

Jamestown Regional Airport connects rural areas to rest of U.S.
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN
— The Jamestown Regional Airport connects the rural areas to the rest of the U.S. and the world with commercial air service, according to Katie Hemmer, airport director.
Hemmer said Jamestown Regional Airport serves as a hub for the Jamestown area.
“This allows anybody within a 50-mile radius, or even beyond, to have access to commercial air travel,” she said.
She said the Essential Air Service contract with SkyWest Airlines allows Jamestown Regional Airport to provide access to commercial air travel. The airport also is a facility that is certified for commercial aircrafts.
“We have what’s called part 139 certification,” Hemmer said. “The Federal Aviation Administration provides that level of certification to every airport that has scheduled commercial passenger planes, and so we have to have a high level of safety in all of our infrastructure in order to accommodate that.”
Major employers in Jamestown require air travel because they have business operations in other parts of the country, Hemmer said.
“For those large and small businesses that need to be able to travel out of here, that really creates a positive economic impact,” she said. “It allows them to do business here.”
She said employees of major companies might need to travel outside of Jamestown but those same companies have people who need to come to Jamestown for business meetings.
“That would obviously create a positive economic impact, allowing us to capture even more dollars

Hemmer said the 50-passenger jet — the CRJ 200 — also serves the airport well.
“It creates a nice time from takeoff in Jamestown to landing in Denver,” she said. “It’s a convenient flight. It works well into travel plans and is a nice ride. It really creates a good passenger experience.”
Jamestown Regional Airport’s paid passenger boardings have increased since SkyWest began providing essential air service in June 2014. Before that, paid passenger boardings at the airport were 4,284 in 2010, 5,689 in 2011, 3,861 in 2012 and 2,672 in 2013. The airport had 3,428 and 7,996 paid passenger boardings in 2014 in 2015, respectively, before they climbed to 11,123 in 2016.
KATIE HEMMER, DIRECTOR, JAMESTOWN REGIONAL AIRPORT
from those businesses in their activities as they are able to meet in Jamestown because they have direct flight in,” she said. Having commercial air service for any community is important for business.
Hemmer said employees don’t have to drive 100 miles from Jamestown to get access to the rest of the country.
“With service to Denver, you can get in and out very conveniently which has been great for everybody in
the surrounding region,” he said.
Jamestown Regional Airport offers direct flights to and from Denver on United Airlines, which is operated by SkyWest Airlines. SkyWest will provide essential air service at Jamestown Regional Airport through June 2027.
SkyWest currently offers 13 round trips per week to Denver from Jamestown Regional Airport. The round trip to Denver has been beneficial for

Airlines allows pas-
with United.
“We had our record number boardings underneath the SkyWest air service contracts and we would continue to see record boardings if we had a little different connection schedule,” she said. Jamestown Regional Airport does not have an earlymorning departure. Hemmer said the restoration of an early-morning departure would increase the number of paid passenger boardings.
“We’re missing a part of the market right now because passengers simply cannot make the connections that they’re looking for for their travel destinations, and so they’re having to choose other airports to fly out of,” she said. “ ... We’re hoping that we’ll see an improved connection schedule coming up here in the future, so that we will continue to grow those passenger boardings.”
She said the airport can reach 12,000 paid passenger boardings in a year with the restoration of the earlymorning departure.













businesses and economic development in the Jamestown area, Hemmer said. She said SkyWest using
United
sengers to use all the perks and rewards associated
Jamestown Regional Airport Director Katie Hemmer says the airport can reach 12,000 paid passenger boardings with the restoration of an early-morning departure.
Photos by John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
“Our economy in Jamestown is growing at a rate that supports the passenger boardings reaching that number, and it really is going to be a matter of making sure that that connection schedule is available for both business and leisure travel,” Hemmer said.
In the future, she said there is a possibility within SkyWest’s operations to have another round trip to a second hub such as Chicago or Minneapolis. She said SkyWest utilizes different airlines such as United Airlines, Delta Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
“I think that part of that is going to be a little bit of passenger demand, a little bit of aircraft and pilot availability, some airport availability,” she said.
Hemmer said there is a correlation between an increase in sales tax revenue and higher numbers in passenger boardings in Jamestown.
“When the economy is healthy in Jamestown, passenger boardings are healthy in Jamestown,” she said. “When passenger boardings are healthy, that really supports the economy locally.”
Essential Air Service program
Hemmer said the airport would not be able to support commercial passenger air service without the Essential Air Service program. Originally, she said airlines were regulated by the federal government and told where and how often to stop and which airports to stop at.
“Then when the model changed to move to a more market-driven approach so that flights were based on passenger demand, that potentially removed some of the cities the size of Jamestown out of it because we just have a smaller population,” she said She said the Essential

Air Service program incentivizes airlines to serve smaller communities like Jamestown so those passengers can have access to connecting flights into larger cities.
“It is a scaled subsidy based on actual cost for the airline to serve this area,” she said. “That is bid by the USDOT (U.S. Department of Transportation) and contracts that can range from one to five years.”
Hemmer said the Essential Air Service program is primarily funded from the Airport & Airway Trust Fund.
“That is entirely funded by airline related travel funds so things like any taxes that you pay on flights, any taxes that are on fuel, things like that. It’s the primary source for grants, in general, for all airports large and small,” she said.
Hemmer said Jamestown Regional Airport having commercial air service helps leverage dollars for infrastructure improvements.
“If we didn’t have commercial service, we wouldn’t have as many needs for the infrastructure,” she said. “We wouldn’t have the grants for the infrastructure coming in for that positive economic impact in our
community.”
If the airport gets 10,000 paid passenger boardings in a year, it qualifies for $1 million in entitlement funds from the federal Airport Improvement Program.
“That’s the grant program that we utilize for the majority of our infrastructure and just sets us up for success as we kind of walk through these types of maintenance projects,” she said.
The airport is also eligible for $1 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“It provided an additional million dollars per year for five years in the same match percentage that we received from the airport Improvement Program funds,” Hemmer said. “So it’s a 5% local match, 90% federal funding, and then 5% from the state aeronautics.”
Through the use of federal funds, the airport completed a rehabilitation project on its main runway, which also has economic impacts.
“First, there is a construction impact so when you have those federal funds come into the community, they’re leveraged with a small percentage of local funds for that grant and those dollars circulate around in the community



for that period of time,” Hemmer said. “I think the bigger impact on that is that we have the runway for our main commercial aircraft in its best condition, and that’s what allows us to have those commercial flights come in.”
This summer, the crosswind runway will get crack sealing, a seal coat and new paint markings as part of a pavement preservation project.
“We did a full rehab of that runway in 2018,” she said.
Another project scheduled for this year includes an expansion to the building used to store snowremoval equipment. Hemmer said the 90-by-40-foot expansion will house the airport’s primary piece of snow-removal equipment — a big plow truck.
“We will bid that project this spring, and it would be great if it was constructed before the next season,” she said.
The project will utilize funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law but requires standards from the Build America, Buy America Act. The project requires steel and there’s now a demand on American steel, Hemmer said. She said the standard to build American along with tariffs being
implemented on imported steel could cause the project to be delayed.
“We are looking at a completion date of that project to be November of 2026 but it could be done this year,” she said. “It’s really kind of dependent on steel delivery time.”
Challenges for airport
Hemmer said the biggest challenge in the aviation industry is the pilot shortage. She said airlines are looking for pilots and it’s not an issue that can be resolved quickly because they require specific qualifications and training.
During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, many pilots were laid off or offered early retirements by airlines across the country, Hemmer said.
“SkyWest wasn’t one of them,” she said.
When air travel recovered after the pandemic, she said other airlines had a demand for pilots and pilots from regional airlines moved into a largerscale operation.
“They’ve been working hard to fill that,” Hemmer said. “They have done well on that and so we’re hoping that that success will then restore that early morning departure from Jamestown.”
Hemmer said the James
Valley Career and Technology Center’s aviation class is already helping with the pilot shortage.
“They have had students who have moved through those programs who have gone on to pursue higher education in aviation to become pilots,” she said.
“We need programming like that across the country. So proud of Jamestown for doing their part to start that introduction to that career path early so that those choices can be made early in a young student’s life that they want to move through here and on to what path they want to do that.”
She said airports in general are working on recruiting and retaining employees. She said airports across the country are looking for employees for air traffic control and ground operations.
“We’re fortunate here that our ground operations staff is full,” Hemmer said. “We’re doing well there, but there are opportunities across the nation that are needed to be filled for these other airports and all of their segments.”
Another challenge includes updating aging infrastructure and aircraft.








































John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun file photo Jamestown Regional Airport offers direct flights to and from Denver on United Airlines, which is operated by SkyWest Airlines.
Increasing available housing a challenge
BY KEITH NORMAN For The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN —

Increasing the amount of available housing in the area isn’t about lumber and cement but investment, according to David Klein, executive director of the Great Plains Housing Authority located in Jamestown.
“It takes a lot to bring investors into these communities,” he said. “It takes getting the community ready.”
The Great Plains Housing Authority covers a seven-county area in south-central North Dakota. Much of the area would be considered within commuting distance of Jamestown.
The population of Stutsman County was 21,392 as of the 2020 census by the U.S. Census Bureau.
If you combine the four adjacent counties, LaMoure, Barnes, Foster and Kidder, the population rises to nearly 42,000 people.
While the population of the region has declined over the past 20 years, the number of households has increased due to smaller family sizes, according to Census Bureau data.
That has resulted in a housing shortage in Jamestown and in many other communities in the area, Klein said.
“Jamestown has a 2% to 3% vacancy rate,” he said, referring to the percentage of unoccupied housing units at any time. “A healthy vacancy rate would be about 7%.”
To meet those needs, Klein said the community
“If Jamestown is going to grow, you need to offer what people want in housing.”
DAVID KLEIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREAT PLAINS HOUSING AUTHORITY
should be adding more than 50 housing units per year.
“We need a couple hundred in a push to catch up,” Klein said. “Then between 50 and 60 units each year to keep up.
The last apartment building constructed in Jamestown was Eagle Flats, which was permitted in 2022 and includes 33 units, according to Tom Blackmore, Jamestown building inspector.
A total of 14 new single-family homes in Jamestown have been permitted from 2022 through 2024. That amounts to an addition of 47 housing units in Jamestown in the past three construction seasons.
Available housing is a necessary component of job growth that is the goal of economic development, Klein said.
The number of people employed in Stutsman County varies with the season and economic conditions.
According to statistics included in the Stutsman County Area Profile, published by Job Service North Dakota, the number of employees in the county stood at 11,083 at the end September 2024. That compares to 10,300 people in January 2021, which was a low point for jobs in Stutsman County.
Housing needs run the

gamut in the Jamestown area, Klein said.
There is a need for affordable housing, defined as property that can be rented or purchased for no more than 30% of the person’s income. There is also a need for higher-end housing for any professionals moving to the community and senior housing for an aging population, Klein said.
Senior housing is especially important in Stutsman County where the percentage of people 65 years and older is 21% compared to 17% for the rest of North Dakota, according to JobService statistics.
And the housing needs to be modern and desirable.
“If Jamestown is going to grow,” Klein said, “you need to offer what people want in housing.”
The North Dakota Legislature at this writing is currently considering a bill designed to improve the housing situation in the state.
Senate Bill 2225 provides $50 million to provide grants for infrastructure projects in order to reduce the price of buildable lots in North Dakota, according to Corry Shevlin, CEO of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp.
The bill requires dollarfor-dollar matches to the state grant money from the local community and the developer.
Shevlin said the JSDC has already earmarked up to $1 million to be used as the local community match contingent on passage of the bill. With the state money and an investment by a developer, this could result in buildable lots where twothirds of the infrastructure costs are paid by the local and state government. It is assumed the one-third paid by the developer would be passed on to the buyer of any homes built on these lots.
“It depends a lot on the scope of the project and other details,” Shevlin


said, “but this should make 40 to 60 lots available at a reduced cost.”
The bill has an emergency clause and if passed, Shevlin hopes Jamestown will be able to take advantage of the grant program yet this construction season.
“It will be a big help in getting lots down to a reasonable price,” he said. “Right now, we figure infrastructure costs of
lots at between $80,000 and $100,000 each.” Depending on the project, single-family or multi-unit housing could be included in the area.
The ultimate goal for the community is to have suitable living space for new residents attracted to the community, Shevlin said.






Photos by John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
These homes on Lindwood Drive in Jamestown are some of the types of homes that are needed in the community.
Eagle Flats provides apartment living for residents. It is the most recent apartment living building built in the community. housing on C7
Road costs a challenge for Jamestown, Stutsman County
were based on snow events.
BY KEITH NORMAN
For The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Roads
are critical to economic development and moving the community of Jamestown forward, according to Corry Shevlin, CEO of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp.

“You got to have roads,” he said. “Having sustainable and appropriate transportation is something every community needs.”
Two federal highways serve Jamestown with Interstate 94 providing east and west access to the community. According to statistics from the North Dakota Department of Transportation, about 8,300 vehicles travel past Jamestown and through Stutsman County each day.
U.S. Highway 281 carries about 7,700 vehicles per day, measured by the NDDOT at exit 258 where Highway 281 crosses over Interstate 94. This statistic likely includes some local traffic traveling within Jamestown.
Roughly 2,900 vehicles use the U.S. Highway 52/281 bypass to interconnect between Interstate 94 west of Jamestown to Highway 281 north of Jamestown without having to travel through the city of Jamestown.
While the federal highways in Stutsman County carry more traffic, it is the local roads that commonly get people from their home or business to the bigger and more traveled highways.
The costs of upgrades and maintenance of the federal highways fall to the federal government while the costs of local roads are paid by local governments,

“We had
a
reliance on presidential disaster declarations to cover some road repairs. The rules for that have become more complicated.”
JERRY BERGQUIST, STUTSMAN COUNTY COMMISSIONER
said Jamestown Mayor Dwaine Heinrich.
“It is a never-ending need,” he said.
A limited number of streets in Jamestown are considered part of the state highway system. For example, First Avenue in Jamestown is part of U.S. Highway 52/281 and receives some federal funding. Maintenance and upgrades of other streets and roads are local responsibility and very expensive, Heinrich said.
“The cost of constructing new streets to city specifications is horrific expensive,” he said. “In many cases, it is cost prohibitive


to extend a street into a new area.”
City specifications include not only the road with the proper drainage but water and sewer infrastructure to serve new residents or businesses that would locate in the area of the new road, Heinrich said.
Heinrich said preliminary cost estimates for a new half-mile city street recently came in at about $4 million.
“That is about $140,000 per lot along that road,” he said.
Existing streets in Jamestown receive chip seal and other maintenance every seven years
and are reconstructed every 21 years with the maintenance costs largely covered by special assessments to property adjacent to the street.
“As a result, our streets are in better condition than the average city in North Dakota,” Heinrich said.
Rural roads in Stutsman County also face challenges, according to Jerry Bergquist, chairman of the Stutsman County Commission.
“It is getting to be a bigger deal,” he said.
The Stutsman County Highway Department maintains county roads and is often contracted by townships to maintain

township roads.
“The townships have their own responsibility for roads,” Bergquist said.
“The issue is with them coming up with the money to pay for maintenance.”
Weather has played a part in covering the expenses of some road maintenance in the past.
“We had a reliance on presidential disaster declarations to cover some road repairs,” Bergquist said.
“The rules for that have become more complicated.”
Bergquist said nearly 20 presidential disaster declarations have included Stutsman County. Many were for flooding, although some
The most recent disaster declaration was in 2024 and resulted from an ice storm.
A number of areas in Stutsman County face road issues related to high water level, Bergquist said. These include Stutsman County Road 62 south of Spiritwood and County Road 67 south of Cleveland.
An 8-mile section of Stutsman County Road 62 south of Interstate 94 is gravel, while the rest of the road is paved. The preliminary cost to pave the gravel portion is estimated at between $35 million and $40 million.
The road is one of principal routes for transporting corn and soybeans grown in LaMoure and Dickey counties to the the Dakota Spirit AgEnergy ethanol plant and the Green Bison soybean crushing plant. The road sees heavy truck traffic year around with farmers delivering commodities to the processing plant.
Stutsman County Road 67 is the principle route between Cleveland and Gackle with rising water causing problems.
“It is a multi-million dollar project to deal with those rising waters,” Bergquist said.
Stutsman County does not have the financial resources to solve these problems, he said.
“Will there be added financial support from the state or some other source?” Bergquist asked. “They are expensive and highly important for every possible reason.”
Along with the need to move agricultural products from rural areas to processing plants or shipping points, there is the need to have the ability to reach all parts of the county with emergency services, he said.
Reach Keith Norman at news@jamestownsun.com



Keith Norman / For The Jamestown Sun file photo
U.S. Highway 281 carries about 7,700 vehicles per day measured by the North Dakota Department of Transportation at exit 258 where Highway 281 crosses over Interstate 94.
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
High water is inundating a rural road as well as the railroad tracks as seen last summer west of Cleveland, North Dakota.
Bergquist
file photo
Incentives help businesses expand or build new in Stutsman County
BY KEITH NORMAN For The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Economic incentives help keep the community of Jamestown moving forward, according to Jamestown Mayor Dwaine Heinrich.

