finding the balance

Dakota Wesleyan student finds personal connections integral to success

By Sam Easter

Lila Gronseth, 21, keeps a busy schedule at Dakota Wesleyan University — Mitchell, South Dakota’s home of the Tigers.

She’s in a mentorship program for local youth. She helps lead a bible study. She works at the Dakota Discovery Museum. For the university’s track and field team, she competes in the shot put, discus, hammer and weight throw.

She’s also graduating this spring after just three years — with a business degree and concentrations in finance and agriculture.

After all that hard work, there’s a lot of lessons she learned in the classroom. But one of the most important came as she connected with friends and mentors around campus.

“You’ll make time for things that are important to you,” she said. “I found that out real quick here. Because just with the professors and everyone I met, they wanted me to do what I love, and they encouraged me to seek things that I loved in life and wanted to pursue.”

Gronseth graduated from Hayfield High School, near Austin, Minn. She grew up on a turkey farm in rural Minnesota, and absorbed all the things that come with growing up in farm country — picking rocks or helping with crops and jumping headlong into 4-H, where Gronseth said she showed “anything that could walk, basically.”

CHRISTINE MAUSZYCKI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ACCOUNTING AT DAKOTA WESLEYAN AND GRONSETHS ADVIOR. COURTESY DAKOTA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

“Those partnerships are very popular,” Mauszycki said. “Students don’t have to decide between Dakota Wesleyan and

continued on page 26

Mike

Jennifer Whensomethingbadhappens, WETAKECAREOFYOU. FARM AUTO HOME BUSINESS LIFE DJ COLTER

Jess Leah Joette Carol Jennifer

Leah Joette Carol Jennifer

“I actually was recruited for track and field,” Gronseth said of choosing Dakota Wesleyan, but said she was sold when the track coach told her about a program with nearby Mitchell Technical College program — where she could get an ag concentration to go with her degree. “And I was like, ‘Well, that’s perfect,’” she said.

Gronseth said she liked the small size of the campus, which struck her during her visit.

“I got to meet a lot of professors on that day, which was awesome, because it’s probably my second school visit,” she said. “And the first one before it was much larger. And I didn’t get to talk to any of the professors. So I just thought that was really cool.”

continued from page 25

Mitchell Tech anymore, they can just do both and play their sport.”

Gronseth, her advisor said, has a bright future ahead of her.

“She is just really organized, super motivated, never complains. A sponge,” Mauszycki said. “Just wants to learn and learn and learn. It’s great, she’s a joy.”

Gronseth is headed to an internship with Farm Bureau Insurance this summer, where she expects to shadow different jobs within the organization. She’s hoping to work either as an insurance agent or an ag underwriter, she said.

“I started off as an accounting major, but I just didn’t like crunching numbers that much. But I do like the math side of things and just finance and managing all of that,” she said. “But I’m also a people person and I love engaging with people. So I wanted something that kind of balanced between helping with finances and also getting that customer relationship.”

And she said she’s still hanging onto some of the important lessons from Dakota Wesleyan.

“I’m just going to miss all the people that I met here,” she said. “I think it’s very important to have people in your life that are more than just coworkers or people that you see once a week at church. I want to build those relationships that I can contact people every day.”

COURTESY DAKOTA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

STUDENTS DON’T HAVE TO DECIDE BETWEEN DAKOTA WESLEYAN AND MITCHELL TECH ANYMORE, THEY CAN JUST DO BOTH AND PLAY THEIR SPORT.

- CHRISTINE MAUSZYCKI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS DEPARTMENT CHAIR, DAKOTA WESLEYAN

Do you want to work where the people are?

Certain jobs most common in high- or low-population growth regions

By Andrew Mattingly

This excerpt from a Beyond the Numbers article provides an overview of the employment composition and wages of the seven metropolitan areas with the highest population growth rates (high-growth areas) and the seven metropolitan areas with the lowest population growth rates or that have lost population (low-growth or declining population areas) using Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It compares national, high-growth area, and lowgrowth or declining population area employment shares to indicate whether jobs are more common in areas with high population growth, areas with low population growth, or neither.

