CREATING CONNECTIONS:
TWIN CITIES BUSINESS ADVISORY NETWORK PROVIDES SUPPORT TO AUGUSTANA STUDENTS, ALUMNI
| BY JILL WILSON
O
ne-fourth of all undergraduate students at Augustana come from Minnesota. The land of 10,000 lakes ranks second only to South Dakota for best recruiting grounds for the university. While more than half of recent AU graduates reported working in South Dakota, many headed to Minnesota, too — for employment or to continue their education. In 2020, graduates found meaningful employment in places such as the Area Special Education Cooperative (ASEC), University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, Loveworks Academy for Visual and Performance Art, as well as YWCA Minneapolis, Twin Cities Orthopedics and the Mayo Clinic. In 2019, the university recognized the need to better connect with alumni and friends of Augustana in the Twin Cities. The university hired a director to build a strong Augustana network in Minnesota. That’s when the Twin Cities Business Advisory Network (BAN) was born. “With more than 4,000 alumni residing in the metro area, the Twin Cities is home to the second largest concentration of Augustana alumni outside of Sioux Falls,” said Paul Rasmussen ‘03, director of development for the Twin Cities area. “We realized that we had this tremendous cohort of business leaders who were eager to explore opportunities to better connect Augustana to this market. That was the primary reason behind the development of the Business Advisory Network, and it’s only grown from there.” The initial goal of the Twin Cities BAN was to have 8-10 members; a year later, the network has grown to 16. Rasmussen, whose wife, mother and brother also went to Augustana, said, “Our alumni base in the Twin Cities is a real asset to Augustana and a rich representation of the liberal arts education. We’ve got alumni here leading America’s largest corporations, directing world-class education, health care and nonprofit organizations, as well as serving in senior government positions, guiding faith communities, launching startups, teaching the next generation of leaders and the list goes on. “While alumni are active in all sectors in the Twin Cities, our common bond is our shared experience at Augustana and the lifelong relationships that we established there. That is the fun part of my work — connecting folks to Augustana and inviting them to be involved in building the university’s future.” Three of the Twin Cities BAN members are also on
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THE AUGUSTANA | SPRING 2021
Augustana’s Board of Trustees, and all but two members are alumni. The depth of knowledge is immense, but there’s also fresh perspectives; members’ graduation years vary from the Class of 1965 to the Class of 2012. “It’s wonderful to have alumni and friends here that are extremely excited about the growth plans for Augustana through the Viking Bold plan,” said Rasmussen, who settled into the Twin Cities in 2011. “They are providing Augustana with feedback and insights from this market. They also want to connect students and faculty with research, consulting and experiential opportunities in the Twin Cities, Rochester and beyond.” THE DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE Lois Martin ‘85, a native of Dell Rapids, South Dakota, now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. She believes so many Minnesotans flock to Augustana because “it’s far enough away for school, but it’s also not so far where you can get back when you want to or need to.” “It’s still a great Midwestern culture between the two, which I think a lot of people look for, but there are different career opportunities in the city,” said Martin. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Mortenson Construction says it helps to have a physical presence in the state she now calls home. “It provides a group of phenomenal talent to Twin Cities employers,” said Martin. “And, I think that’s where the business network comes in. It is helping to make the university more known and more visible, both from a recruiting source, but also be a funnel of new recruits for Augustana.” Martin says the Twin Cities BAN is also helping members connect with other members, opening up resources for everyone. “Networking is just so powerful from a self-development standpoint.” The former Augustana Board of Trustee member of 12 years said, “We all run into different challenges personally and professionally. It’s wonderful if you’ve got a network you can tap into. We all have a common bond back to Augie, but it’s a diverse enough group in the network that it provides each of us access and contact points for different challenges we may run into. To me, our objective is to connect with all Augie grads and open up employers’ understanding here of what a great resource Augustana is.”