“Many businesses we have today probably wouldn’t be here without incentives from the state, county or the city,” he said.
Incentives are programs that offer reduced taxes or some other form of financial motivation to build or expand a business or residence in the community.
Heinrich said one of the common programs is the Renaissance Zone which offers incentives for residential and commercial property for a limited area in Jamestown. The program was originally designed to help renovate inner city areas.
“The Renaissance Zone has been a great thing for the city of Jamestown,” he said. “It keeps property on the tax rolls that could have dropped off.”
These would have been properties that had deteriorated but were renovated by the owner. The owner would have then received property and income tax incentives for five years, Heinrich said.
“The property value that has returned to the tax roles after the incentive period is probably in the millions,” he said.
The Renaissance Zone program was created by the North Dakota Legislature in 1999. The program has evolved over the years and the area of a city that can be included in a zone has been increased.
Some Renaissance Zone projects in Jamestown are more than 20 years old,

“The Renaissance Zone has been a great thing for the city of Jamestown. It keeps property on the tax rolls that could have dropped off.”
JAMESTOWN MAYOR DWAINE HEINRICH
Heinrich said. “They have been back on the tax rolls for about 15 years,” he said. There are currently three Renaissance Zone projects receive a tax incentive. A fourth is pending approval by the Jamestown City Council. There were six open Renaissance Zone projects in 2024 but three expired after receiving five years


of incentives in 2024. The program is available for residential and commercial properties that fall within the program’s boundaries, Heinrich said.
“There is no direct cash to the Renaissance Zone projects,” he said. “The benefit is property tax incentive or an income tax benefit.”
The investment in the
property often extends the life of the building increasing the amount of property tax paid by the owner over the life of the building,” Heinrich said.
Corry Shevlin, CEO
of
the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp., said incentives are only used when it makes sense for both the business and the community.
One of the common incentive programs is the Flex and FlexPace programs, which are administered by the JSDC.
“It is principally used for new businesses or expanding businesses starting or operated by people who are already here in the community,” Shevlin said. “It gives them a chance to be successful.”
Shevlin said the program buys down the interest rate for the business, he said. This effectively reduces the cost of the business loan and improves the businesses cash flow. It is partially funded by a loan through the JSDC which the business pays off after the business loan is retired.














Heinrich
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
The Renaissance Zone now includes the area across 10th Street Southeast going east toward 5th Avenue Southeast.
Masaki Ova / The Jamestown Sun
The area inside the red border was included in the city of Jamestown’s expansion of the Renaissance Zone boundary area.
“We just have to remember that all the physical things that support air travel require maintenance, innovation,” she said. “They are going to be transformed as technology transforms, and we want to make sure that that still maintains the safest environment possible for passengers and cargo and any other uses for air travel.”
Revenue sources
Jamestown Regional Airport receives revenue from land and industrial leases.
Hemmer said a majority
The Bank of North Dakota covers 70% of the program cost as a grant, Heinrich said.
“It is a big deal for new or expanding businesses,” he said. “The program can reduce the interest rate and the start-up costs for the business.”
The JSDC has earmarked up to $500,000 for 2025 for its share of the program. Depending on the size of the projects, this could provide local funding for eight to 10 projects.
Other local incentive programs include tax increment funding. The most notable TIF program in Jamestown is the project that brought Menards to town.
“That has got about 10 years left,” Heinrich said. “They pay their taxes and then it is refunded to pay for allowed expenses.”
The amount of the refund is determined by the property tax of the property prior to development.
“These projects really have an impact on the local economy,” Heinrich said.
of the buildings on airport land are privately owned. She said those owners have a land lease with the airport. “The revenue to the airport is on the land lease,” she said.
She said the airport receives revenue from a lease on the building and land on eight T-hangars that it owns.
Hemmer said the airport has industrial leases with Collins Aerospace, Pembina Pipeline and General Implement Distributors.
“It creates a revenue source for the airport to have these land leases, and then it also helps provide
a regulatory buffer to the airport,” she said. “There are regulations for the height that buildings can be, especially when they’re adjacent to the end of a runway.”
The airport also receives revenue from crop and hay land tenants. Another opportunity for a revenue source includes the land leases from a business locating in the JMS Aviation Park – a partnership with the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. JMS Aviation Park is adjacent to Jamestown Regional Airport. JMS is the abbreviation and Federal Aviation Administration code
for the Jamestown Regional Airport.
“The interior acres of that business park are required to be aeronautical use,” Hemmer said. “That could be anything from another fueler for aircraft, it could be like an aircraft mechanic, or it could be something as large as like a UPS or a FedEx style hub that requires that air connection so that would be a direct positive impact to the airport. There would be things like landing fees involved in it that would help financially for the airport.”
Shevlin said the JMS Aviation Park is an

The
Regional Airport was rehabilitated in 2024.
attractive opportunity for businesses that already has utility infrastructure in place. mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454

Shevlin said local governments can also offer training and infrastructure incentive for businesses expanding or moving to the area. “These are very much on a case-by-case basis,” he said. Major incentives for big projects will likely come from Bismarck, Shevlin said.
The Bank of North Dakota and the North Dakota Department of Commerce have programs offering more money than the city of Jamestown or the JSDC can offer. Their programs become especially important for valueadded processing plants for agricultural products.

Safe Shelter is a vital advocacy center dedicated to supporting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault while working to prevent future instances of abuse. We provide comprehensive services to individuals in crisis, ensuring they have access to safety, support, and resources to rebuild their lives. One of our core services is offering emergency and temporary housing for domestic violence victims in imminent danger. These accommodations provide a crucial lifeline, allowing individuals and their families to escape danger and transition to a safe, abuse free life.

Beyond providing immediate shelter, we offer advocacy services that help victims navigate the complex legal, medical, and emotional challenges they may face. Advocates assist with filing protective orders and assisting with community programs that can provide vital resources, helping them secure a life free from their abuser. Additionally, we provide support group every Tuesday at 7 pm.
Safe Shelter Stats 2023-2024:
• PROVIDED 2,028 SHELTER NIGHTS
• ASSISTED 162 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS
• ASSISTED 65 SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS
• PROVIDED 3,425 TOTAL SERVICES
• 31 PROTECTION ORDERS GRANTED
Incentive programs at any level are scrutinized by officials.
“We have to prove the case that it makes sense to be here,” Shevlin said.
“The incentives can be used to make it viable for them to be here.”
This requires reviewing a lot of variables.
“We take into account a host of things,” he said. “We look at local interests and the impact the new company will have on Jamestown.”
Reach Keith Norman at news@jamestownsun.com
CONTINUED from C4
“We are still attracting attention from employers,” Klein said. “We are still attracting interest from workers.”
Along with long-term residents, demand for housing can fluctuate with the number of construction projects in the area.
“A big project can virtually wipe out available housing,” Klein said.
An example of a big project that would require a large number of construction workers is the planned new North Dakota State Hospital building, which was included in Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s budget but at this writing has not passed the Legislature.
In the past, projects such as the new Anne Carlsen Center facility constructed near the Jamestown Regional Medical Center have utilized workers commuting from other cities where there are more housing options.
This reduced the impact of those employees on the Jamestown economy.
Reach Keith Norman at news@jamestownsun.com




Masaki Ova / The Jamestown Sun file photo
main runway at Jamestown
Contributed / city of Jamestown
The Renaissance Zone boundary includes these homes and businesses from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue Southeast and 6th Street to 7th Street Southeast.
(l-R) Mary Thysell - Sexual Assault Services Coordinator, Shauna Kifer - Executive Director, Dana Mickelson - Domestic Violence Services Coordinator























































JVCTC helps solve workforce challenges in Jamestown area
BY MASAKI OVA The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN
The James Valley Career and Technology Center is helping to solve the workforce challenge in the Jamestown area by teaching skills to students that are needed after graduation.
“We’ve tried to be really responsive to what those in-demand jobs are,” said Adam Gehlhar, director of the James Valley Career and Technology Center.
Jamestown Public Schools Superintendent Rob Lech said there has been a shift in how families view post-secondary education. He said the school district has pathways for students to be career or military ready or be prepared for career and technical education or attending a four-year college or university.
“Our focus is on providing a challenging pathway that supports at all of those levels,” he said. “ I think what we’re seeing now in our communities and in our families is a better understanding of each of these pathways that provide a good opportunity for our kids, and career and tech ed is certainly one of those.”
Gehlhar said the school district wants students to be ready for success after graduation.
“They need to be career ready and they need to be military ready,” he said.
“The Career and Technology Center gives that career readiness.”
He said the school district wants students to be ready for life. He said the Career and Technology Center gives students many opportunities to be prepared in life whether that is interpreting doctor’s orders after learning medical terminology, raising children after taking a child development class, understanding a mechanic after taking an auto tech class or speaking with a contractor and knowing what to expect.

“They are lifetime skills that you’re going to obtain, and you can apply those to pretty much any career you’re going to have,” said Heidi Eckart, assistant director of the Career and Technology Center.
“Whether you’re going into construction or whatnot, you are going to use little skills of problem solving, timeliness, communication. Math is applied using the math that you’ve learned over at the high school.”
Through a comprehensive needs assessment of the local community every two years, the Career and Technology Center has added programs for culinary arts, obtaining a commercial driver’s license and child care expansion, Gehlhar said. He said talking with advisory boards is the first step of the comprehensive needs assessment because Career and Technology Center staff are getting input from local employers. Eckart said the center has advisory committees for every program it offers. She said employers in the community of all those industries give input on the programs the Career and Technology Center offers. With the comprehensive needs assessment, Eckart uses Job Service

North Dakota data to compare job openings in the state and in the community. She said the Career and Technology Center finds out what the community’s workforce needs are, where those job openings are at and what industries need help.
Gehlhar said the comprehensive needs assessment helps the Career and Technology Center prioritize where to put resources.
“Do we need to expand and get more industry standard equipment is really what the needs
assessment is,” he said. “ … So some of our programs we want to see more enrollments in because it doesn’t match the demand of the community and so sometimes that takes additional resources to try to do that.”
Lech said the Career and Technology Center gets good perspectives from the community and its different business partners on the center’s needs and what it can provide to boost the local workforce while keeping those students in the area.
“They provide great feedback for us so we can modify programming based on what our community needs are,” he said.
Gehlhar said the Career and Technology Center has many partners, including the Gackle-Streeter, Montpelier and Pingree-Buchanan school districts, the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education, the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. and employers in the community.
Photos by John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
A student at the James Valley Career and Technology Center does some welding in the automotive collision technology class.
James Valley Career and Technology Director Adam Gehlhar and Assistant Director Heidi Eckart say the center gives students the tools to be successful after graduation.
Two students at the James Valley Career and Technology Center use cutting torches for an assignment to cut some steel as a class project.
Jamestown Frontier Attractions aims to attract
more visitors, secure larger grants for projects
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The formation of Jamestown Frontier Attractions will help with applying for larger-scale grants to improve Frontier Village in Jamestown and other projects that attract community members and outof-state visitors, according to David Schloegel, Jamestown City Council member.
Jamestown Frontier Attractions (JFA) can apply for less glamorous grants to help shore up the retaining wall at Frontier Village or for bathrooms that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Schloegel, president of the JFA board.
“Then there’s more exciting stuff like we’ve been talking a long time about miniature golf courses and other tourism-based attractions where there are grants for that sort of stuff to help encourage people to come to North Dakota,” he said. “Jamestown could be one part of multiple stops within the state that the state wants to encourage people to stop in.”
JFA is a 501c(3) nonprofit that provides a safe, fun and engaging experience through a North Dakota pioneer-era lens, according to its bylaws. Its primary function is to manage Frontier Village.
JFA is officially a 501(c) (3) organization in the state of North Dakota.
The JFA filed its nonprofit corporation articles of incorporation in November 2024 JFA becoming a nonprofit organization
changes how donations can be accepted and gives the organization more opportunities to apply for larger state or federal grants, said Emily Bivens, executive director of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce and Jamestown Tourism and JFA board member.
“It changes how people who donate to the organization can reflect those donations on their taxes and also a lot of grants that are available require you to hold the 501(c)(3) status,” she said.
Bivens said Frontier Village was awarded a few smaller grants here and there before the transition to JFA where now the grants awarded could be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
“Now, with its own 501(c)(3) status, it can apply for larger funds from larger pots of money whereas before we were trying to use the knowledge we knew in our office and then we were very fortunate to partner with the Jamestown Community Foundation if there were some grants out there that we can apply for as a pass through, but that isn’t feasible for the long term,” Limke said.
The JFA also applied for 501(c)(3) status with the IRS as well.
“We are confident that we will obtain that status before we open in May,” said Allison Limke, visitor experience manager for Jametown Tourism and JFA board member, referring to getting the 501(c)(3) status.
Bivens said the JFA being a 501(c)(3) organization is similar to other entities in Jamestown. Examples of entities that

have their own 501(c)(3) organization includes Anne Carlsen, Jamestown Regional Medical Center and the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District.
“They all have that foundation arm to help provide their experiences and services,” Bivens said.
JFA is currently doing business as Frontier Village, Limke said.
“It makes the mission of that organization a little bit broader,” she said. “If there’s other opportunities in Jamestown to bring a new attraction to Jamestown, it can help with those types of things.”











John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Jamestown Frontier Attractions board members Emily Bivens, left, executive director of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce and Jamestown Tourism, and Allison Limke, visitor experience manager for Jamestown Tourism, say the formation of Jamestown Frontier Attractions will help with applying for larger-scale grants. Contributed
JRMC, Jamestown community rely on each other for support
BY KEITH NORMAN For The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN —
Jamestown Regional Medical Center and the community of Jamestown rely on each other for support, according to Mike Delfs, president and CEO of the JRMC.
“Jamestown moving forward helps us immensely,” he said. “As Jamestown moves forward, it gives us the ability to do more.”
Jamestown leaders said the JRMC helps the community grow and can provide services that keep the community viable.
“It is extremely important for growth,” said Jamestown Mayor Dwaine Heinrich. “They have done a fantastic job in how they have grown.”
Jerry Bergquist, former Stutsman County emergency manager and current chairman of the Stutsman County Commission, said JRMC is important for survival, not just growth.
“It is critical to the community,” he said. “I honestly can’t see how the community survives without it.”
Delfs said JRMC has a geographic advantage with a location about 100 miles from major medical facilities to the east and west.
“Geography provides us opportunities that other small hospitals don’t have,” he said. “A small hospital 30 miles from Fargo, for example, would not have the opportunity to grow that we have.”
Clients come from a wide geographic area, ranging from New Rockford to the north, Edgeley to the south, Valley City to the east and Steele to the west. This gives the JRMC a patient base significantly larger than the

Jamestown population even if Jamestown is the biggest community in the area, Delfs said. It is the people in Jamestown and the rest of the service area that provide the input for the new projects and growth the JRMC has been seeing over the past years.
“Our services originate with the community asking for it,” Delfs said. “We are really happy we are able to bring to the community something they wanted, they needed.”
The oncology department is one of the recent additions to the menu of services at JRMC.
“It was a big push and
has far exceeded our goals,” he said. “I guess that I’m both happy and saddened by that.”
Delfs clarified he was happy people in the community were finding the services useful but saddened by the number of people fighting cancer.
Other specialties include obstetrics-gynecology, orthopedics, ear, nose and throat and advanced podiatry services.
Some specialties are provided by medical providers employed by JRMC. Providers for other specialties work at JRMC independently and have contractual relation-
ships with the hospital.
“We just hired a second orthopedic surgeon,” Delfs said. “Under her practice, we should see the first outpatient knee replacement surgery.”
Delfs referred to this procedure as “same day knees” and indicated the patient would return home the same day as the knee replacement surgery.
A new foot and ankle surgeon has also been hired to start later this summer.
From a practical standpoint, the hospital has hired as many specialists as it can at this point but will continue to explore
partnerships to offer new services, Delfs said.
New medical providers can bring new skills and procedures to the community, he said.
Corry Shevlin, CEO of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp., said the full slate of medical services is very important to the current residents and also any people that businesses may try to recruit to the community.
“It is important for any age,” he said. “Families and older people are probably most concerned by health care.”
The hospital also works hard at keeping up
with the latest medical technology recently adding enhanced mammography.
“JRMC was the first in the state to do 3D mammography,” said Bev Fiferlick, JRMC chief financial officer. “The new contrast-enhanced technology reduces the need for biopsies.” Delfs said they are always exploring technology that makes sense for the hospital.
“We are very much into the tech,” he said. “We have some new MRI software and other upgrades.”