The fastest-growing large metro areas from 2010-2020 were concentrated in the South: Austin, Raleigh, Orlando, Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio and Houston. The large metro areas with the lowest population growth rates, ranging from a 2% decrease to less than 1% growth, were concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast: Pittsburg, Cleveland, Rochester, Hartford, Buffalo, Chicago and Detroit. Food preparation and serving related, construction and extraction, office and administrative support occupations, and sales and

continued on page 30

METROPOLITAN AREA

Cleveland-Elyria, OH

continued from page 29

related occupations were generally more concentrated in the highgrowth areas. For each of these groups, the share of total employment in the high-growth areas was about 1 percentage point higher than in the low-growth or declining population areas. The highgrowth areas also had a higher employment share for installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (4.1 percent), compared with the low-growth or declining population areas (3.6 percent). The employment shares for these five occupational groups within the high-growth areas were also significantly higher than the respective national shares.

Community and social service occupations, health care support occupations, health care practitioners and technical occupations, and production occupations were generally more concentrated within the low-growth or declining population areas. Health care practitioners and technical occupations had an employment share that was 1.3 percentage points more in low-growth or declining population areas than in high-growth areas. Production occupations had an employment share that was 2.5 percentage points higher in low-growth or declining population areas. Health care support occupations made up 4.5 percent of employment in the low-growth or declining population group, which was in line with the national concentration of 4.7 percent but higher than the concentration of 3.8 percent in the high-growth group.

More health care occupations were found in low-growth or declining population areas

Metropolitan areas with lower growth rates had an older population than the areas with higher growth rates. Correspondingly, these areas also had higher shares of health care practitioners and technical occupations and health care support occupations compared with the high-growth areas.

The difference between the high-growth and low-growth or declining population areas was most evident in the concentration of health care practitioners and technical occupations as shown in chart 3. Health care practitioners and technical occupations made up 6.8 percent of employment within the low-growth or declining population areas and 5.5 percent of employment within the highgrowth areas.

Registered nurses — the largest occupation within the health care practitioners and technical group — followed a similar pattern. Six of the seven low-growth or declining population areas had employment shares of registered nurses higher than the U.S. average of 2.2 percent, and all seven high-growth areas had employment shares lower than the national share. Health care support occupations were also generally more concentrated in low-growth or declining population areas relative to high-growth areas.

More production occupations in low-growth or declining population areas

Metropolitan areas that had low-growth or a declining population had relatively more employment in production occupations compared with the high-growth areas. Among the low-growth or declining population areas, metropolitan areas that historically served as industrial centers, such as Detroit (9.7 percent), and Cleveland (8.1 percent), had the largest shares of production occupations. Pittsburgh was an outlier as the only low-growth or declining population area with a concentration of production occupations (5.1 percent)

Buffalo-CheektowagaNiagara Falls, NY

Detroit-WarrenDearborn, MI

Hartford-West HartfordEast Hartford, CT

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

San AntonioNew Braunfels, TX

Phoenix-MesaScottsdale, AZ

Houston-The WoodlandsSugar Land, TX

Orlando-KissimmeeSanford, FL

Raleigh, NC

Dallas-Fort WorthArlington, TX

Austin-Round Rock, TX

below the national concentration (6.0 percent). High-growth areas had more food preparation and serving related occupations and sales and related occupations.

Food preparation and serving related occupations and sales and related occupations — two of the largest occupational groups in the country with common occupations such as waiters and waitresses, fast food and counter workers, restaurant cooks, cashiers, and retail salespeople — had larger shares in high-growth areas than in lowgrowth or declining population areas.

Food preparation and serving related occupations constituted 8.6 percent of employment within the high-growth areas and 7.3 percent of employment within the low-growth or declining population areas.

In the high-growth group, waiters and waitresses and restaurant cooks made up more employment than in the low-growth or declining population group.

Sales and related occupations constituted 10.0 percent of employment within the high-growth areas and 8.9 percent of employment within the low-growth or declining population areas.

Conclusion

These data highlight key similarities and differences between the occupational composition of large metropolitan areas with high and low population growth rates. High-growth areas had higher concentrations of food preparation and serving related occupations; construction and extraction occupations; sales and related occupations; office and administrative support occupations; and installation, maintenance, and repair occupations. Low-growth or declining population areas had higher concentrations of production occupations, community and social service occupations, health care practitioners and technical occupations, and health care support occupations.

Andrew Mattingly is an economist in the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Brent Sanford

Sanford Joins Cornerstone Bank Board

FARGO, N.D. • Former Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota Brent Sanford has joined the Cornerstone Bank Corporate Board of Directors bringing a wealth of experience in business, finance, and community service.

“I am pleased to welcome Brent to our Corporate Board of Directors,” says Cornerstone Bank Chairman Gary Petersen. “Brent is a great addition to our organization with his broad experience and tremendous business knowledge of the Dakotas and beyond.”

Growing up in Watford City and returning there in adulthood as a third-generation business owner, Sanford understands the importance of strong communities including the value of a strong community bank. Prior to serving as North Dakota’s 38th Lieutenant Governor, Sanford served as Watford City’s Mayor leading the community through immense growth and development during the oil boom. He has also served as City Councilman and on various other community boards. In addition, Sanford has experience as an accountant and Chief Financial Officer.

“I look forward to working with the Board in furthering the economic activity and opportunities for the bank’s service areas,” says Sanford. “Cornerstone Bank has always been an outstanding corporate citizen and I am excited to be a part of continuing that tradition.”

Sanford graduated from the University of North Dakota with a degree in accounting and is a certified public accountant. He and his wife Sandi have three children, Sydney, Nicolas and Erin.

continued from page 31

Kremer joins Apex as a municipal engineering technician

ST CLOUD, MN • Adam Kremer recently joined Apex’s newest office in St. Cloud as a municipal engineering technician. In his role, he will support

Adam Kremer

Alerus Adds Trevor Mathew as Senior Financial Guide

WEST FARGO, N.D. • Alerus is pleased to announce the addition of Trevor Mathew as a senior financial guide. In this role, he delivers comprehensive financial advice to meet clients’ complex and unique long-term objectives. He is based in Alerus’ West Fargo office.

Trevor Mathew

Mathew joined Alerus in November 2022, bringing more than 12 years of financial services experience, specializing in providing personalized financial solutions to help clients achieve their financial

the team through CADD Drafting, in-the-field project inspection, and surveying. Kremer has earned an associate’s degree in land surveying and civil engineering from St. Cloud Technical and Community College. Prior to Apex, he was a survey intern at a consulting engineering firm.

Nick Shores

Nick Shores returns to spring wheat with LCS

goals. He holds Series 7 and Series 66 securities registrations and is licensed for life and health insurance. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from North Dakota State University and is a graduate of the Dakota School of Banking. An active member of his community, Mathew serves as chair of the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce Professionals of Color committee, chapter president for Business Network International, and is a member of Rotary International. He also serves on the boards of directors for Hope Blooms and the Fargo Theatre.

FARGO, N.D.

• Nick Shores, the new Limagrain Cereal Seeds (LCS) regional commercial manager for the Northern Plains, has a degree in biological and physical sciences, experience researching and developing spring wheat varieties, and a passion for working with growers, the company said in a news release.

Shores brings experience and a wealth of knowl-

edge to LCS including seven years working with sugar beet growers for the American Crystal Sugar Company and an adolescence spent working sales for his parents’ flooring company.

Shores is excited to be back with his first passion: working with spring wheat and wheat growers. And he’s happy to make his return with LCS.

“I’ve been admiring LCS and seeing them gain traction in the Northern Plains over the years,” says Shores. “Their products are great.”

continued on page 34

Go farther!

Readyfor your next adventure?Needtoget away forsome re st and re laxatio n, or fo rsom ef un an dp lay? Getyou r next greattripofftothe rig ht st ar twhen yo uFly Fa rg o.

The Future of Agriculture at NDSU

Celebrating NorthDakota and its surrounding region’s global impacton agriculture, innovation, and academics.

continued from page 32

Casey Holland

Ellen Huber

Scott Huber

Marsh McLennan

Agency’s Casey Holland named Risk & Insurance Power Broker finalist

FOSSTON, MN • Each year, Risk & Insurance® magazine’s Power Broker® award program recognizes insurance professionals who have demonstrated exceptional problem solving, customer service and industry knowledge over the past year. This year, MMA is proud to announce Casey Holland a finalist in the health care category.