John M. Steiner / Jamestown Sun
Jamestown Regional Medical Center serves a large geographic area. Community input has been a factor in the services provided, says Mike Delfs, president and CEO.
JRMC on D7
University of Jamestown graduates contributing to workforce in area
BY KEITH NORMAN
For The Jamestown Sun
—
JAMESTOWN
It is convenient for workers and the businesses when individuals employed in the community can continue their professional education in the town where they work, according to Tara Steinberger, director of human resources at Interstate Engineering and a graduate student at the University of Jamestown, it is also good for the community.
“I researched for several years different graduate level opportunities,” she said. “I settled on (University of) Jamestown.”
Steinberger got her undergraduate degree from UJ and then looked for ways to enhance her career and contribution to Interstate Engineering where she has worked for 14 years.
“I understand the business and wanted to up my skills in leadership to work on a change in culture involving employee recruitment and retention,” she said.
Steinberger said she plans to stay at Interstate Engineering after she completes her graduate courses.
“I want to see the initiatives we developed through,” she said. “It benefits the entire community with the University of Jamestown leadership courses grounded in morals and strong ethics.”
The University of Jamestown graduate programs offer flexible schedules. When students living and working in

Jamestown take advantage of those programs, it provides a boost to the career of the employee, greater skills to the business that employs them and an opportunity for the community to grow and move forward.
Nate Willer said he is happy to bring his skills back to Jamestown where he grew up and went to college.
“I worked in Bismarck a
couple of years while my wife went to graduate school there,” he said. “A move back to Jamestown made a lot of sense.”
Willer operates Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. after studying management at the University of Jamestown.
Along with a busy business career, he is active with the Young Professionals of Jamestown and the Jamestown Area Chamber
of Commerce.
“When you are growing up, you want to see the world,” Willer said. “In adult life, you look at things differently… it is completely different living here as an adult compared to being a kid.”
Willer said being an adult means being part of the Jamestown community.
“Once you are a part of it, you realize how important it is,” he said. “Seeing
the college grow has helped the community. The leadership programs at the college have grown hand-inhand with the young professionals.”
Along with assisting the young professionals program, the University of Jamestown has been supportive of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce. These programs also help new residents establish their lives in
“It




Jamestown.
is really special to see people make Jamestown roots,” Willer said.
Part of the effort to develop the workforce is the University of Jamestown Career Center, according to Heidi Larson, associate vice president for the Career Center and employer relations for the university.
Keith Norman / For The Jamestown Sun
Tara Steinberger, human resources manager with Interstate Engineering and graduate student at the University of Jamestown, talks about how being a student and employee in Jamestown helps her contribute to the community.
“For many UJ Students, after living in Jamestown and being part of the community, Jamestown becomes home,” she said in an email. “Many of them want to stay for work or internships in the summers and then find a fulltime job here post-graduation.”
The Career Center works with students and graduates as well as businesses in the area.
“Businesses that partner with the University in order to offer internships and employment opportunities for students support a workforce pipeline that benefits both the community and the students,” Larson said in an email.
Over the past five years, there have been 77 graduate students from Jamestown who live and work here while completing their advanced degrees. This year alone, 30 graduate students are living, working and studying in Jamestown.
They study a variety of courses, including graduate degrees in business, engineering, information technology leadership, nursing and a doctorate in leadership.
Some of those students, such as Amanda Allen, a graduate assistant at the University of Jamestown, have a long history in the area.
Allen said she grew up and graduated from Pingree-Buchanan High School before getting an undergraduate degree from the University of Jamestown.

“I tell prospective students from small high schools that I loved every minute of school here,” she said. “It is my favorite place anywhere.”
Allen also appreciates the university and community for helping her education and career.
“The people at the University of Jamestown are so supportive every step I’ve taken at UJ,” she said. “I’ve also been supported by the people around me.”
An example of the community support for the university was evident in how the community members stepped up after a fire damaged the kitchen and dining area



of the Badal Nafus Center in January, Allen said.
“The people of Jamestown, not just the University of Jamestown, are so wonderful,” Allen said.
Larson said the University of Jamestown Career Center offers a variety of services starting soon after the student arrives on campus for the freshman year.
The UJ Foundation Class helps them explore career possibilities and starts them on the right track, she said.
“The Career Center offers a variety of resources including Career Assessments,
connections with alumni mentors in their field, resume and practice interviews,” Larson said.
“They also provide collaborations with employers to provide avenues to connect students to job shadowing and internship opportunities.”
All of those things help the student achieve success, Larson said.
“The community really embraces our students and makes them feel at home,” she said. “That includes attending sporting and fine arts events to offering internships and jobs.”
Reach Keith Norman at news@jamestownsun.com









John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Over the past five years, there have been 77 graduate students from Jamestown who live and work here while completing their advanced degrees at the University of Jamestown.
Contributed / University of Jamestown Heidi Larson, associate vice president at the University of Jamestown’s Career Center and employee relations, works with students and employers in Jamestown or wherever the student is living and working.
“Other partners are developed because we’re sending kids out to do work-based learning experiences,” he said.
He said Jerry Waagen, work-based learning coordinator at the Career and Technology Center, builds relationships with employers and helps them understand the center’s programs.
“None of this is possible without those partnerships, and we’ve just seen such tremendous support from the community of Jamestown,”
Gehlhar said. “If there’s people that haven’t heard of us and they think about how can I contribute to that, our door is open. We can talk with them about how we can help our kids have a good experience here, become contributing citizens and become a part of the workforce too.”
Corry Shevlin, CEO of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp., said the JSDC really values the Career and Technology Center and what it provides.
“Their ability to really be nimble when it comes to the training needs of our community and our region has been really truly unbelievable from the folks that they have up there teaching classes all the way up to the kind of strategic vision top of the line,” he said. “So the ability for those guys to provide that type of training and education to the citizens and kids here is very important … to provide a pipeline of highly-skilled workers for our area and our local companies.”
The Career and Technology Center has an enrollment of about 570 students. Those students come from Jamestown Public Schools, GackleStreeter, Pingree-Buchanan and Montpelier.

“They are lifetime skills that you’re going to obtain, and you can apply those to pretty much any career you’re going to have. Whether you’re going into construction or whatnot, you are going to use little skills of problem solving, timeliness, communication. Math is applied using the math that you’ve learned over at the high school.”
HEIDI ECKART, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, JAMES VALLEY CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER.
JVCTC expansion, program additions
Gehlhar said the Career and Technology Center is expanding its child care center and early childhood education opportunities, reinstated its agriculture program and expanded that into the local community, added welding, information technology, rebranded and expanded its precision machining and added aviation. He also said the Career and Technology Center is adding commercial drivers license and culinary arts programs and did a major renovation of about 10,000 square feet in its building through a Regional Workforce
Impact Program grant.
“We’re doing a building expansion, which will begin construction this spring,” Gehlhar said.
“We’re excited because that opens up spaces within the CTC to look at other programs so we can be more responsive to what the community needs.”
Gehlhar said all physical projects could be completed by winter.
“When people drive by, they’re going to see that construction going on throughout the summer because it’s going to be on the exterior, whereas right now, it’s been focused on the interior remodel,” he said. “So we’re excited to see that,
and it does open up some great opportunities within our building too.”
He said all of the Career and Technology Center’s programs have a work-based learning component.
“Construction tech, they work with a local company and they’re actually building cabins that go out and get sold,” he said. “In child care, our child care center will serve JPS employees and so it expands child care options in the community, but at the same time, our goal is to have kids walk out of there with a center director credential to be able to participate or maybe eventually even start their own child care
in the community too.”
Eckart said the Career and Technology Center wants students to graduate with a certificate in a certain area and a job offer.
“We’re just trying to find a way to have some sort of certificate that proves that they are at a certain standard so when they do go into the community, they’re able to be productive right away,” she said.
Gehlhar said the center also teaches students career-readiness practices, or employability skills, such as being responsible, problem solving, communication and teamwork.
“We’re giving them that practice in a safe environment,” Eckart said. “They’re going to make mistakes, and we give them corrections on it and feedback, so they grow and mature.”
She said employers on the advisory committees say career-ready practices are in their top 10 for what they are looking for in employable individuals.
“They’re like, ‘We can
teach them that if they have those foundation skills, they show up on time, not on their phone, they’re willing to work, and they have communication,’” she said. “They can mold them into those other parts.”
For the CDL program, Gehlhar said the Career and Technology Center has the equipment to set up for that and is seeking partnerships for the adult learning side of it.
“We’ll have the student side, but as long as we have this facility with this equipment, we think that it’s valuable to contribute to adult learning in the community too,” he said.
He said there’s a huge demand in the Jamestown area for individuals with CDLs. He said employers pay additional expenses to send their employees to Bismarck or Fargo to obtain CDLs.
“It takes more time away from work for them to go there, so we want to be a part of that as long as we have the facility,” Gehlhar said. “That’s why they are supporting that too is that they want to see those adult opportunities for CDL.”
He said the Career and Technology Center is partnering with The Arts Center to provide a culinary arts facility. The school district’s contribution is the kitchen equipment in The Arts Center.
“They can use that then for anybody that wants to do value-added ag opportunities or they’re going to do a lot of adult education courses as well,” he said.
Gehlhar said the child care expansion includes employing a couple adult child care workers to get the program started. He also said the Career and Technology Center has hosted different training sessions for certified nursing assistants.
mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454


John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Students at the James Valley Career and Technology Center work at fine tuning a small engine on a motor scooter.
They have also received some new ultrasound equipment as part of a grant.
“We’ve seen huge changes in the technology,” Delfs said. “AI (artificial intelligence) is more intuitive.”
The cutting-edge equipment in Jamestown reduces travel time and expenses for some people.
“This equipment is huge for any patient that needs those services,” Delfs said.
JRMC has also tried to streamline the process
If another tourismrelated entity’s board in Jamestown dissolves, JFA could take that on and help manage the tourism-related site, Bivens said.
“We wanted to give it more opportunity, give us more opportunities than just the Village,” Bivens said.
The city of Jamestown owns Frontier Village, and it is managed by Jamestown Tourism. Bivens said it wasn’t a longterm solution for Jamestown Tourism to manage Frontier Village.
“Our time managing the Village was coming to an end,” she said. “This seemed like the best path forward especially … for grant-writing purposes and bringing cash flow to the Village.”
Limke said JFA expands beyond Frontier Village.
“This renaming it Frontier Attractions helps us to be able to continue to grow, continue to create new and exciting things for Jamestown in the future, and make sure that other entities that might have a unique site don’t go by the wayside,” she said.
Schloegel said Jamestown Frontier Attractions should focus specifically on Frontier Village for now.
“It leaves the door open for maybe other things in the future,” he said. “Right now, it’s the Village because there’s a lot of work, a lot of things to be done there.”
Schloegel said the goal is to make Frontier Village a successful, independent entity that is self-sufficient and not reliant on financial assistance from the city of Jamestown.
“It’s something that the city can plant the seed and then be able to watch it grow and it’s able to survive on its own, so setting it up for the future, to bring people into town and be a great tourism attraction,” he said.
Schloegel said the city will still be supportive of Frontier Village. The City Council allocated funds previously to make sure
of the patient making contact with the specialist.
“We are trying to remove the need for a referral appointment from the patient’s regular doctor,” Delfs said. “Let them make an appointment directly with the specialist.”
Delfs said this process provides easy access for the patient to the specialist but is not always available.
Fiferlick said the obstetrics services offered by JRMC can be important in attracting young families to the Jamestown area.
“Imagine you are recruiting a young new
the General Store at Frontier Village could open.
“They finished in the black the first time, maybe ever in 60-some years, the last two years in a row with the General Store where we have employees, we’re paying them, we’re fixing stuff,” he said.
Bivens said Frontier Village wouldn’t be successful without the city’s financial contributions.
“The city covers all the different liabilities, the property and utilities,” she said. “They even allocate certain dollars for minimal maintenance up there.”
Schloegel said Frontier Village already attracts many visitors to Jamestown. He said it’s important for visitors coming to Jamestown to have ways to spend their money here.
“That’s a great way to help our local economy. It’s money that isn’t here and now it is here, so that’s a great boost, and it helps take the burden off of local residents having to pay for things,” he said.
Frontier Village had 170,000 visitors in 2024.
Bivens said Frontier Village sees visitors from all 50 states and about 40 countries every year.
“To our knowledge, most of our visitors coming to Jamestown are going to the Frontier Village, so it creates a huge economic impact on our community,” Bivens said.
Bivens said Frontier Village has seen a significant increase in visitors and visitor spending over the last few years. She said JFA will work to bring better experiences at Frontier Village so visitors will stay longer, spend more money and come back again.
“Having this separate board that can drive that vision for that site and help bring new things or better the things that are up there for our visitors, that’s our main mission,” she said. “That’s what we can do.”
Bivens said Frontier Village’s overall revenue in 2024 was about $80,000, which includes $50,000 from the General Store and smaller grants.
teacher,” she said. “What will that person think if they have to drive 80 miles, maybe in the winter, to have a baby delivered?”
Delfs said it is not just the range of services offered by the JRMC that is important.
“We provide an extremely high quality of health care,” he said. “That helps the businesses recruit new hires.”
JRMC recently received the Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Award from Press Ganey. The award is presented to medical facilities in the top 5% of physician experiences.
JRMC has also received a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital for 12 consecutive years. Critical Access Hospitals are defined as hospitals with 25 beds or less that are reimbursed by government payers based on allowable expenses.
Delfs said the hospital focuses on maintaining good morale and culture among its employees. One recent addition is a special relaxation room for staff breaks.
“We like to get talented people in,” he said. “We give them the tools to remain engaged while they are here.”
Reach Keith Norman at news@jamestownsun.com


“We want to put it back into the site to build those experiences, and we really want the impact to be felt by our local businesses, by the tax revenues that come through,” she said. “That lessens the tax burden on property tax. If we can get visitors to come and spend money and contribute to those taxes, why not? We want them to make that economic impact.”
She said those visitors spend an average of $95 per person for one day. Visitors spend even more when they stay in Jamestown overnight.
Schloegel said JFA will continue to take steps to give people an opportunity to spend money at Frontier Village.
“There’s huge things that we want to do at the Village, things I’ve been dreaming about for years and talked about but some of them are very expensive, and we do have to get your baseline stuff like retaining wall and bathrooms done,” he said. “ … I’d love to think of big ideas for the next decade or two and try to see a lot of growth
exponentially.”
Attracting visitors to Jamestown Limke said Jamestown Tourism can promote other tourism-related destinations in the area. She said other destinations include the 1883 Stutsman County Courthouse, Stutsman County Memorial Museum, Fort Seward and the North American Bison Discovery Center.
“We have all these different niches as well,” Bivens said. “We have those adventure seekers where we push all of our trails. We’re fortunate to have two large bodies of water really close to town and they have, you know, over 30-some miles of trail out there for these adventure seekers. Then we have the water trail.
We have birding.”
Jamestown Tourism has marketed Jamestown in Denver, Chicago and Minneapolis areas among other states in the U.S., Limke said.
“We get information requests from all over the country,” Limke said. “We’ve gotten a few from Florida, Arizona and the
New England area.”
Schloegel said Jamestown is just off of Interstate 94 which attracts visitors from all over the U.S.
“A lot of people might be coming from the west heading to Minnesota or Chicago, or they could be heading from the big city out east and they want to see Montana or Medora or Oregon,” he said.
“Along the way, they’re traveling on I-94 more likely than not.”
He said the community needs to keep giving visitors an opportunity to stop in Jamestown, which is a chance to show off the community.
“We want them to see other places around here,” he said. “So that way, if they stop there, we can point out these other places, and then it gives them more things to look at and then they can stop and eat here. They can stop and stay at a hotel here. They can stop and do some shopping here. They decide to get some gas here. You just have to get them to stop first.”
Schloegel said if the

Bison World project happens, it will complement Frontier Village very well. The Bison World project calls for the construction of a bisonthemed cultural and entertainment park adjacent to Interstate 94 on land currently owned by the state of North Dakota through the North Dakota State Hospital.
“If Bison World takes a while to come to fruition, or it doesn’t happen at all, you should still be focusing on it (Frontier Village) because every year we don’t have Bison World, we should be offering some other alternative, which right now is Frontier Village and improving upon what we do have already,” he said.
Bivens said there would be a lot of collaboration between Jamestown Frontier Attractions and Bison World if the project happens.
“We definitely would want to work with them and work together for the betterment of Jamestown,” she said. “It’s about our community.” mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454

Kathy Steiner / The Jamestown Sun file photo
The General Store at Frontier Village generates revenue to help with expenses at the Village.
Keith Norman / For The Jamestown Sun
Mike Delfs, president and CEO of Jamestown Regional Medical Center, says the hospital has increased specialties in recent years.





















$1.2M project planned for Nickeus Park
Playground to be the destination at the park
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN
A$1.2 million project is planned for Nickeus Park that will include new playground equipment, restroom, shelter and parking.
Amy Walters, executive director of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District, said the district received a $600,000 matching grant for the project and work is ongoing to raise the rest of the funds to create an all-abilities inclusive playground and park.
“... it would be fully handicap accessible, including parking, restroom, shelters, pathways and the playground itself,” Walters said.
“The playground’s going to be the focal point of the park, so … a significant amount of the budget will be spent on the equipment and the surfacing.”
AMY WALTERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JAMESTOWN PARKS AND RECREATION DISTRICT
Walters said they hope to complete the project this year, adding that the playground equipment will be the first priority.
“At this point it’s conceptual. We would like to do it all, but it might end up needing to be done in phases,” depending on how the fundraising goes, she said.
McElroy Park was at the top of the facility priorities as rated by the public during a process to get input, Walters noted. Nickeus Park ranked third, behind Two Rivers Activity Center.
The rankings are part of the Comprehensive Parks Plan, adopted in August by the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission.
“What we looked at in identifying Nickeus for the location for this (project) was there is already so much activity targeted down at McElroy we felt it was important to have a safe and controlled location for this playground,” Walters said. “So the playground is the destination at this park, whereas McElroy has a lot of game fields and motor vehicle traffic through it and trail heads, all of those types of things, it’s much more variable and dynamic.”
Nickeus Park is one of the city’s flagship parks, she said. It’s fairly self-contained with the river on two sides of it, is small enough that motor vehicle traffic doesn’t have to be allowed and is centrally located in Jamestown, Walters said.
“Accessibility for all is one of our core values of our organization,” she said. “It’s an area that we know that we need to improve and our community has come alongside us to help us with that. So just really creating a space that people of all ages and abilities can come together to engage, play, learn is really important and so this would essentially … be that space. And it’s not specifically just for folks that do have a disability. It’s for everyone and that’s the intention is that we’re creating a space that individuals of all abilities can come.”
The project will include closing the park to motor

vehicle traffic, she said.
“The roadway itself will stay for people to bike, walk, whatever,” Walters said.
A parking area will be created, where people will be able to access the kayak dock, and parking is also available on the street north of the footbridge, she said.
“The playground’s going to be the focal point of the park, so … a significant amount of the budget will be spent on the equipment and the surfacing,” Walters said of the project. There will be a pour-inplace rubber surface for the playground area, she said. The playground equipment is expected to have multiple activity areas and opportunities for individuals to engage in different ways, Walters said.
“Right now … we’re receiving bids so we’re in the process of securing the vendor for the playground equipment and then we’ll work with them,” she said, to do the final design for the equipment.
Also planned is a new restroom building with an attached shelter that is

adjacent to the playground, Walters said. An existing clubhouse where the summer parks program currently operates out of will remain but get a small facelift and provide a gathering space off the playground, she said.
Two smaller existing shelters will also remain, she said. “It’ll be such an

improvement from what we have now,” Walters said of the project.
Joyce Heinrich, a member of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation, which is a vehicle for raising funds for the project, described Nickeus as “such a welcoming park.”
“Now we’re going to have
parking and we’re going to have things accessible,” she said. “We’re going to have nice bathrooms … picnic areas and just fun for kids and families. It will be great. It will be great.” Walters said they are getting input on the design and considerations to be mindful of in the planning process. She said there is a group of community members who are involved in the planning.
Serving on the volunteer committee are two parents who have children with a disability, individuals who work at Anne Carlsen Center and Triumph Inc. and two community members with young children who consider Nickeus Park as their neighborhood park, Walters said. ksteiner@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8449
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Amy Walters, executive director of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District, says they are continuing to raise funds for the Nickeus Park project.
Courtesy / Interstate Engineering and JPRD
This site map of the Nickeus Park project shows conceptual drawings of amenities that include a new restroom, parking area and playground.
Courtesy / Jamestown Parks and Recreation
conceptual
Nickeus Park
Jamestown. Jamestown Parks
Walters, executive director of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District.

Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation helps bring projects to life
From the Sensory Garden to the McElroy Park Fields
the foundation sponsors projects in the community
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The Sensory Garden, Meidinger Splash Park and Pepper’s Dog Park all were made possible through donors and the behind-the-scenes work of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation.
They’re just a few of the projects that the foundation has helped bring to life in the community since it was founded in 2006.
The nonprofit 501(c)(3) was established, Joyce Heinrich said, because she and others in the community saw a need for it here. The Jamestown Parks and Rec Commission found it hard to fund new projects, she said.
Heinrich and a few others were serving on other foundations in the community and thought one to benefit Parks and Rec should be established.
“We just thought, well, we have such a giving community and that’s what we found out on other foundations,” she said.
Heinrich was a founding member of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation Inc. She has served as its president and vice president and is a current
“Every major improvement that’s happened in the park district in the last probably five years has had the foundation working in the background.”
WALTERS,
AMY
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JAMESTOWN PARKS AND RECREATION DISTRICT
board member. “It’s been rewarding, very rewarding,” she said.
Amy Walters, executive director of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District, said the foundation’s mission statement is almost identical to the park district’s. She said the park district’s operating budget can maintain and sustain whereas the foundation allows for the growth of the park district.
“We were one of the first park districts in the state to have a foundation, so it was pretty forward thinking of Joyce and her colleagues in
2006 that got this started and so it’s a really important tool from the park district’s perspective,” Walters said. “It is something that has allowed us to accomplish the things we’ve done in the last three years. We have some really unique park amenities because of the foundation — the Sensory Garden would be a classic example. There’s not another one of those in the state. By having the foundation, it allows us to qualify for grant funds and things that we may not otherwise be eligible for.”
She said in 2024, the foundation brought in $976,000 in donations.
“At this point, we have $684,000 in our balance, but it’s because those donations are going straight out to work, to complete projects,” Walters said.
Rachel Liechty, the current president of the foundation, says the foundation is a support to the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission.
“The foundation helps with … fundraising, brainstorming, supporting … the commissioners,” she said. “We kind of do the legwork …. we help with the funds and the needs to get them brought in so we can make the parks

beautiful, help with other things like the (Hillcrest) golf course.”
The foundation also provides a way for the community to bring a
project to fruition and raises funds for scholarships to assist people in need to access Parks and Rec facilities or other programs.
“What the foundation has done is they’ve established a process that organizations,



John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
From left, Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation member Joyce Heinrich and board President Rachel Liechty with Amy Walters, executive director of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District. The Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation helps the park district in a number of ways, including sponsoring projects in the community and raising funds for scholarships.
The Arts Center expanding to boost programming
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — A project to expand The Arts Center will most importantly serve more children in the community, said Riley Akervik, president of the Jamestown Fine Arts Association Board of Directors.
“It’s definitely important from a multitude of aspects, but I do think probably the most important piece is that currently we are denying so many children in our community proper arts education,” he said.
The Arts Center has an artist in residence, Anna Brock, going into the schools to teach some art programs, Akervik said. The Arts Center also currently provides programming for grades 3-6.
Mindi Schmitz, executive director of The Arts Center, said with the expansion project, they plan to offer additional programming for grades K-2 and middle school.
To serve more children, the Jamestown Fine Arts Association, doing business as The Arts Center, announced the Raising the Bar for the Arts capital campaign in 2023. The nonprofit purchased the former Wonder Bar located next to The Arts Center to expand classroom space for children’s programming. The building is expected to be renovated in time to open in August for fall programming, Schmitz said. A grand opening is expected at that time, Akervik said.
The project will provide one classroom in the existing Arts Center building and a second one in the addition plus a culinary kitchen. The kitchen will be used by students attending Jamestown Public Schools and the James Valley Career and Technology Center. It’s also expected to be used for other Arts Center classes and others, Schmitz said.
The expansion also means more adults can attend events and classes along with having new event spaces to rent. In addition, there will be two studios for local/ regional artists.
“Physically, we’re going to have a large footprint here in Jamestown and we’ll be able to expand our programming, which is exciting, and offer different opportunities, particularly with the culinary kitchen to the community and surrounding areas,” Schmitz said.
Of the $2 million goal set for the “Raising the Bar for the Arts” capital campaign for the project, $1.7 million has been raised, Schmitz said. The new goal is now $2.4 million, with the campaign called “Raising the Bar (even higher) for the Arts.” Schmitz said the change in the capital campaign goal was due to cost increases and a requirement to add a sprinkler system in The Arts Center and the addition.
Phase I of the project was purchasing the building and demolition, Schmitz said. Phase II is the renovation of the building, and Phase III will finish two studio apartments planned for visiting artists.
“I’m feeling positive about it (the project) and I know the community will get behind us even more after they see construction progress,” Schmitz said.
Not enough space
Akervik said adding the space means The Arts Center will be able to increase the number of students taking classes.
More children will be served with added classroom space

“So currently, we can host maybe eight to 12 students depending on what kind of class it is but with the new space, we’re anticipating we’ll be able to host about 40 students,” he said, noting there has been a waiting list for students to attend Arts After School. “It’s really just going to allow us to offer accessible arts education to so many kids in our community that we never could allow before due to the space limitations.
“I would say No. 1, that’s why this project is important to me and important to the board,” Akervik said. “And then additionally, we’re also looking at expanding our programming.”
Arts programming is important for students, Schmitz said.
“I think there’s a great demand out there for students to have alternatives to sports and other extracurricular things,” she said. “Art provides a whole different avenue for students to create and even find some different emotional stability.”
The new art therapy program for children that held its first session in March is also expected to be located in the new space as well, Akervik said. The Jamestown Fine Arts Center secured a $203,500 grant from Strengthen ND to provide a two-year pilot program to serve children who are referred for the program.
The Skills Enrichment Through the Arts program is coordinated by Jennifer Lipetzky, who has a Doctor of Psychology, teaches psychology at the University of Jamestown and had a clinical practice in Jamestown for about 10 years, she said.
“We have limited resources in Jamestown for mental health care and because we have limited resources, the more acute kids will get, hopefully, the services that they need, where you have this whole other group of kids that could benefit from supports but they’re unable to get them,” Lipetzky told The Jamestown Sun in February. “So by offering a program like this, we can reach those kids that don’t have other supports otherwise so that they don’t continue to struggle.”
Akervik said students who have gone through traumatic experiences or are grieving due to the loss of a parent,

This rendering shows the
sibling or relative can get bused to The Arts Center from school for the art therapy sessions with a licensed psychologist who can help them work through their struggles, grief and trauma by expressing themselves through the arts.
Culinary kitchen
The Jamestown Public School Board approved a memorandum of understanding in 2024 that establishes a partnership between the James Valley Career and Technology Center and The Arts Center to provide a culinary arts facility, The Jamestown Sun reported in June.
The culinary kitchen will be located in the southwest corner of the former Wonder Bar building, Schmitz said.
Jamestown Public Schools is paying for the equipment in the culinary kitchen, which will be used for classes during the day for JPS/ JVCTC students.
“We are thrilled about this partnership as it provides benefits for students from all our JVCTC member schools,” said Adam Gehlhar, director of the JVCTC. “Students from our current member schools include Pingree, Montpelier, Gackle and Jamestown. We also see some potential for Jamestown Middle School students, the Jamestown High School Family and Consumer Science classes, and obviously the Jamestown community to benefit from this facility.”
Heidi Eckart, assistant director of the JVCTC, said JVCTC will offer Culinary I and Culinary II classes.
When students/staff are not using the kitchen, it would be open for others to use, such as The Arts Center or local individuals making their
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Contributed / The Arts Center
Riley Akervik, president of the Jamestown Fine Arts Association Board of Directors, stands inside the gutted former Wonder Bar that’s being renovated to provide more programming space for The Arts Center. The project is expected to be completed in August.
Contributed / The Arts Center
expected look of The Arts Center following the renovation of the former Wonder Bar. The project includes the addition of a culinary kitchen, which will be located in the southwest corner of the building.

“I
own products, she said.
“We’re just really excited to have a collaboration with The Arts Center to be able to offer these courses and be able to share facilities,” Eckart said. “I think that’s a great way that we can utilize the community and vice versa and have that symbiotic relationship of helping one another out.”
Eckart said they expect to begin offering Culinary I in the spring of 2026.
The culinary arts program prepares students for college programs in food service, according to the course information, along with being ready for different paths after graduation and workbased learning opportunities. The Culinary I course is designed to prepare students for occupations concerned with the preparation and service of food, and Culinary II is designed to allow students to continue training for food service occupation.
“It just makes sense in our community to have these kinds of partnerships,” Gehlhar said.
“JVCTC and JPS are always looking for
community partners to work together for the community benefit and workforce development.”
He said there have been other successful partnerships with its programs.
“Culinary arts is the first program we have tried with this sort of offsite facilities partnership and we are excited about the possibility of more win-win partnerships like this within the business or non-profit community,” he said.
Jamestown Tourism provided a $25,000 grant for the kitchen, Schmitz said.
Allison Limke, visitor experience manager for Jamestown Tourism, said Tourism’s board of directors approved a City Promotional Capital Construction Fund grant in March 2024.
The amount awarded was because The Arts Center and the culinary kitchen project meet multiple tourism goals,
MINDI SCHMITZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE ARTS CENTER
Limke said.
The kitchen will allow local people to create certified goods to sell in local markets, such as the General Store at Frontier Village, adding to the “North Dakota nice experience,” Limke said, along with being a learning source for students.
Akervik said bringing in students for courses in the culinary kitchen means The Arts Center will be able to serve about 60 students at one time in the building with all of the programs it will be offering.
He said he hopes that will lead students to come to other classes not only as a student but as an adult who has stayed in the community.
Strategic plan
The Arts Center will be working on a strategic plan this spring, Akervik and Schmitz said.
“One main reason for the strategic plan and the reason why we’re doing it

so soon is just because of the new space and that it’s going to be growing very, very rapidly within the year,” Akervik said, “so we just want to make sure we have a proper plan in place as far as staffing goes and classes that we’ll be offering and facilities management so that the space is used to its fullest potential.”
The growth means they will need more staff and will be looking at adding one or two positions in
the future, Akervik said. Currently, The Arts Center has two full-time employees and one parttime employee.
Akervik thanked the donors, business members and sponsors for their support, noting that they couldn’t do the project or keep The Arts Center open without them.
“Last year was the best year The Arts Center has had in over 10 years financially,” Akervik said.
He said they’ve worked to secure new grants and new ideas with programming to ensure The Arts Center was financially stable and saw stability and growth last year.
“I would love to be able to see the spaces used all day long, during the day and in the evening, by offering different classes, providing support for different art groups,” Schmitz said. “... right now, we have a writers group that meets once a month, we have a wood carvers group that meets once a week. We have Open Mic Night. Any way we can support creativity in Jamestown, that’s what we’re here to do.” ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449



Mindi Schmitz, executive director of The Arts Center, says the addition of the former Wonder Bar will


will be removing any playground equipment this year that does not comply with national
not much equipment will need to be removed. Health and safety are the district’s top
that are part of the Comprehensive Parks Plan approved last year.
Jamestown Parks and Recreation working on short-term priorities of plan
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun

JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown Parks and Recreation District has started working on priority action items in its Comprehensive Parks Plan, said Amy Walters, executive director of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District.
There are 25 items on the short-term list, which are targeted to be completed in five years or less.
The Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission approved the Comprehensive Parks Plan in August. The plan sets the course for the district for the next 10 years, “serving as a long-term strategic road map for creating a high-quality park experience that is relevant, inclusive, iconic and sustainable,” according to the plan. It includes short-, mid- and longterm goals.
According to the document, the plan was created for the improvement, growth and sustainability of the community park system and represents the public’s vision for the park system along with its priorities and needs. Community input was a significant part of the process, Walters said, and included online comments, surveys, focus groups and town hall meetings. Also included was an inventory of the district’s assets, properties, programs and services and the community demographic, she said.
The Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission approved the “annual work plan” in January.
Walters said each month they will update the annual work plan with the status of the items, report to the board and update the community with a planned webpage on its website, jamestownparksandrec.com.
Walters also said a
Short-term priorities of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District
(5 years or less)
• Replace all playground fall surfacing with engineered wood fiber, poured rubber or other IPEMA-certified fall attenuation material.
• Remove and replace failed, non-compliant or highrisk play equipment (structures and freestanding).
• Develop site-specific master plans for each developed and undeveloped park property.
Adopt NRPA Park Classifications and develop district facility planning and design guidelines standards
• Develop line-item budgets for each functional area of work.
Continue to provide and enhance services in the existing core program areas
• Evaluate program offerings within each core program area annually (and the core program areas themselves).
Update the age segment analysis for programs annually and further segment the Senior (65+) category into 54 to 74 and 75+.
Implement monitoring and tracking for programs in the mature stage for signs of saturation and decline.
• Review and evaluate programs in the saturation and decline stages for repositioning or elimination.
• Conduct a lifecycle review of the program portfolio annually. Construct walkways to (and around) activity areas in parks.
• Provide accessible/inclusive structures that connect to walkways. Develop park-specific design standards for pathways and trails.
• Add comfort amenities such as benches, water fountains, distance markers, small shade structures, etc., along pathways. Employ “tactical urbanism” principles to separate conflicting uses in the park circulation system.
• Add clear signage and roadway markings to delineate traffic circulation in McElroy Park, Nucleus Park and Klaus Park.
• Develop a “parkland dedication worksheet.”
• Use relatable language in all communications materials.
Develop a webpage to communicate information about park improvement initiatives, budgeting and decision making.
• Develop a “Go/No-Go” process for parkland acquisition and community-initiated special projects. Develop program assessment and evaluation tools. Develop tool to track customer satisfaction and retention.
feasibility study for an outdoor swimming pool, a top priority for the community determined through the Comprehensive Parks Plan process, will happen sooner than later.
“The plan had been identified for it to be a mid-term, so a five- to nine-year (action item) and … I feel like what we heard from the community is they want it sooner than later and so I felt like it was just too important to not get started on
right away,” she said.
Top priorities
Walters said health and safety items will be the first to be addressed in short-term priorities.
“We want to make sure we’re keeping everyone healthy and safe when they’re using our facilities through our programs, so that will be our first and top priority,”
Walters said. “And then, in this first year, a lot of it is kind of continuing with the learning more and planning, whether it’s
feasibility studies or continuing to develop asset inventories and things like that that we started … and came about out of the comprehensive plan.
“Now that we have that comprehensive planning process, we now have the structure that our team will be looking to utilize to kind of build our
internal capacity,” she said. “So the community might not see a lot in the first year, but there’s








parks on E7
Contributed / Jamestown Parks and Recreation
Jamestown Parks and Recreation
safety standards, said Amy Walters, executive director of the parks district. She said
priority, she said, and the equipment removal is among the short-term action items

going to be a lot going on behind the scenes.”
The Jamestown Parks and Recreation District has playground equipment in eight of its 11 parks. Parks and Rec will be removing playground equipment this year that is noncompliant with national safety standards, Walters said.
“The most immediate concerns are fall heights,” she said. “So if there’s the ability for a child to fall a certain distance, what is the surface below, (it) needs to be a certain depth, absorption, those types of things.”
Another concern is any type of equipment that could result in entrapment. Equipment that is damaged and beyond its
“We want to make sure we’re keeping everyone healthy and safe when they’re using our facilities through our programs, so that will be our first and top priority.”
AMY WALTERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JAMESTOWN PARKS AND RECREATION DISTRICT
usable lifespan will also be removed, she said. Walters said the parks do not have a lot of equipment with those safety concerns.
“We’re just not pulling things out to pull things out,” she added. “If there’s the ability for us to repair, we will do that. It’s just from our standpoint, if something is deemed unsafe, we will take it out.”
They won’t be able to replace all of the removed equipment immediately due to cost, she added, so they will put a plan in place based upon the public’s priorities, not only for the immediate future but long term as well.
“So if the projected lifespan is 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, what does that look like, so that we don’t have all of our equipment coming due at
the same time,” Walters said. “How do we create kind of a sustainable plan to continue to maintain and update equipment over time.”
Replacing all playground fall surfacing is also a priority but it won’t be accomplished in one year, she said. They are creating a plan to determine what they will need and begin budgeting for that over a period of time.
A project to revamp Nickeus Park is expected this year and Walters expects the next priority playground project will be in McElroy Park.
“We just know that there’s a lot of traffic in that park (McElroy),” she said. “We have the largest shelter (there), so it’s used and rented the most by community members and organizations so that likely will be kind of our next
NDHSAA DIVISION A


priority when we’re looking at equipment.”
Jamestown Parks and Recreation will be working on other projects as well.
“What we heard from the community is parks and playgrounds (are the priorities),” Walters said.
“We also heard pathways and trails, so we will be actively involved in working whether it be with the city of Jamestown or Stutsman County or those other entities on what we can do to continue to improve the what we call active transportation of the community — whether that’s walking, biking — again, it might not be something that people will see right away but we will continue to be involved in that.” She said they will also be looking into programming, another issue that
came from the assessment of the district’s facilities and programs. Walters said they rated weak in offering senior programs, so that issue will be explored.
“What opportunities do we have to either partner with other organizations that are already doing it or is there something that isn’t being offered that we could step in and do that … ,” she said.
To keep the public informed on issues, construction and other topics, Jamestown Parks and Recreation will be adding a webpage to its website for that purpose. It is a way to improve the district’s communications with the community, Walters said.
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449



individuals can come to the foundation and essentially ask them to sponsor their project,” Walters said, through its Sponsorship Program. “And so the foundation then becomes the fiscal agent of the project.
So when organizations or individuals are contributing to the McElroy (Park) Fields project, that’s actually coming to the foundation. So those entities receive that tax benefit by giving to a 501(c)(3) and ultimately it benefits the park district, supports the projects that the park district has aligned with.”
Sponsorship Program projects must be facility improvement and may include the purchase of recreation equipment, according to the foundation.
To the extent provided by law, gifts to the foundation are tax deductible, according to information from the foundation. Gifts can be cash, check, pledges, life insurance, publicly traded securities (stock), nonpublicly traded securities (grain or livestock), property and a required minimum distribution from an IRA.
The foundation also offers memorials through its tribute program — a park bench, tree, pavers or Jack Brown Stadium seats.
Other naming opportunities are available at certain other locations.
Liechty and Heinrich said the memorials are popular, and Walters said many naming opportunities are available.
The foundation has had a significant impact on the community, Walters said.
“Every major improvement that’s happened in the park district in the last probably five years has had the foundation working in the background,” she said.
One of the first major projects of the foundation was the Sensory Garden, Walters said.

“I think it’s really valued and appreciated by our community. It’s very unique,” she said.
The Sensory Garden, located in Solien-Denault Park at 17th Avenue and 3rd Street Southeast, provides visitors with different sensory opportunities that they may not normally experience, according to jamestownparksandrec. com.
“It’s just so unique, it’s just a lovely walk,” Heinrich said.
The foundation worked with the Jamestown Area Pickleball Club when members wanted to build the outdoor courts at Meidinger Splash Park, Walters said.
“So those organizations come to the foundation essentially with a proposal on what the project is, the board of directors vets it, makes sure it aligns with our mission, makes sense for the park district and then reviews and approves them,” she said.
Other previous projects involving the foundation include Pepper’s Dog Park, Meidinger Splash Park,

lights and improvements at Trapper Field and recent renovations to the hospitality room at Hillcrest Golf Course.
Current projects include the McElroy Park Fields renovation project and the new planned Nickeus Park playground, Walters said.
“We have a fund that’s been established for slowpitch softball in the future,” she added. “They just are working to build that so in the future when there’s something that will happen for slowpitch softball, they’ll be ready and have some funds available to utilize.”
The foundation also has an endowment fund for the long-term operations of the Two Rivers Activity Center, which is a North Dakota tax credit endowment, Walters said.
Foundation board
There are currently 11 people serving on the foundation board. The bylaws provide for five to 11 members, who serve three-year terms. There are no limits on how many terms members can serve, Walters said. Walters is a non-vot-
ing ex-officio on the board.
Other board members in addition to Liechty and Heinrich are Tessa Gould, vice president; Joan Morris, treasurer, and Matt Goehner, Clay Greenwood, Kathy Boe, Scott Sandness and David Bruins. Secretary Bonnie Ukestad is staff appointed.
People interested in serving on the board may contact Walters or visit https://jamestownparksandrec.com/foundation for more information.
“We have a lot of people that work on committees as well that aren’t necessarily a board of director of the foundation,” she said. “But we have individual committees that are working on, for example, on the Nickeus Park project. We have groups that are focusing on slowpitch softball,” so if people have an interest area they can approach the board if they want to have an established fund designated for what their project or initiative may be, a process the board goes through, she said.
“Then typically those individuals or
organizations that come to the board, they’re the ones that kind of become that planning committee,” Walters said.
Scholarships, assistance
The foundation’s active fundraising typically goes to support scholarships, Walters said. The scholarship fund helps people who can’t afford a membership or program registration fee, she said, whether it’s for a Parks and Rec program or a user group.
“So we recently supported some soccer players that couldn’t afford the registration and travel expenses to play competitive soccer,” Walters said.
The application form for a scholarship can be found on the Parks and Rec website. Click on “Foundation” and then select “Scholarship Program.” There is also a TRAC scholarship program to support the cost of a TRAC membership for individuals and families who otherwise would not be able to afford a membership.
“TRAC is probably our largest area where we see
scholarship requests to support memberships,” Walters said.
The Festival of Trees
This year, for the third year, the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation will hold its Festival of Trees, a primary fundraiser for the foundation that benefits scholarships. Individuals and businesses sponsor fully decorated items such as Christmas trees, wreaths and centerpieces, which the public can view at The Bunker. The items are auctioned off in an online auction on the first Friday in December, Heinrich said, and the event includes a social hour at The Bunker with refreshments, Liechty said.
“A lot of our Christmas trees at the festival are given to families who need something at the time,” Heinrich said.
The foundation also hosts a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, which is the largest fundraiser for scholarships, Walters said. ksteiner@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8449












Contributed / Jamestown Parks and Recreation
The McElroy Park Fields renovation
area.


Earnyour
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Central Valley Health District brings programs to the community
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Central Valley Health District has been working to be more visible in the community, said Kara Falk, executive director, with its programs, presentations and nursing services.
“For us, looking at moving the community forward, public health is community,” she said.
“Our definition is community to prevent and promote and protect the wellness of it.” Programs in the community
“In our maternal health department, we did a lot of work this year with the James River Valley Breastfeeding Coalition in working to make breastfeeding more accessible and attainable out in the community,” said Shannon Klatt, director of health promotion.
They hosted breastfeeding stations at community events including the A-Maze-N Clown Pumpkin Patch, Stutsman County Fair and Jamestown Speedway races, she said.
CVHD also hosted the North Dakota Biennial Breastfeeding Conference for the first time, Klatt said, which brought in more than 100 breastfeeding professionals from across the state to learn from nationwide experts.
The health district hosted five car seat checkup events in communities, Klatt said.
Klatt and Jill Wald, a car seat tech, also provided car seat safety education to child welfare workers to ensure they’re doing safe practice when they’re in the field.
Falk noted CVHD distributes car seats for free or reduced rates as well.
School programs
“We were able to get a grant and we partnered with three different classrooms through Stutsman County and Logan County that provided

garden boxes in classrooms to try to help students grow vegetables to provide more nutritious means and education, understanding of the nutrition and value of something like a garden,” Falk said.
CVHD also hosted events on substance misuse and prevention, she said.
“We hosted a Mental Health Night at Jamestown High School for the girls and boys basketball games and provided resources regarding mental health awareness,” she said.
CVHD hosted awardwinning speaker Michael DeLeon, Falk said.
“He spoke to over 1200 local students about prevention and youth empowerment,” she said. “He came to the high school and then he also presented for the entire community at the high school too.”
Falk said CVHD partnered with Jamestown High School for the event and several rural schools bused students to the event.
CVHD’s annual Kids Safety Day event for preschoolers was held at the
Jamestown Civic Center.
Health and safety partners were invited to host booths with education and provide resources for families and kids, Klatt said. A few hundred people turned out, Klatt said, for “a very funfilled day.”
CVHD participated in the Community Block Party that brings University of Jamestown students to downtown, promoting health services it provides on campus for students, Falk said. Klatt said they began providing services there last year. Two days a week, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., they’ve offered wellness exams, strep tests, immunizations and mental health screenings, bringing care to students who might not have access off campus, Klatt said.
Other events they participated in include the Buffalo Days Parade, Running of the Pink, Pound for Pink and Baskets, Bags and Bubbly, city of Jamestown staff wellness fair, the Winter Ag and Construction Expo and the Downtown Arts Market, sponsoring one of the markets, Falk said.
Nursing services
The health unit’s Mobile Health Clinic provided sports physicals in rural communities and immunizations and blood pressure checks on Mobile Mondays, Falk said.
CVHD also brings flu shot clinics to businesses and schools, Klatt said. She said businesses may not be aware that CVHD can bring the service to them.
“We go to them during respiratory season and we can provide that so your staff don’t have to leave work to go and get a flu or COVID shot come that season,” Klatt said. “We made it to 38 businesses this year.”
Kim Lee, director of nursing, said flu shots and COVID shots are also provided at CVHD and in the mobile health unit. She said they also provided cholesterol screenings on site to employees at several businesses.
Emergency preparedness and response
CVHD’s emergency preparedness and response helped assist Anne Carlsen Center with its
relocation of residents to its new campus, Falk said. The move included 35 children and all of Anne Carlsen Center’s equipment.
The agency used evacuation planning from the state for the process.
“They used our expert here in our office to help make that be a flawless transition,” Klatt said.
Memory Cafe
CVHD collaborated to get the Buffalo City Memory Cafe, a monthly support group for those with dementia and their caregivers, Falk said.
The Memory Cafe was recently formed in Jamestown by the James River Senior Center and Aging Services Division of the North Dakota Department of Human Services.
“They talk about issues ranging from medication management to looking ahead to legal implications for advanced dementia stages,” Falk said.
CVHD is helping line up speakers and seeking donations for the group, Falk said.
“It’s a small group so far but we’re hoping to get more aware of it,” Lee said.
The Memory Cafe meets from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at the James River Senior Center, 419 5th St. NE.
Falk said CVHD has given a few presentations to the community and wants to get more programs for the community. Falk spoke to the Regional EMS Conference on communicable diseases and hand hygiene.
Klatt said CVHD promoted Parents Lead, a state program which focuses on conversation starters. She said it provides opportunities for parents to have conversations with their children about anything from preventing substance use to bullying and cyberawareness issues.
“... research shows that just sitting down and talking to your kids is a protective factor and it’s the most substantial thing when it comes to prevention with youth,” Klatt said. “They do a really good job highlighting things that you can do to take care of your kids.” CVHD has an online platform called Credible Mind that provides people with resources, Klatt said. It’s free to the community and is available at centralvalleyhealth.org and on social media.
“You can go on there and basically search anything that you may be struggling with or experiencing and that provides you with resources and podcasts and links to services … so it’s a really good resource to have at your fingertips,” Klatt said.
This year, Falk said CVHD would like to get Jamestown a Cardiac Ready Community status.
“There is criteria through American Health Association for getting people CPR ready,” she said. That would include getting AEDs through the community, she said, and mapping the AEDs in the community.
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
Jamestown chamber, tourism, city collaborate on rebrand
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The rebrand of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce was a collaborative process that also benefitted the city of Jamestown and Jamestown Tourism, said Emily Bivens, executive director of the chamber and Jamestown Tourism.
The three entities collaborated together on the project, she said.
“This rebrand was really bringing the community together so that we have maybe a more clear path forward in our work,” she said.
Warren Abrahamson, marketing manager, said the entities work closely together.
“We find (Jamestown) Tourism is the one that’s promoting the community to those who don’t live here, the chamber is getting those who do live here connected with different resources, businesses and different opportunities, and the city is of course providing those services,” he said.
Bivens said Jamestown Tourism’s brand was more than 10 years old
and they wanted something new and fresh that was also traditional to Jamestown.
“In this process, we invited all of those entities together, and we worked with Odney, a marketing agency based in Bismarck who works with state tourism and several other entities in the state, and they came up with a few mockups,” Abrahamson said. “And in conversation with the city, with Tourism, with the chamber, a lot of conversation centered on what would be a brand that would just display Jamestown.”
While they knew the buffalo was important they explored other options as well, he said, but ultimately decided it had to be present in some way with Jamestown being the Buffalo City.
The end choice was a bison facing west, paying tribute to westward expansion and growth, Abrahamson said, looking to the future.
The result is a brand that has a different-colored banner for each individual entity with the same bison. Jamestown Tourism’s “discover” banner is orange, the
in the Jamestown
“Moving

city of Jamestown’s is blue and the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce’s banner is green, Abrahamson said.
Chamber staff growth
Bivens said the collaboration between the chamber and Jamestown Tourism, which became official in 2022, allowed them to expand what they offer and staffing as well.
“So Warren and I are both shared positions between Tourism and chamber, that’s the main meat of the collaboration,” Bivens said. “But so much overlaps with the missions of the chamber and Tourism and so it’s just been a
really great collaboration and partnership for us to move forward and for us to offer more things to our visitors, to our chamber members and just to our community. There’s a lot of different efficiencies that we’re continuing to find.”
The position of chamber staff member Vincent Kloubec was changed to focus more on members, which has grown membership and retention, Biven said. The chamber has 365 members.
The Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce and Jamestown Tourism are located in the same building at 120 2nd St. SE


along with the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. A project to remodel the building was approved in 2024 which will include a dedicated visitor center for tourism, Bivens said. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
Contributed / CVHD
Central Valley Health District staff participated in the Community Block Party in 2024, which welcomes new students at the University of Jamestown. CVHD also provides services to students on campus twice a week.

JRMC moves community forward through innovation, expanded access, recognition
JAMESTOWN — For 90 years, Jamestown Regional Medical Center (JRMC) has been more than just a hospital — it has been a driving force in healthcare progress, ensuring highquality, accessible care for the community.
Through innovation, expanded access and national recognition for excellence, JRMC continues to move the region forward. From improving access through online scheduling and rural specialty clinics to leading advancements in surgical care, JRMC remains dedicated to keeping healthcare advanced, patient-focused and close to home.
“Healthcare is always changing, and so are we,” said JRMC President and CEO Mike Delfs. “Our team is committed to bringing innovative solutions that make care more convenient, effective and accessible for the people we serve.”
Expanding Access: Online Scheduling and Specialty Clinics
JRMC is removing barriers to care with its online scheduling tool, making it easier for patients to book appointments with Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), Gynecology and Obstetrics, Orthopedics, Podiatry and Urology specialists. Appointments immediately sync with the provider schedule and no referral is needed.
For those outside Jamestown, JRMC also brings specialty care closer to home. Patients in Carrington have long had access to orthopedic and podiatry services, and now, starting April 10, wound care specialist Holli Marquart will offer a weekly clinic at the JRMC Carrington Clinic located at 923 1st St. S.
While these services aren’t new, some residents may not realize how much care is already available in their community.
“Expanding access doesn’t always mean building something new,” said Trisha Jungels, JRMC chief nursing officer.
“Sometimes, it’s about making sure people know the resources they already have — and ensuring
they’re as easy to access as possible.”
Same-day Joint Replacement: A Century of Progress
When Jamestown Hospital opened in 1935, joint replacement surgery didn’t exist. Patients with severe joint pain had few options beyond braces, pain management or limited mobility.
Today, JRMC’s same-day joint replacement program allows patients to have knee replacement surgery in the morning and return home that same day. Other joints, like hips and shoulders typically only require a night stay.
“The ability to replace a joint and send a patient home the same day is a major step forward,” said Dr. Roxanne Keene, JRMC orthopedic surgeon. “With advancements in surgical techniques, anesthesia and recovery protocols, patients can start moving sooner, experience less pain and heal faster—all while recovering in the comfort of their own home.”
A Legacy of Care: 90 Years and Counting
As JRMC celebrates 90 years of service, it reflects on nearly a century of growth and transformation. What opened as Jamestown Hospital in 1935 has evolved into a regional healthcare leader, continuously adapting to meet the community’s needs.
One of its most significant investments is its people. JRMC is currently on the American Nurses Credentialing Center Pathway to Excellence, a prestigious designation recognizing hospitals that create a positive, supportive work environment for nurses and staff. A strong workplace culture means better retention, improved patient care and a healthier community.
“We know that taking care of our team means better patient care,” Jungels said. “Creating a workplace where people feel supported, valued and empowered leads to better outcomes for everyone.”
JRMC’s commitment to excellence has also been recognized at the national level. The medical center has been named a 2025 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital for the twelfth time by the Chartis Center for Rural Health, highlighting
Collin’s
its dedication to providing high-quality, efficient care for rural communities.
Additionally, its obstetrics team has been nationally ranked in the top 12% by the Women’s Choice Award, ensuring outstanding care for mothers and newborns.
Moving Healthcare Forward
Healthcare is about progress — ensuring the next generation has access to better, more efficient and compassionate care.
As JRMC continues evolving, it is exploring robotic-assisted surgical technology to enhance patient outcomes further. Robotic surgery, including the da Vinci surgical system, is recognized for its precision, minimally invasive techniques and faster recovery times. While commonly used in urology and gynecology, JRMC also looks at how it could expand general surgery coverage in the region.
“Technology like the da Vinci system is reshaping surgery,” Delfs said. “It allows for greater precision, smaller incisions and shorter recovery times, which means better patient outcomes.”
Bringing robotic-assisted surgery to JRMC would require a significant investment, including ensuring that at least two full-time surgeons fully utilize the system. As JRMC continues to grow and gain recognition as a surgical center of excellence, expanding its capabilities with robotic technology would allow even more patients to receive advanced care close to home.
From expanded online scheduling to specialty care in Carrington, from cutting-edge orthopedic advancements to nationally recognized patient care, JRMC is leading the way.
The medical center is not just growing — it’s evolving, meeting the changing needs of its patients and community. And that is what moving the community forward truly means: meeting the needs of today while preparing for tomorrow.
As JRMC marks 90 years of service, it does so with a clear mission: to exceed expectations and be THE difference in the lives of those we serve.
Aerospace

R.M. Stoudt adapts to changes in the business
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — A lot of changes have occurred in the vehicle business in the last few years and R.M. Stoudt continues to adapt, said Clint Boom, general manager.
“The car world turned upside down when COVID shortages started to happen,” he said. “And every change is a new challenge and every day is a new change so we are doing our best to stick around for our community.”
Boom said the used-vehicle market is normalizing.
“For a while there, vehicles got really expensive … and the used market is calming down which is — it’s kind of like when there’s a fluctuation in housing,” he said, when people who are selling their homes get a benefit during a rise in home prices.
“So the people that got the benefit of the high used-price (vehicle) and got into something newer had a huge benefit,” Boom said. “Now that it’s calming down, that person that’s driving that used vehicle, it affects their trade as well,
and we’re combatting higher interest rates now that have been holding now for over a year.”
He said that presents new challenges, but when gas prices go up, they sell smaller vehicles and when gas prices go down, they sell bigger vehicles. When the used market gets too high, they sell new and when new gets too high, they sell used.
Boom said they are also seeing prices come down on new vehicles.
“We’re seeing huge price drops on new vehicles for the first time in four years and that gives you the insight that the new will start to normalize in pricing,” he said. “New vehicles usually don’t make an adjustment that way, they usually just steadily increase, but because they jumped up so quickly, they’re starting to come down … and we’ve been able to move some new vehicles that had high prices prior to it. So it’s more of a light-at-the-end-of-thetunnel-type thing for us.”
He said it’s always new and exciting in the vehicle business.
“We’re always switching directions and it’s not
something you get to settle in and coast,” Boom said.
“It’s a lot like farming. If you don’t adapt and you don’t change, you don’t succeed. …and we’re doing that for our employees and our job security as well as our community and our future with Jamestown.”
While the industry has had changes, Boom said people have not changed.
“Our customers still require a reliable, affordable vehicle, and our employees still have to work hard to get that done,” he said. “Whether that’s fixing them, selling them or getting parts for them. All of those departments work together so it’s all one big machine that allows us to carry on.” Boom said R.M. Stoudt is ramping up for spring. He thanked those people who have supported R.M. Stoudt through its 84 years in business.
“Obviously, without our loyal customers, we’re nothing and without our employees we’re nothing, so it’s all a big shared responsibility with everybody involved,” he said. ksteiner@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8449


Contributed
Stoudt
R.M. Stoudt has been in business for 84 years and continues
adapt
times, says Clint Boom, general manager.
Contributed / JRMC
Dr. Roxanne Keene talks with patient Bruce Willyard of Carrington, North Dakota, following his knee replacement surgery.
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun Collin’s Aerospace employs many people from the Jamestown area.

JSDC Internship Reimbursement Program a success
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp.’s Internship Reimbursement Program has been a success, according to Alyssa Looysen, business development director for JSDC.
Looysen said 43 interns have participated in the Internship Reimbursement Program since it launched in 2021. Half of the interns participating come from the University of Jamestown, she said.
Jamie Czapiewski, operations coordinator at JSDC, said those who have participated in the program include apprentice electricians and accounting and marketing interns among others.
Looysen said interns get experience in their fields for higher education and the employer is also reimbursed for the intern.
Looysen said some of the interns who participated in the JSDC program have stayed in Jamestown.
“We’re hoping to connect more interns here in the future to get them more involved in the
community, get them knowing all that Jamestown has to offer,” she said. “We’re just trying to really connect them with our community, and helping them feel at home here.”
She said a networking event could help interns and others learn about different community groups and service clubs.
“Things like that where they can connect with people who are close in age to them that are also trying to build their network and get connected in their community and serve the community,” Looysen said.
The JSDC launched its Intern Reimbursement Program in 2021 to help increase the number of local internships and assist Stutsman County employers in workforce recruitment and retention. The program is open to employers in Stutsman County.
The program contributes up to $3,500 to reimburse employers that hire university or college students to assist in payroll costs. The program allows employers to get half of the internship reimbursed.
Employers are required to pay the intern at least $15 per hour.
The employer and internship position must be located in Stutsman County. Interns must be juniors or seniors or within two years of completing their program.
Employers cannot receive reimbursement for the same intern for more than one round of funding.
The internship does not have to be for academic credit but it is encouraged.
The JSDC meets quarterly to award eligible employers. Specific dollar amounts will be determined for each application selected at that time. Applications must be signed by the employer, potential intern and an academic adviser. The application should be sent to info@growingjamestown.com for consideration. The JSDC Board of Directors will review and approve the applications. Applications for the Internship Reimbursement Program are available at https://shorturl.at/ G81fu.
mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
Otter Tail Power Co.


Eddy Funeral Home



Masaki
The
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
The staff at Eddy Funeral Home is committed to helping area families during their time of need. They offer cremation and traditional services, and assistance sheltering funds for pre-paid services in accordance with Medicaid qualifications. Standing, from left, are Jeremy Williams, funeral assistant; Garin Martin, licensed funeral director; Michael Williams, licensed funeral director, and David Morlock, funeral assistant. Seated, from left, are Ashley Redmann, funeral assistant, and Courtenay Olson, funeral assistant.
Masaki Ova / The Jamestown Sun
More than 40 interns have participated in the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp.’s Internship Reimbursement Program.
Ryno Van Der Westhuizen with
remediation.
Class B state tournament went well, Fosse says
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The Division B Girls State Tournament went well at the Jamestown Civic Center, says the Civic Center director.
Pam Fosse said 6,324 session tickets were sold through GoFan. Ticket sales were down a little due to smaller towns qualifying for the March 6-8 tournament, she said.
Fosse noted there were also cash ticket sales at the Civic Center, and the North Dakota High School Activities Association was calculating those manually, so she did not have those totals.
“I think it’s good, it’s comparable to what we did last year,” she said of attendance.
Fosse said they received positive feedback from tournament goers.
“We had no complaints that I’m aware of,” she said. “Those that did offer their opinions were impressed with the improvements that we’ve made here at the Civic Center.”
Those improvements include a new score table and lockers for the athletes, she said.
“A few of the locker rooms didn’t have actual lockers,” she said. “ … We have new seating, courtside and in the locker rooms. Big screen TVs in all of the meeting rooms so that whether it be a dance team or cheerleaders or the coaches in their designated areas, they’re able to watch the game and they know exactly when they need to be out on the floor.”
The new sound system was crisp and clear, Fosse said.
“Tricorne Audio was good enough to provide us with a technician on site in the event of a sound system error, simply because my staff and I are still familiarizing ourselves with the sound system, so had something occurred our lack of experience could have hampered the tournament,” she said. “But everything went quite smoothly as expected and I think overall it was a good experience for everyone.”
Dakota Central also had an employee on-site in case there were internet or ethernet issues, she said, but none occurred.
Fosse said she was “tending to operations” and wasn’t able to see the championship game presentation, but was told it was “phenomenal.”
“It was a smoke and light show as the athletes ran through the curtains,” she said. “... kudos to the High School Activities Association, they’re awesome to work with, and Jim Roaldson was down on the floor, he and Chad Berger were organizing this athlete presentation for the championship game and I think everybody really enjoyed it.”
Fosse also praised her staff for their efforts.
“They have been putting in 15 hour days at least,” Fosse said. “Days upon days in a row. We go from District girls to District boys and Region girls and state tournaments and then Region boys, so they have just been absolute rock stars. We received so many compliments on the appearance of the building. The staff has just been working overtime, clearly, preparing the building not only for this event but for all events. I think they take a lot of pride in what they do and it really shows.”
She said Miranda Martell is the custodial supervisor who has the staff stepping up to the plate and completing tasks.
ksteiner@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8449

says

Hofmann Trucking partnering with schools on new CDL program
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Hof -
mann Trucking is helping move the community forward by assisting with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) program that will be offered in Jamestown, says Curt Waldie, CEO and owner of the business.
The James Valley Career and Technology Center plans to offer a CDL program through Jamestown High School in the next academic year, according to Adam Gehlhar, director of JVCTC.
“We’re just partnering with them to get the program started and we’re excited about that as part of keeping Jamestown progressive,” Waldie said.
Hofmann Trucking was founded on July 1, 1999, by Waldie and the late Larry Lee Hofmann. The business provides over-the-road trucking services and some local truck repairs.
Waldie said having the CDL program means that drivers will be able to attain a CDL in Jamestown rather than having to go to Fargo or other locations.
“Extensive training is now required to obtain a commercial driver’s license. You have to take a course of study to do that,” regardless of age, he said. “This is going to allow the Jamestown school and surrounding areas to offer this to 12th grade students so they can obtain it even before they graduate high school. But then it

Valley Plains Equipment seeks students for John Deere Tech Program
BY MASAKI OVA The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Valley Plains Equipment is looking for students to enroll in its John Deere Tech Program that helps individuals become a service technician for its equipment.
Valley Plains Equipment sends students to Lake Area Technical College in Watertown, South Dakota, to go through a two-year program that emphasizes becoming a diesel mechanic and learning about John Deere equipment, said Brooke Alfson, employee resources at Valley Plains Equipment.
“So they go through a bunch of mechanical stuff, electrical, hydraulic, and they do a bunch of different stuff and learn the basics of how to operate machinery, how to remove
and replace certain parts and to diagnose something that is wrong,” she said.
Once students complete the program, they will get their certification as a service technician and a fulltime job with Valley Plains Equipment.
“There’s obviously continuing education that continues throughout your time with us because everything is always changing and evolving,” Alfson said.
She said students who enroll into the John Deere Tech Program are almost guaranteed a job as a service technician once they graduate.
Individuals who want to enroll into the program will do a paid internship with Valley Plains Equipment the summer before they attend Lake Area Technical College to ensure that they enjoy what they
are doing and see the work they will do as a service technician.
Once students are sent to Lake Area Technical College, Valley Plains Equipment pays for the student’s tuition and tools, books and fees and provides each student with a laptop computer. Alfson said Valley Plains Equipment has an apartment complex in Watertown where students can stay and provides a $2,000 stipend per semester for housing.
“That is a huge help, obviously, when your college and tools and everything is getting paid for,” she said.
Alfson said students will work at a Valley Plains Equipment dealership for two weeks each semester to apply what they learned. She said individuals can


also will be opened up to the general public ... .”
Waldie said there is a great demand for CDL drivers, noting a CDL is also needed for driving buses and one-ton pickup trucks.
“It’s to enhance every aspect of our local area because there’s a definite shortage in all those areas,” he said of the new program. “… We’re a part of the business in the semitruck industry, but this program will help the whole community.”
Hofmann Trucking expands Hofmann Trucking celebrated 25 years in 2024, Waldie said. It employs 160 people. He thanked his employees and Jamestown





Contributed / Valley Plains Equipment
Valley Plains Equipment sends students to Lake Area Technical College in Watertown, South Dakota, to go through a two-year program that emphasizes becoming a diesel mechanic and learning about John Deere equipment. Once students complete the John Deere Tech Program, they
Contributed / Jamestown Civic Center
Feedback was positive for the Jamestown Civic Center during the Division B Girls State Tournament,
Pam Fosse, director of the Civic Center.
Contributed / Hofmann Trucking
Curt Waldie, back left, with the office staff at Hofmann Trucking’s corporate office in Jamestown.
Lifestyle Appliance and Entertainment Center offers multiple brands
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Life-
style Appliance and Entertainment Center is marking its 48th year in business this year, say owners Colin and Toni Wegenast. Colin’s father, LeRoy, started the business in 1977.
“We appreciate ... our loyal customers,” Toni said. “We couldn’t be here and do what we do without the customers as well as the staff that we have. To show our appreciation for that, we try to give back to the community as much as we can.” They do that in several ways.
“We do donations, sponsorships … we’ve volunteered our time,” she said. “We encourage our employees to be involved in the community.”
At Lifestyle, service after the sale has always been
important, Colin and Toni said.
“We have four full-time service technicians to be able to work on anything we sell,” Toni said. She said it’s getting to be hot tub and Green Egg season.
“Hot tubs are easier to get now,” Colin said. “Three to four weeks availability to order.”
Appliance brands that Lifestyle Appliance and Entertainment Center carry are Bosch, LG, GE, Frigidaire, Maytag, Kitchen Aid, Whirlpool, Speed Queen, Midea and Electro Lux.
“It seems like we’re getting a lot of people that are switching houses or remodeling their house, and there’s always really good package deals available for multiple pieces (appliances),” Colin said. “Now is a great time to upgrade those old appliances to more energy efficient ones. And
there’s new features, like most of the ovens have (an) air fryer in the oven.”
There are also air fryers now in some microwave ovens, they said.
“So people can eliminate that little air fryer taking up space on their counter,” Toni said.
Some fridges also make four different types of ice, Colin said.
“We carry super dependable Speed Queen washers and dryers that are heavier duty than most other brands out there,” Colin added. “They make almost everything right in Wisconsin. And they’ve been doing it for over 100 years. They’re basically a laundromat machine that you can use in your home.”
“They have the best warranty on the market too,” Toni said.
Lifestyle also carries the line of Amazing Rest mattresses, which are “a nice mattress for the money,”
SMP Health - Ave Maria project to enhance quality of care
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — SMP
Health - Ave Maria has been part of the Jamestown community since 1962 and was the first nursing home established in Jamestown. Decades later, it continues to provide essential services including 24/7 skilled nursing care and short-term rehabilitation services including physical, occupational and speech therapy, as well as offering assisted-living services in its attached apartment complex.
In November, SMP Health - Ave Maria announced plans to add a new addition that will include private rooms and remodel some existing semi-private rooms to become private rooms.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for April with a 13-month project timeline.
“We simply can’t wait for this project to be
completed,” said Tonie Stoen, CEO/administrator. “Our team knows the value and impact these changes will have for the better. Currently, we have far more semi-privates than we do private rooms. After the project, we’ll have more privates than semi-privates. We look forward to the countless ways this will enhance our quality of care and the service offerings we can provide to the community.”
Annie Hancock, development director, said as the years passed, it became apparent to Ave Maria that the way it cares for residents needs to evolve; like everything in the medical world, progress is a necessity.
“We pride ourselves on providing person-centered care and while our team is phenomenal, we have been limited by the space in some of our double rooms,” she said. “We are eager to embark on this
exciting project with the intention of creating a comfortable, homelike space for the residents who call Ave Maria home.”
She said the private room project offers a unique opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the lives of Ave Maria’s residents, loved ones and team.
In an effort to fundraise a large portion of the estimated $8 million project, SMP Health - Ave Maria announced its Forward in Faith campaign in November.
“With a variety of naming opportunities available at all price points, donors can choose to support spaces that reflect their values and commitment to compassionate care. From private suites and gathering spaces to the nurse’s station and family areas, every contribution helps create a more comfortable, dignified and homelike environment for those we

renting the room, said John Ruff, operations manager of Hillcrest Golf Course. The hospitality room received an update and is available to rent for a variety of events, he said.
Hospitality room updated at Hillcrest Golf Course
BY KATHY STEINER
Sun
Jamestown
The
JAMESTOWN
— The hospitality room at the Pro Shop at Hillcrest Golf Course was remodeled recently, said John Ruff, operations manager of Hillcrest Golf Course.
Ruff said the room still had many of its original features since it was created around 1996.
“It just needed an update,” he said. “It just needed a refresher. And I think it’s more of an opportunity for us to generate a little bit more revenue just by renting it out, so it’s a little nicer place to have an event at.”
The hospitality room is used by golfers during tournaments and is also available to be rented out for events such as family
reunions, baby showers, birthday parties and other events, he said.
“It’s a pretty decentsized room,” he said, adding it can hold about 80 people.
Ruff said the project started in early February and was expected to be completed in March.
In addition to the update, a large-screen TV was added, he said.
The hospitality room has an area where people can serve refreshments, Ruff said. Most people holding events in the room cater the food or bring it themselves, he said.
“There is a patio off the east of the hospitality room, which is really nice, has a few picnic tables,” Ruff said. “There is a grill that’s available…

Lifestyle also carries
tubs. Colin said they look forward to helping their customers any way they can. “We’ve got a great

if people want to bring food and cook on the grill.”
As part of the project, they also enlarged the storage room at the Pro Shop, he said, which expanded the storage available in the building. Ruff said they hope to remodel the Pro Shop next year.
Hillcrest Golf Course is located at 606 26th Ave. SE.
The hospitality room is available to rent out yearround, Ruff said. To rent the space after the golf course opens, call the Hillcrest Pro Shop at 2524320 and ask for John. In the offseason, call the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Office at 252-3982. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449

Our customers have trusted us to power their lives for more than a century And we’ll continue to provide the reliable, low-cost electricity our communities depend on.
Our customers have trusted us to power their lives for more than a century And we’ll continue to provide the reliable, low-cost electricity our otpco com
otpco com

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
A patio off of the hospitality room at the Hillcrest Pro Shop is available to use as part of
Colin said.
Nordic hot
Toni and Colin Wegenast

John M. Steiner
Wilhelm said.
Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC continues to support community
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown community has moved Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC forward for the past 64 years, according to Rod Wilhelm, co-owner of the dealership in Jamestown.
“Hopefully, we can continue a good relationship,” Wilhelm said.
He said Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC is helping move the community forward with its support for the University of Jamestown, area schools, organizations and other events. He said employees are encouraged to volunteer and be involved in service clubs to make a difference in the community.
“Some of them are pretty good at that,” he said, referring to his employees being involved in the community.
Wilhelm said the

dealership, along with other businesses, continues to support many events and causes in the Jamestown area.
“A lot of us look at supporting as a way to advertise and help the community,” he said. “That’s how we support and keep the community going.”
Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC’s sponsorship of Miss Rodeo North Dakota the past eight years has grown into a big relationship with the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, Wilhelm said. The sponsorship of Miss Rodeo North Dakota supports her by allowing her to use a Chevrolet pickup for a year.
“We built a lot of relationships because of that,” Wilhelm said. “We really enjoy helping them out, and they really appreciate it too.”
He said 19 rodeo queens
from every level and different states came to the dealership on March 7. He said the rodeo queens come over from the North Dakota Winter Show in Valley City and are introduced to the Jamestown community.
“North Dakota is about farming and ranching, and that’s what our business is all about and our customers,” Wilhelm said, referring to why it’s important to sponsor Miss Rodeo North Dakota.
Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC will hold the 14th Annual Don Wilhelm Car Show on Sept. 20 that raises funds for Huntington’s Disease Society of America’s Northern Plains Chapter. The dealership supports Stutsman County 4-H by donating to the organization after members help sell raffle tickets that
Wilhelm on F8
Buffalo Mall

Gun
Reel Sports

CONTiNUeD from F4
residents for pushing Hofmann Trucking forward. “We’ve opened a terminal now in West Fargo,” he said.
Hofmann Trucking has four terminal locations. Its corporate office is in Jamestown and other locations are Tioga and West Fargo, North Dakota, and Douglas, Wyoming.


We provide $20,000 towards tuition and tools. We provide paid internships for students.
We provide a laptop to use while in college and at internships.
We provide John Deere computer programs. We provide work uniforms and personal protective equipment (PPE) to students while working at the dealership.
We provide housing while in school.
“We thank the community for their business and support of Crossroads Repair and Hofmann Trucking,” Waldie said. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449



/ The Jamestown Sun
Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC Co-owner Rod Wilhelm stands with rodeo queens for Miss Rodeo North Dakota. Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC’s sponsorship of Miss Rodeo North Dakota the past eight years has grown into a big relationship with the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame,
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
The Buffalo Mall in Jamestown is home to many retail stores as well as a fitness center and movie theater complex.
&
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Now that spring is here, it’s a good time to check out the great selection of motorcycles at Gun & Reel Sports in downtown Jamestown.

Alpha Opportunities Inc. opening new residential habilitation group home
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Alpha Opportunities Inc. recently opened a second residential habilitation group home to serve clients, said Mallory Everson, executive director, and plans to open another one in April.
“Last December, we opened an all-men’s residential habilitation group home on the southwest side of Jamestown, and six gentlemen live there,” she said.
The third home will be located in northeast Jamestown.
“It will originally open as a four-bed home for women for residential habilitation but it will be expanded to having six people (women) living in the home,” Everson said.
Alpha Opportunities Inc. is a nonprofit organization providing person-centered services to people with developmental disabilities
over the age of 18, Everson said.
In addition to the residential habilitation group homes, it also operates two intermediate care facility group homes for people with higher needs, she said.
Residents have their own bedroom in residential habilitation group settings, Everson said. They make their meals together, go grocery shopping together and are encouraged to help with cleaning and maintaining the home, she said. They also have 24/7 staffing support, Everson said, including help with transportation and teaching them skills needed to live in that apartment setting on their own.
“They go out in the community, some of them work jobs, some attend the day program (Alpha provides)…,” she said. Everson said the goal of a person in a residential
habilitation group program is to build skills and gain independence to move into an apartment and be successful in the community.
Alpha Opportunities supports 54 people in the community, Everson said, including 22 who live in their own apartments. There are 38 individuals currently in its day program.
Alpha Opportunities has 87 employees, Everson said.
She said there is a high need for more group home facilities to support people and it can be difficult to open one when everyone is looking for employees.
“It makes it very challenging for a provider to expand and to grow,” she said. “However, Alpha has now been able to have this impact on the community of Jamestown two times in the last about year and a half. And so I think that’s a
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — RE/
MAX Now of Jamestown and Valley City received honors for work in 2024 at the national RE/MAX R4 Convention in Las Vegas in February, said Beth Keller, broker/ owner and James Jensen, associate broker/ owner.
“I’m so excited to share the progress of RE/MAX Now in 2024 and moving forward in 2025,” Keller said.
Jensen was named No. 26 in the country for commercial real estate sales for RE/MAX in the United States.
Keller received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from RE/MAX. The award recognizes “highachieving RE/MAX associates for their service to buyers and/or sellers during their career and honors their outstanding commitment of trust and professionalism to clients.”
Ross Powell was named to the Hall of Fame, a prestigious award, Jensen said.
RE/MAX Now of Jamestown and Valley City had the top average transaction per agent in the state of North Dakota for RE/MAX.
Jensen, Keller and Powell were named the top three RE/MAX agents for closed transactions in the state of North Dakota for RE/ MAX in 2024.














The following awards presented to RE/MAX Now of Jamestown and Valley City agents honored them as “highachieving real estate professionals for their trust, professionalism and service to buyers and/or sellers during the past year.” Those honored were: Platinum Award: Tim
Perkins, Powell and Keller
100% Club: Nichole Klundt, Alicia Wanzek
Executive Club: Shelby Hart, Sally Domke
Titan Award: Jensen Leah Fadness was named the Manager of the Year for RE/MAX offices in the state of North Dakota. She works out of the office in Jamestown and also in the Valley City office.
“We would like to thank all of our hardworking agents for their commitment to serve the Jamestown and Valley City communities,” Keller said.
The year ahead
“Moving forward in 2025, we realize that we have a housing shortage in which we are working with developers to try to meet that demand in both Valley City and Jamestown,” Keller said.
“There definitely is a pent-up demand for patio homes in Jamestown in the older demographic to move into properties that are low maintenance for lawn care, snow removal and structure.”
She said they frequently have requests from some of the major employers in Jamestown for homes for sale and also rental properties because Jamestown is growing.
Valley City has a demand for single-family homes in an affordable price range, Jensen said.
“We at RE/MAX Now in Jamestown and Valley City are very excited to work with you and fulfill all of your real estate needs which includes residential, commercial and land,” Keller said.
RE/Ma X on F10






Contributed / Alpha Opportunities
Alpha Opportunities Inc. is opening a residential habilitation home for women in Jamestown in April. From left: Judy Sweet, resident of the new home; Mallory Everson, executive director for Alpha Opportunities, and Kaytee Dosch, resident of the new home.
Midco project about 60% complete
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Midcontinent Communications is about 60% complete with its project to connect fiber-optic lines in Jamestown, according to Cole Mack, vice president of construction and field engineering.
He said about 4,800 lots are connected and over 3,300 lots remain for work. Mack said Midco’s project should be complete this year.
Midco was granted a franchise agreement in 2021 with the city of Jamestown to construct, maintain and operate a telecommunication system for use in the city.
Midco offers internet services, home phone and a variety of cable and streaming options.
So far, most of northeast Jamestown is connected as well as parts of southwest Jamestown.
Midco is working in northwest Jamestown and has parts of southeast Jamestown left to connect.
“Now the overhead portion kind of throughout the core of town will all get built throughout the
support Huntington’s Disease Society of America.
The Car Show and 5K Run/Walk for Huntington’s Disease has raised more than $220,000 for Huntington’s Disease Society of America, said Steve Jaskoviak, business manager at Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC. Huntington’s Disease took the life of Wilhelm’s mother, grandmother, multiple uncles and his brother, Dan.
This year’s event will include the car show and another fun event will replace the 5K run/walk, said Kathy Boe,
next few months,’ Mack said. “Then we’ll have our underground construction crews starting up here hopefully soon when the ground freezes or unthaws a little bit.”
Homeowners will receive mailers regarding construction activity and when new services are available once an area is launched, Rhonda Erickson, senior community relations manager and executive director of the Midco Foundation.
“They may see stuff on social media that’s a little bit more targeted to them,” she said.
To view information on Midco’s construction process and launch schedules, visit www.midco. com/jamestown.
Community involvement
Erickson said Midco is a “force for good” and has multiple ways it can help communities.
Midco does sponsorships and also has a foundation where nonprofit organizations can apply for small grants.
“They are making a difference,” she said.
The Midco Foundation awarded more than
comptroller at Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC.
“We really want to put more into the car show,” Wilhelm said.
He said the event draws local car clubs and others from Bismarck and Fargo.
He said a Volkswagen club had people from Canada who had Huntington’s Disease and attended the car show.
“We’re asking for support for the Volkswagen club, the Jamestown Classic Car Club,” Wilhelm said.
Jaskoviak said individuals have brought nice classic cars from other states to the car show in the past.
“It’s a pretty good show,”
$117,000 to 96 nonprofits, schools and government organizations across the Midwest in spring 2024, according to its website.
Erickson said Midco Foundation’s board meets twice a year and reviews the grant applications. She said the application window for spring is closed but will open again in July and be reviewed in October.
To apply for a grant through the Midco Foundation, visit www.midco. com, search for “foundation” in the search bar, click the “foundation link” and hit the “apply now” button under “Apply for Grant Funding.”
Midco also did sponsorships for the Jamestown Kite Festival, This Putt’s for U golf tournament, a basketball doubleheader at University of Jamestown in January ,a basketball game at Jamestown High School in February and sponsored a Christmas program at the North American Bison Discovery Center.
“We do want to contribute back to our communities,” she said. “We have staff that live in those communities too, and so we want to definitely
he said.
Jaskoviak said a 2013 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible along with other prizes to be announced later will be raffled.
Wilhelm said the dealership supports schools in a 50-mile radius from Jamestown. He said that support includes donating for proms and yearbooks.
He said Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC also supports St. John’s Academy in Jamestown by sponsoring the Legends of Rock concert, its annual HOPE Dinner and holding a coloring contest for its students.
“That’s a big thing, and it’s a fun thing,” Wilhelm said, referring to

show support to our team members as well.”
She said being involved in the community gives Midco staff an opportunity to get to know Jamestown and its businesses and residents.
“When we’re at the kite
supporting the Legends of Rock. “It’s a fun thing to support. It helps the students.”
Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC has also supported the University of Jamestown as a member of the Jimmie Booster Club for many years.
“That involves sponsoring football and basketball games and things like that,” Wilhelm said.
Boe said Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC enjoys handing out items such as T-shirts at the games that are sponsored.
Wilhelm said the dealership will donate a GMC Hummer electric bike for UJ’s Dine and Bid event.
festival, you know, we were meeting several 100 people on a single day, and that’s it,” she said. “There are a lot of opportunities for that, and it just feels good for all of us to talk to them.”
Mack agreed.
He said the dealership also supports Blue Jays athletics.
The dealership also adds items for i3G Media’s annual program where gifts are taken to farmers in the fields, said Stephanie Johnnson, marketing and advertising coordinator for Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC.
Wilhelm noted that the dealership supports many more events and organizations.
Jaskoviak said the dealership has a great team to support the community.
“We do a good job with the car show,” he said. “Everybody’s got their thing to do.”
“It’s common with wherever we are in a footprint, our teams are both there to support, but then also engaged and involved in those events as well,” he said.
mova@jamestownsun.com
| (701) 952-8454
New vehicles
Tim Schulz, new car manager, said Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC has 2025 vehicles.
He said new vehicles include the Equinox, Suburban and Tahoe from Chevrolet and the GMC Yukon along with pickups and other models.
“They’re all brand new for ’25,” he said. Schulz the Equinox does have an EV version that’s also new.
Customers are encouraged stop at Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC and check out the GMC Hummer SUV in stock.
mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454








Contributed / Midco
Midcontinent Communications staff is engaged and involved at the Jamestown Kite Festival, according to
New programs allow UJ to serve more students
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — New academic programs are allowing the University of Jamestown to serve more students, according to Polly Peterson, UJ president.
The University of Jamestown’s enrollment was 1,372 students during the fall semester, said Paul Olson, executive vice president at UJ.
“By the time you get the summer starts in there, we’ll serve about 1,600 total students this year,” he said.
Last year, the university served more than 500 students during the summer.
Peterson said UJ has added new programs where students can take courses during the summer. She said students can now take courses online, meaning they don’t have to reside in the Jamestown area or take them during traditional daytime hours.
The university has added the Master of Arts in Leadership that includes four learning tracks, Master of Business Administration with eight micro credentials available, Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, Master of Science in Clinical Counseling that requires a oneweek residency, Master of Science in Engineering Leadership, Master of Science in IT Leadership, Direct-Entry Master of Science in Nursing.
UJ’s Fargo campus is home to all of its graduate and online programs, according to the university’s website. The only inperson classes offered at its Fargo campus are for students enrolled in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Olson said those

Contributed / University of Jamestown
Jim Unruh and Liz Hunt, executive director of the Unruh School of Character in Leadership and professor of leadership studies at University of Jamestown, stand where construction and renovations are taking place on campus for the Reuben and Clarice Liechty Center for Faith and Life and the Unruh School of Character in Leadership. Jim and Candy Unruh donated $15 million toward the creation and naming of the Unruh School of Character in Leadership.
graduate and online programs allow individuals to be enrolled in them while they stay in the workforce.
“When you talk about some of the growth that we’ve had especially in the nursing arena, it’s because those programs, the ASN (Associate of Science in Nursing) program is really creative in the hybrid format of the program, and the DEMSN (DirectEntry Master of Science in Nursing) is hybrid, but it’s also the only one in our region,” Olson said. Olson said UJ launched a first-in-the-nation apprenticeship program for behavioral health. At the end of the apprenticeship, students earn a behavioral health technician apprentice certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor.
“We did a test run with the program in Arizona, and have since brought it to North Dakota,” he said. Olson said credits from
the apprenticeship program for behavioral health count toward a Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Health.
“It allows somebody that wants to work in a behavioral health setting to go from zero college credit hours to a bachelor’s degree in two and a half years,” he said, adding that the behavioral health technician would be promoted again.
He said individuals could then obtain a Master of Science in Clinical Counseling in another two years, which allows for a promotion to a counselor.
“They can go from no college education to being a master’s trained counselor in four and a half years instead of having to leave the workforce for six years like they typically would have had to 20 years ago in order to get that credential,” Olson said.
UJ’s physical therapy program will graduate its
10th class in May.
“We have graduates doing incredible work, working in hospital settings, working as entrepreneurs, working have gone on to additional education, teaching back in the profession,” Peterson said.
She said the success of the physical therapy program has allowed UJ to explore new opportunities and programs outside of its Jamestown campus.
Unruh School of Character in Leadership
Peterson said construction on the Reuben and Clarice Liechty Center for Faith and Life is coming long in a timely manner.
The Reuben and Clarice Center for Faith and Life will house the Unruh School of Character in Leadership.
“We’re looking forward to an August opening when the students return,” she said.
The Voorhees Chapel is
also being renovated.
UJ also added a Doctorate of Leadership, which complements its minor in character in leadership and Master of Arts in Leadership, said Lisa Jackson, vice president of marketing and external relations at UJ. She said the first class for the Doctorate of Leadership started this past fall.
“We don’t expect them to be large cohorts, probably 10 (students) a year so it’ll be a smaller program,” Peterson said.
She said the university is talking with businesses to find out what kind of leadership opportunities UJ can provide to their employees.
“What kind of leadership opportunities can we help support,” she said. “That can sometimes be … noncredit bearing because that’s us being out on their site for a day, them coming up here for a day in the summer, some of those kinds of things. So there’s a lot outside of just building a PhD program that is going on in the development of this school.”
Jackson said Sept. 25 will be the official launch date of the Center for Faith and Life. That day will also include a one-day conference where the community is invited for additional learning opportunities.
“There’ll be some pretty exciting speakers throughout the day,” Peterson said. “We’ll reveal the names strategically, but there are some pretty significant opportunities for learning.”
A dedication ceremony for the Center for Faith and Life is set for Sept. 26.
UJ athletics
UJ Athletic Director Austin Hieb said the university is excited for its student-athletes and fans
to be playing in NCAA Division II as part of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
“Going back to the North Star (Athletic Association) for this season, our fans were able to be more engaged,” he said.
Hieb said the Jimmies will play more regional teams from North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota who fans are familiar with.
He said UJ had an NCAA application visit and a site visit recently.
“From everything we’ve been told, the feedback has been positive, which is good,” he said.
Hieb said another NCAA visit is scheduled for this fall.
“As long as we stay on track, we’ll be in the NSIC next year competing, but if we check the boxes we’re supposed to check, we’ll be full members in the fall of ’26,” he said.
The university recently added women’s tennis and an American College Hockey Association Division 2 women’s hockey team for the 2025-26 season.
He said women’s tennis was added because it was one of the only NSIC sports that UJ didn’t sponsor. Cameron Jackson was hired recently as the women’s tennis head coach and players have already committed to UJ’s program.
The Division 2 women’s hockey was added because the university thought there was a market for another club-like team for women who want to continue playing the sport. He said it gives student-athletes a chance to play at a slightly less competitive level, meaning less practices per week and less games on the schedule. mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454

EXPLORE THE WORLD
IN NEW WAYS
Like a candle in the dark, we’re here to shed light on what technology can do for you and help spark your curiosity as you explore the world in new ways. Whether it be finding new shows and movies to stream, utilizing smart home devices like video doorbells and smart thermostats or video-chatting with friends and family, the possibilities are endless for enhancing your life through technology! Visit dakotacentral.com to start exploring!





Contributed / Marly Schnabel
Pictured from left are Uinsurance team members Jackie Graves, Michelle Weatherly, Kaydence Wilson and Brooke Walden. Uinsurance, formerly known as Harty Insurance Agency and owned by Unison Bank, has held a tradition of trust and integrity. With its brand new name, they will continue to provide their clients with the same products, customer service and values that they’ve known over the years. For more information, visit uinsurance.com.
Safe Shelter

John M. Steiner / Jamestown Sun
The staff at Safe Shelter in Jamestown are committed to helping victims of physical, emotional and sexual violence. The staff includes, from left, Mary Thysell, sexual assault services coordinator, Shauna Kifer, executive director, and Dana Mickelson, domestic violence services coordinator.

544,000 or 86%
or






























Contributed / Central Sales
New facility gives Central Sales more visibility
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The new Central Sales Inc. building will give the company more exposure to potential customers in all directions from Jamestown, according to Jeff Romsdal, owner and president.
“Everyone’s feedback … they all say it’s an excellent location, awesome visibility off the interstate (Interstate 94) and fairly easy access,” Romsdal said. Central Sales is located about 3 miles south of Jamestown on U.S. Highway 281.
The new Central Sales commercial implement dealership will be located at 1700 20th St. SW, east of the new Anne Carlsen Center location and just south of Interstate 94.
The new facility is scheduled to be complete by Oct. 15, Romsdal said.
He said the state-of-theart facility will bring more efficiencies to Central Sales’ operations.
“The new vertical parts storage and the layout of the facility will provide a
much better, more efficient design operationally … for the business,” he said. Central Sales sells Massey Ferguson tractors, Gleaner combines, White Planters, Sunflower tillage and Bobcat among other items.
The new facility will have an innovation garage to showcase the largest machinery or for predelivery inspections.
Rumor Stokes, marketing manager and customer experience, said the new facility will have an area for toys, merchandise and apparel.
He said the current location south of Jamestown could be used for a potential expansion of Central Sales. He said the other option is to lease out the current location.
Once the building is complete, Romsdal said Central Sales has a budget to add at least five positions, potentially up to seven, including for parts, sales and office administration. He said Central Sales is currently sponsoring two technicians in training through the ND Career Builders program at the North Dakota State
College of Science. He said one of those technicians will join Central Sales fulltime after graduation this spring and the other will join the team the following spring.
“They come to work for us for a minimum of three years and they get their loan forgiven,” he said, referring to the ND Career Builders program. “We would be willing to sponsor others if they would want to go down to NDSCS and come join our team.”
Romsdal said the leadership team at Central Sales and employees all deserve a lot of credit for the business’ success.
Central Sales also supports a number of organizations in the community, including local sports teams, schools, FFA, Stutsman County 4-H, youth activities and local race car drivers.
“I think giving back to our communities with some of our profits is a business responsibility, and it shows our pride in our community and the support of our young




John M. Steiner / Jamestown Sun
We’re excited to welcome Michael McIlheran, CFSP as our newest funeral director at Haut Funeral Home. Please help us welcome him to the community.
Central Sales Inc.’s new facility is expected to be complete
Jeff Romsdal, owner and president.
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
The professional vehicle washing folks at Jetstream Car Wash include, from left, Ray Mering, owner, Ron Flisk, Ray Mering, Bob Gultormson, Gero Mahto and Nate Carlson.
McElroy Fields project bringing baseball, softball into modern era
BY KATIE RINGER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Mov -
ing Jamestown forward hasn’t always been a fast process.
Just ask JAYBAL
President Matt Perkins.
In April 2022, the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District applied for grants for facility renovations through the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. The North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department approved Jamestown’s grant request of $911,100 to update the Al Boelke baseball park.
“Those fields down there haven’t been updated in decades,” Perkins said. “We wanted to bring things into the modern world as far as amenities and accessibility go. Whether it’s sidewalks or bathrooms or concessions or turf
show interest in the program as early as they want to but Valley Plains Equipment won’t bring them on for the paid internship until the summer before they attend Lake Area Technical College.
“They can definitely come in earlier and do job shadows and meet the team and look around the shop and just see If that’s something that they would like to do,” she said.
To enroll into the program, visit your local Valley Plains Equipment dealership or go to www.valleyplainsequipment.com/ John-Deere-Tech-Program

fields — all those things are what people have come to expect of baseball and softball facilities.”
In the past three years, the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Department has raised more than $4 million to update and renovate the Al Boelke fields.
“We want people to come to Jamestown,”
and select “JD Tech Program” under “How to Apply” to fill out information that includes your name, phone number, what year you graduate high school and which Valley Plains Equipment location you would like to partner with.
“That gets sent directly to me, and then I will reach out from there,” Alfson said.
Locations for Valley Plains Equipment include Ashley, Ellendale, Galesburg, Hillsboro, Hunter, Jamestown, LaMoure, Milnor, Napoleon and Valley City in North Dakota. Valley Plains Equipment also has locations in Britton, South Dakota, and Crookston, Minnesota. mova@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8454
JAME
Perkins said. “We want people to be excited about coming to play here and having competition here. Part of that is having facilities that get people excited to come play here.”
Weather permitting, the first phase of the three-phase project is expected to be completed by July.
“We’re looking
forward to getting this project wrapped up and completed so we as a community can enjoy it and use it to its fullest capabilities,” Perkins said.
The first phase features two fields, both with turf infield, Gould Field, Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken fields, a parking lot and a concessions and restrooms
building with a paved patio area.
Perkins said the remaining construction includes the installation of scoreboards, planting of the sod in the outfields and the pouring of concrete by the concessions building. As of March 11, construction crews are back on site.
Perkins said he hopes the renovation project inspires other athletics programs or groups in town.
“People have a hard time seeing it in the conceptional phase but when it’s in front of their faces and they are watching games and seeing what Jamestown can offer, it’s like, man, let’s do this,” Perkins said. “Our hope would be to kind of inspire kids and the next generation to continue to want these improvements and not be satisfied with the status quot
but to continually improve and upgrade as time goes on.”
Perkins and the Parks and Recreation Department are still actively fundraising for the second and third phases of the project. Anyone interested in donating to the project should contact Perkins or Jamestown Parks and Recreation District Executive Director Amy Walters.
“The hope would be that the kids would utilize these to the fullest capacity and do everything in their power to keep them going and to keep our community moving forward,” Perkins said. “We’re not going to quit until we get to the finish line. We’re excited to get up there this summer and start playing on it. I can’t wait for that day to happen.” kringer@jamestownsun. com | @KaitlynRinger on Twitter
Jamestown Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Inc.

PARK S AND RECRE ATION









John M. Steiner / Jamestown Sun
The professional staff at Jamestown Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. are well known for their quality service and work they provide to customers.
Contributed / Jamestown Parks and Recreation The major renovations to McElroy Park are expected to be finished this year.

Infinity offers variety of cabinetry, countertops, paint
BY MASAKI OVA The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN —
Infinity Building Services offers a variety of cabinetry, countertops and paint selections.
Darrel Dewald, cabinet salesman at Infinity, said customers can get custom or standard Countryside Cabinets in either maple oak, white oak, hickory, rustic hickory or rustic oak.
He said Countryside Cabinets also has different door styles.
“They’ve got a good selection of colors and a good price range from lower to higher,” Dewald said.
For kitchen countertops, Infinity Building Services has options on
laminate, quartz or Dekton countertops.
“We have a wide variety of colors and prices on all that too,” Dewald said.
He said customers should plan ahead to get their cabinets or countertops ordered.
Dalton Brusseau, sales associate for paint and flooring, said Infinity Building Services’ paint selection includes everything from Minwax stain to Valspar Medallion paint.
“Paint comes with primer in it, which a lot of people like,” he said.
He said Infinity also has rust, tough oil and enamel on hand for metal projects or wood.
“We got everything from paint trays to paint brushes and roll -

ers,” Brusseau said.
He said customers can bring in a color they like to Infinity. He said Infinity can get the color matched almost every time. He said Infinity can mix the paint in 10 minutes or less.
He said customers will need to know what sheen and finish they want for the paint.
“We have, flat, egg shell, satin and semigloss for interiors,” he said. “We have flat, satin and semi gloss for exteriors.”
Brusseau said Infinity can always order different types of paint that customers want.
mova@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8454
BY MAX O’NEILL
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown Civic Center is home to multiple athletic hall of fames, but the one displayed most prominently around the building is the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.
According to its website, the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1989 and inducted its first class in 1992.
The organization’s purpose is “to honor and recognize those individuals who have played a major role in the growth and development of sports in the state of North Dakota and to further promote sports and sportsmanship to the public of North Dakota … ,” according to its website.
The inductees are
decided by the 12 committee members, including Gavin Kutz. Kutz said anybody can fill out a form in person or on the website at ndsportshalloffame.com to nominate somebody for the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.
Kutz said four candidates are inducted every two years during a banquet at the Jamestown Civic Center. Kutz said the committee members vote on who they think should be inducted from the nomination applications and the top four people with the most votes get inducted. Since 1992, the hall of fame has inducted 51 people and one team.
“I think all of them are quality people, you look at all of our inductions through the years, they’re just awesome,” Kutz said. “How they represented North
Dakota was amazing and of course they had the God-given talent to excel in whatever athletic or sporting event they were partaking in.”
Kutz said every inductee is awarded a plaque and a medal signifying he or she has won the Cliff Cushman award, which is named after the former Olympics silver medal winning runner from North Dakota who lost his life serving in the Vietnam War. Every year Cushman’s widow, Carolyn, presents inductees with the medal honoring her late husband, Kutz said.
“He was a wonderful person, just a bright, shining star for the state of North Dakota and has left quite a legacy and each one of the inductees will get the Cliff Cushman award,”





John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Infinity Building Services in Jamestown offers a wide selection of cabinets.
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
All inductees in the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame get their own plaque in the lobby of the Jamestown Civic Center.
Hall of fame on F15
Sheri Kleinsasser Stockmoe
Greg Eslinger
Tim Olson
Randy Hedberg
Guardian Angels Inc. provides guardianship and financial services
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Guardian Angels Inc. provides guardianship services throughout the state of North Dakota, says Margo Haut, who operates the nonprofit with her codirector, Lexus Haut.
“It’s the most challenging yet rewarding work we’ve done,“ Margo said.
In 2014, Margo founded Guardian Angels, which is located in Jamestown.
Its slogan is “Putting People First.” Guardian Angels has about 130 guardianship appointments. It also assists 50 people with financial services locally, primarily managing their Social Security for them, Lexus said.
“Our ages for guardianship are from 23 to 97,” Margo said of those they are currently serving.
“We can serve anyone over the age of 18.”
A guardianship is a court-appointed relationship between a competent adult or entity (guardian) and a person who is deemed incapacitated by the courts (protected person), Margo said.
According to information from Guardian Angels, a person may be deemed incapacitated by reason of mental illness, physical illness, disability or chemical dependency, which causes the person to lack the capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions. The law applies to people over the age of 18.
When the court appoints a guardian of the protected person, the guardian may have but is not limited to the following responsibilities:
• Determine and monitor residence

Guardian Angels Inc.
Guardian Angels Inc. is a nonprofit located in Jamestown that serves people throughout North Dakota.
• Consent to and monitor medical treatment
• Consent and monitor non-medical services such as education and counseling
• Consent and release of confidential information
• Make end-of-life decisions
• Oversee and manage assets/finances
• Act as representative payee
• Maximize independence in least restrictive manner
• Report to the court about the guardianship status on an annual basis
Financial services include receiving and managing Social Security for an individual unable to do so; a conservatorship, court-appointed to manage finances for someone who cannot make decisions about finances or health care; VA fiduciary, to protect veterans unable to manage their financial affairs, and durable power of attorney, a legal process where a third party is granted the certain authority for an individual.
Lexus noted there is always oversight: The conservator is court appointed, the VA fiduciary is VA appointed, and
the representative payee is an application and appointment through Social Security.
A National Certified Guardian, also known as a Professional Guardian, has obtained the Center for Guardianship Certification, meeting nationally recognized requirements. Guardian Angels Inc. has five Professional Guardians on staff, Margo said. She said the Center for Guardianship Certification certification requires 20 continuing education units every two years to maintain it.
“We’re very grateful to our team,” she said. “Not only are they committed to travel time in meeting the needs of our protected persons, they also ultimately … are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. I thank the families of our staff for their sacrificial love because when a call comes in, they respond.”
In addition to the five Professional Guardians, Guardian Angels has two office personnel. For more information, call 701-952-6750 or email info@guardianangelsnd. com ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
Home Design Center

cabinet is the baking station with apothecary doors.
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helped enhance Ave Maria’s ministry over the years.
“We say we are moving ‘Forward in Faith’ because we feel strongly that this project will only help us further carry out
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people that will be the next generation in business, hopefully, in our community,” Romsdal said.
Romsdal said Central Sales is a third-genera-
the mission of Ave Maria,” Stoen said. “Our mission states: ‘SMP Health - Ave Maria, inspired by the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation, serves those in our care with respect and compassion as we strive to fulfill the healing mission of Jesus.’”
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huge asset for the community to be able to have a provider that is flourishing enough to offer these services to more people that need them.” She said the referral list is very long in North Dakota for those looking for services.
“I think Jamestown is very lucky,” Everson said. “They‘re a very good community. Alpha’s been around since the ’80s and the community is very welcoming for what we do and the people we support. We have a lot of people that work in different businesses here in the community and the community has been a very big supporter of Alpha. And so any chance that we can to be able to enhance our services in the community and provide something back to the community, we’re really trying to focus on that.” For more information, visit alphaopportunities. org or call (701) 252-0162. ksteiner@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8449
Anyone with questions on the project or who may be interested in opportunities to contribute to the Forward in Faith campaign may contact Hancock at 701-252-5660. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
tion business. We’re locally owned and operated, one of the few that remains,” he said.
He said his grandfather started Central Sales in 1974, and his father, uncles and cousins were with the business for many years. “Now it’s just me,” Romsdal said.”Hopefully, I can encourage my kids to join us one day, my two boys and daughter, and the new facility hopefully is a better attraction for them as well to join the business, carry on the legacy.”
mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454

Contributed /
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
The Home Design Center in downtown Jamestown features the Larder cabinet, a new concept in cabinetry. This Larder
Applied Digital helps Ellendale, ND, with partnership for housing
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
ELLENDALE, N.D. —
Applied Digital Corp. is helping a rural community by partnering with the city of Ellendale, the state of North Dakota and Headwaters Development to build 20 homes and a 38-unit apartment complex.
“Since we’re bringing in a large new workforce, we need a place to have rentals for a period of time,” said Nick Phillips, executive vice president of external affairs for Applied Digital.
He said 18 of the 20 single-family homes for Ellendale Acres are nearing completion and the other two are constructed but not permanently anchored to a foundation.
He said those 18 homes will be move-in ready any day.
He said work on the 38-unit apartment complex is expected to begin in June or July.
“The anticipation is that that will also be available this year as well,” he said.
Applied Digital develops, builds and operates next-generation data centers and Cloud infrastructure. Applied Digital has data centers in Ellendale and Jamestown.
Phillips said the housing project leverages dollars from the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s Rural-Workforce Initiative to Support Housing (R-WISH) pilot program.
The program utilizes
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Kutz said. “… Some of them get pretty teared up about it, realizing what this award means,

up to $10 million of Bank of North Dakota capital to complement the work done by the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency and the North Dakota Housing Initiative Advisory Committee, according to Bank of North Dakota’s website. The maximum amount from the R-WISH fund is the lesser of 30% of the project costs, $3.5 million or the matching contribution from the company.
“In our case, we committed to invest $3.5 million,” Phillips said. “Bank of North Dakota
what it means going into the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, what this guy went through in the prime of his life, and lost his life serving in Vietnam.” The 2025 Hall of Fame
will match that through the program. The city of Ellendale is doing a TIF (tax-increment financing) district, which will help with some of the infrastructure improvements, roads, etc. And then obviously we had to find a developer to come in and do this.”
Applied Digital’s data center was annexed into the city of Ellendale in January.
Headwaters Development will own the homes and apartment complex and rent them to Applied Digital employees.
Class includes former NFL quarterbacks Randy Hedberg and Greg Eslinger, former MLB infielder Tim Olson and former University of North Dakota basketball player Sheri
Once those employees find a different living arrangement, those residences will be available for new employees, Phillips said.
He said Applied Digital is asking its employees to move to Ellendale and the city needs help in order to grow and accommodate that.
He said Applied Digital’s partnership with the city of Ellendale and its businesses and the state of North Dakota is vital.
“Having good working relationships is vital,” Phillips said.
Kleinsasser. Kutz said the group will be inducted on Saturday, June 21.
Kutz said the committee hopes the event will be attended by 100 to 150 people.
He said Applied Digital’s community involvement in Ellendale is important. He said Applied Digital partnered with businesses for a new $200,000 pin setter for the bowling alley, helped the Ellendale park board by bringing in truckloads of dirt for a park, provided movie nights for families and donated art kits to elementary students in Ellendale.
In Jamestown, Applied Digital has donated to the Two Rivers Activity Center for the outdoor pickleball courts and has
“The money all goes toward awards, everybody that’s inducted gets their own locker, you can walk in the Civic Center and see all the past indu ctees,” Kutz said.
participated in other fundraisers. The company also purchases memberships at TRAC for its employees. When Applied Digital officials are in Jamestown, they take employees to local restaurants. The company also donated to the University of Jamestown’s sports programs after studentathletes helped unpack items for Applied Digital’s facility.
mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
moneill@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8461 | Follow him on Twitter @ MaxONeill16

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Single-family homes in Ellendale Acres are nearing completion in Ellendale, North Dakota.