“We’re very proud of Casey’s dedication to our

Consulting service formed to assist communities and small businesses

MANDAN, N.D. • Community Matters, LLC, is a new business offering consulting services in the areas of economic and community development, communications, marketing and advocacy for cities, counties, organizations and other small businesses.

The owner-consultant is Ellen Huber, former business development and communications director for the City of Mandan. Huber sees an opportunity, explaining, “Many economic development organizations in North Dakota and the surrounding region are under-resourced or sometimes need an extra hand, external perspective or additional expertise with program or project management.”

Ackerman-Estvold announces promotion of Scott Huber to Senior Architect

MINOT, N.D. • Scott Huber has been promoted to Senior Architect, he has been with Ackerman-Estvold since 2019. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota. Huber has spent over thirty years in the field of architecture working in all facets from preliminary design, construction documentation and the bidding process to construction administration and project completion. In this role,

healthcare clients. He is a thought leader, always striving to deliver timely insights and risk solutions to our customers, so recognizing Casey as one of our Power Broker finalists this year is well deserved.” commented MMA Fargo VP Steve Swanson. “Casey’s expertise and passion for this industry are two of his greatest’s attributes, but his character is what sets him apart.”

A Power Broker® is selected based upon the strength of client testimonials. Risk & Insurance® editors and writers collect and choose the most compelling testimonials based on the award criteria.

Examples of services include crafting and refining local economic development policies and incentive programs to meet community goals, identifying and implementing communication and outreach strategies, community marketing, writing, coordinating promotional activities, training for boards and staff, government relations, and public speaking.

Learn more and follow the Community Matters blog at www.communitymattersnd.com. For updates about community betterment, community success stories, ways to support small business start-ups and expansions, and economic development programs, follow Community Matters on social media: www.linkedin.com/company/community-matters-llc-nd, www.facebook.com/CommunityMattersND

Huber will focus on leading design and oversight of projects, assemble design proposals, and act as a client manager and business development lead.

Ackerman-Estvold is a professional engineering and architectural firm headquartered in Minot, ND, with additional offices location in Fargo, ND, Williston, ND, and Boise, ID. The firm provides planning, design, and construction services for public and private clients throughout North Dakota and surrounding states. For more information about Ackerman-Estvold and services they provide visit www.ackerman-estvold.com.

Bryan Larson

KLJ Engineering announces employee promotions

ST PAUL, MN • KLJ Engineering LLC announced that Bryan Larson, Jason Reimer and Dillon McLain have been recently promoted to roadway supervisors in their respective locations, the company said in a news release.

Larson is a transportation engineer in KLJ’s Saint Paul office and has more than nine years of roadway design and construction experience working with multiple state and county departments of transportation throughout the Midwest on rural, urban and interstate projects. He is a licensed professional engineer in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the company said.

Jason Reimer

Dillon McLain

Reimer, who joined KLJ in 2022, is a licensed professional engineer in Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. He has more than 13 years of experience in the engineering industry and has had the opportunity to consult on a broad range of projects for various clients, including private, municipal, county, and state entities. Reimer has experience with master planning and drainage studies in multiple communities. He is in KLJ’s Montrose office in Colorado.

The release noted that McLain works out of the company’s Helena, Montana, office, and has performed roadway and transportation related design on small and large highway projects, including complex Montana Department of Transportation project plans. He is a licensed professional engineer in Montana and has extensive experience working with culturally sensitive areas, Americans with Disability Act facility design, and roadside safety. McLain has been employed with KLJ since 2014.

Q.INSIGHTs & INTUITION

How is work-personal life balance encouraged in your organization?

Lindsay Mack SVP Human Resources & Training Director at Cornerstone Bank Fargo, N.D.

We value what we do, where we work, and the people we work with. It’s important for our team members to have a healthy work-personal life balance and at the same time for our customers to have uncompromised service. We provide as much flexibility as we can so team members can put their families first. We accomplish this in various ways. Our teams cross train to ensure that team members can enjoy their time away from work while fellow team members cover duties. Our generous Paid Time Off program allows team members sufficient time to recharge. Our leaders encourage team members to use their paid time off to step away from work as needed. Our team members are our greatest asset so we work to ensure we are providing opportunities to allow for them to take care of themselves.

At JLG, the employees are owners, which drives everyone to bring the best version of themselves to work. Our leadership highly encourages us to have a healthy balance between the demands of our professional roles and personal life. To ensure this happens, we provide a robust paid time-off program that allows us to fully disconnect from work, use our vacation time, and spend time doing the things we enjoy. When we take a day off (or multiple days), we are expected to be disconnected and not worried about work; we know we have a great team ready and able to step in and support us. Employeeowners also love the flexibility to work from home if they have appointments, childcare issues, or other outside obligations that need attention. In the summer months, we have a condensed work week which allows us to leave early on Fridays and enjoy more of our short summer with friends and family. Another incredible thing about JLG is how everyone is encouraged to be active in our communities – through volunteerism with organizations we’re passionate about or mentorship in our local schools and universities.

Ryan Smith

Director of HR JLG Architects Grand Forks, N.D.

Say Yes to Strong Strong

At Enclave, we value people for who they are & take pride in our relationships. Creating space for career and personal life balance allows our team members to remain engaged and put forth their best work. In addition to prioritizing everyday flexibility for personal commitments, we intentionally promote this balance throughout the year. Recently, we celebrated employee appreciation day by providing a paid half day off. We also offer our employees paid volunteer hours, opening the opportunity to give back during regular work hours. Our team connects monthly through lunch and happy hour events to promote a strong work culture. These events provide space to grow relationships among team members and support each other.

Tricia Schill Director of HR Enclave Companies West Fargo, N.D.

At Marsh McLennan Agency, we believe that our reputation of employee satisfaction and high rate of retention is a direct result of our agency’s approach to supporting a healthy work-life balance. We know that clients are earned and our strong relationships and duty of service to our community begins with a work environment that creates legacy employees. A hybrid work environment is offered to all colleagues at MMA, providing the flexibility expected in the office today, while still allowing for space to foster a team-oriented atmosphere where employees feel vested in our agency’s larger mission to continue providing the highest quality insurance and risk management advisory services in our region. Our hybrid work policy ensures colleagues can build their careers around their families, instead of fitting their whole selves around a rigid work schedule. We provide our colleagues the flexibility to design a schedule that works best for them and their families. We know it’s important for our colleagues to coach their daughter’s softball game, be with aging parents at an appointment, or sometimes simply have the time to shovel the snow from their driveways- a reality we know all too well in Fargo!

Communities

Communities

Sam Lower

SHRM-CP Human Resources Generalist Marsh McLennan Agency Fargo, N.D.

CIVILIAN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 236,000 in March, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in early April. Employment continued to trend up in leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services, and health care. Both the unemployment rate, at 3.5 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 5.8 million, changed little in March. These measures have shown little net movement since early 2022.

EMPLOYMENT CHANGE BY INDUSTRY

Leisure and hospitality added 72,000 jobs in March, lower than the average monthly gain of 95,000 over the prior 6 months. Government employment increased by 47,000, the same as the average monthly gain over the prior 6 months .Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in March (+39,000), in line with the average monthly growth over the prior 6 months (+34,000). Employment in social assistance continued to trend up, adding 17,000 jobs. Over the month, health care added 34,000 jobs, lower than the average monthly gain of 54,000 over the prior 6 months. In March, job growth occurred in home health care services (+15,000) and hospitals (+11,000). Employment continued to trend up in nursing and residential care facilities (+8,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Employment in transportation and warehousing changed little (+10,000).

HIGH GRAIN PRICES RIPPLED THROUGH ECONOMY

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Source: U.S. Bureau of

Producer prices for grains increased dramatically after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020. These grain prices increased at an even faster rate after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022 disrupted both global grain supplies and demand. As a result, U.S. prices for grains that are heavily supplied by Ukraine, such as wheat and corn, rose substantially between February and June 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

WAGES AND SALARIES

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

In March, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $33.18. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.2 percent. In March, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 9 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $28.50.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics