PB November 2011

November 2011

Company Spotlight: Circuit boards - medical, ag and industrial industries pg 18

Community Spotlight: Initiative helped sustain Madison, SD pg 40

Digging for a diamond in the rough

pg. 22

Research critical to well-rounded economy pg. 26 MONEYpg 44 TECHNOLOGY

pg 24

SALES/MARKETING

pg 20

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

pg 30

LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT

pg 16

www.prairiebizmag.com

CONTENTS

Volume 12 No. 11

6

From the Editor’s Desk

8

Professional Spotlight

8

Matthew Mohr

10

Prairie News

14

Prairie People

16

Leadership/Management - Top scams targeting South Dakota businesses

18 20

22

Company Spotlight: Quality Circuits: Circuit boards medical, ag and industrial industries Sales/Marketing: Tips to increase email marketing open rates Cover Story: Digging for a diamond in the rough It has been tough to find the right workers, but workforce and economic development leaders are using all types of different sources to help communities fill those needs.

24

26

Technology - The search to find, hire and retain top talent Cover Story: Research critical to well-rounded economy Agriculture, defense, energy, health – all of these and much more are part of the research landscape for higher education institutions across North Dakota, South Dakota, and western Minnesota.

30

40 42 44

46

Economic Development Cooperatives: Example of successful economic development models Community Spotlight: Madison, SD Initiative helped sustain Madison, as well as changed the way the community looks at economic development.

Viewpoint Money: Don’t keep your plans to yourself By the Numbers

4 Prairie Business

November 2011

32

Oil could be flowing in southwest North Dakota and northwest South Dakota

36 38 39

Alternative energy source research underway Bakken model for North America South Dakota PUC urges FERC action to evaluate EPA regulations

Next Month In December, Prairie Business magazine will unveil its annual 40-under-40 selection of business leaders. In addition, our final issue for 2011 will focus on the types of designs that architecture and engineering companies are using to help construct facilities in North Dakota, South Dakota, and western Minnesota. Prairie Business will discuss the business side of Arts and Culture in North Dakota, South Dakota, and western Minnesota.

On the air Join Prairie Business magazine Editor Alan Van Ormer and host Merrill Piepkorn on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. on any Prairie Public radio station to hear more about the November cover stories. To listen to Prairie Public, visit www.prairiepublic.org/radio/hear-it-now.

On the cover Our region is fortunate to have professionals who can find unique ways to solidify a strong workforce by digging for those diamonds in the rough. These professionals include: Pam Roberts, Cabinet Secretary for South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation; Richard Schara, Business Services Specialist for Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development; and Tifanie Gelinske, Director of Workforce Development for the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Corporation.

prairiebizmag.com

5

From the editor’s desk

For daily business news visit prairiebizmag.com

An SBA Award Winning Publication

Building momentum for 2012

Mike Jacobs, Publisher Alan Van Ormer, Editor Zach Ahrens, General Manager Tina Chisholm, Production Manager Beth Bohlman, Circulation Manager Jen Braaten, Layout Design, Ad Design Kris Wolff, Layout Design, Ad Design

GENERAL MANAGER:

Zach Ahrens SALES:

2011 is quickly coming to an end. The clock is ticking to make the last issue of the year the best one you’ve seen yet!

nd to top it off, December is one of our most popular issues because it unveils our 40-under-40 list of business leaders in the region.

Over the last few months, Prairie Business has been building momentum. We have beefed up our online content by using the social media network and have also started using Forum Communication’s online network of publications in an effort to help our businesses reach more people, as well as finding ways to expand our content base around the region.

What is also exciting is that we will be producing some special sections in 2012 that will allow us to go more in-depth on certain subjects that are mainstays of our publication. In April, we are looking at producing a special section on Architecture and Engineering, in June, Health care, and in November, Higher Education.

In addition, Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development groups, and Convention and Visitors Bureaus will be able to build on this momentum by being part of two special sections scheduled for February and October 2012.

The February special edition is all about workforce. What is driving our workforce needs? How do collaborations impact the region? What is the niche in hiring elderly citizens?

A follow-up supplement is slated for March and will include the top 10 toughest jobs to fill. Prairie Business will visit with businesses who are building their own ‘business’ momentum by filling these tough-to-find jobs with quality employees.

Then in October, the magazine will focus on Main Street viability. See how a South Dakota community went to the people and ‘Came back from the brink.’

Also, where is the money coming from for communities to help with revitalization? And then there will be a focus on ‘A Helping Hand: Working together for the good of the community.’

Don’t miss out – be sure to read these special sections and be part of building momentum with Prairie Business.

A

Brad Boyd bboyd@prairiebizmag.com

800.641.0683 western ND/western SD

John Fetsch jfetsch@prairiebizmag.com

701.232.8893 eastern ND/MN/eastern SD

EDITOR: Alan Van Ormer avanormer@prairiebizmag.com

November 2011

701.232.8893

Editorial Advisors:

Dwaine Chapel, Executive Director, Lake Area Improvement Corporation; Bruce Gjovig, Director, Center for Innovation; Lisa Gulland-Nelson, Communications Coordinator, Greater Fargo Moorhead EDC; Dave Haan, Director of Public Relations and Digital Development at Lawrence & Schiller; Dusty Johnson, Chief of Staff for South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s office; Brekka Kramer, General Manager of Odney; Matthew Mohr, President/CEO, Dacotah Paper Company; Nancy Straw, President, West Central Initiative Prairie Business magazine is published monthly by the Grand Forks Herald and Forum Communications Company with offices at 808 3rd Ave. S., Ste. 400, Fargo, ND 58103. Qualifying subscriptions are available free of charge. Back issue quantities are limited and subject to availability ($2/copy prepaid). The opinions of writers featured in Prairie Business are their own. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork are encouraged but will not be returned without a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Subscription requests: Free subscriptions are available online to qualified requestors at www.prairiebizmag.com.

Address corrections: Prairie Business magazine PO Box 6008 Grand Forks, ND 58206-6008 Beth Bohlman: bbohlman@gfherald.com

Online: www.prairiebizmag.com 6 Prairie Business

701.780.1162 zahrens@gfherald.com

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7

Professional Spotlight

CAROL GOODMAN

Involved in a career that has threads of public relations Carol Goodman, Executive Director of the Cavalier County Job Development Authority, will tell you that she has had a varied career, but also notes that each position has a thread of “public relations” running through it. started out working as an assistant high school recruiter for North Dakota State University, then went to a major defense contractor as their public relations representative, followed by Executive Director for the Langdon Chamber of Commerce, and finally CCJDA,” she says. “All have involved working in the public realm and interacting with people.”

Goodman has been the Executive Director of CCJDA since 1998.

During her tenure, the county has added the state’s largest wind farm and an $810,000 community research center and learning facility. She is a graduate of North Dakota State University, served as initial chair of the Rural Leadership North Dakota, served as President of the Economic Developers Association of ND 2005-07, served on the State Board of Ag Research & Education for nine years, and is a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Military Issues in North Dakota (TF MIND).

Goodman works with economic development activities that

I

“

CAROL GOODMAN Executive Director Cavalier County Job Development Authority

include business retention, expansion and recruitment, community infrastructure development, and tourism. CCJDA is located in the Cavalier County Courthouse in Langdon, ND, and serves as the economic development agency for the county.

Among the changes Goodman has seen are continued improvement of knowledge, economic development programs, cooperation between agencies at all levels, experience, and an understanding of what actually is involved in economic development.

“Economic development is not an exact science, and each community needs to really look at what works for them,” she says.

Goodman advises women in their career paths, regardless of their chosen occupation or career path that they should become a student of leadership. “It will help you understand how the world works, how to navigate agencies and agendas, and it will give you insight into what makes people think,” she states. “With understanding comes confidence!” PB

Business Advice

FIRED? mployment decisions are life changing events and can wreak havoc with a family. Knowing your actions negatively affect a person’s life is a tremendous responsibility and huge burden to bear.

Even though the popular television program featuring Donald Trump has been built around the idea of firing people, any great business leader will tell you the hardest decision in their career usually involved those dealing with people’s employment opportunities.

When I was a board member of a large national corporation, we faced a tough decision regarding our then CEO. The board was told of this individual’s combative nature, questionable tactics, and doubt was cast on his previous job performance. The morning we were to make a decision, I had breakfast with the man. He didn’t know he was under our scrutiny. I found it extremely hard when I had to report, even though it was very obvious we needed to make a change. After our decision to discharge, none of the board members wanted to do the job of firing, so we collectively decided it was

The hardest job any manager or business owner faces is making the decision and actually discharging an employee.

E

8 Prairie Business

November 2011

MATTHEW D. MOHR CEO, Dacotah Paper Company mmohr@dacotahpaper.com

the board chair’s responsibility. The board chair did the job magnificently, and when he came back to tell us, a big sigh of relief was heard.

Certainly, there are times when it is very obvious a particular employee isn’t fit for a certain job, but even under these circumstances any change affects this person’s life.

Great companies don’t keep a bunch of unqualified people around just because they once hired them, but discharging an employee is very hard.

Every great business leader has a lot of heart along with a lot of drive for success, and, as a result, will make every employee decision very carefully. PB

prairiebizmag.com

9

Prairie News

Press releases and photos about business news and events in North Dakota, South Dakota and western Minnesota can be e-mailed to avanormer@prairiebizmag.com for consideration

JLG ARCHITECTS RECEIVES TOP STATE DESIGN AWARDS JLG Architects received the top Honor Award, as well as a Juror’s Choice Award, for the designs of the JLG Fargo Corporate Office and the Alerus Conference Center Expansion at the Alerus Conference Center American Institute of Architects (AIA) North Dakota Awards Gala in Fargo, ND. The AIA North Dakota Chapter presented one Honor Award, three Merit JLG Fargo Corporate Office Awards, and two Juror’s Choice Awards “for distinguished accomplishments in design.”

Located on Broadway in Downtown Fargo, the design intent for JLG’s corporate offices was to foster a collaborative team approach while restoring much of the original historic structure in a light and sustainable way. The workstations were custom-designed and built to encourage collaboration, and so were kept low to allow eye contact among staff and to allow views to the activity on Broadway.

After years of increasing conference and trade show event bookings, the Alerus Center (Grand Forks, ND) found that the facility lacked necessary lobby and pre-function capabilities to serve their clientele.

The existing Conference Center space was actually just a wide corridor connecting meeting rooms on one end and the ballroom on the other.

A dedicated entry and strong visual presence was needed, as well as gathering space for before or after an event.

MIDCONTINENT COMMUNICATIONS PURCHASES SYSTEMS FROM US CABLE Midcontinent Communications, in Sioux Falls, SD, has completed the acquisition of 113 Minnesota and Wisconsin franchises from US Cable. The area includes approximately 86,000 homes and approximately 33,000 customers. Ninety percent of the customers are served by a state-of-art fiber network fed from a single cable head-end, delivering cable television, broadband and digital telephone services to residential and business customers.

Construction has already begun on interconnecting the two networks and work should be completed this fall. Midcontinent has also added staff and opened another call center in West Fargo, ND in addition to existing call centers in Sioux Falls and Aberdeen, SD.

ADVERTISING MARKETING TRANSITIONS OWNERSHIP, REBRANDS AS NARRATIVE Advertising Marketing, in Fargo, ND, has new ownership and a new brand.

Scott Grand and Travis Kurtz are now the primary owners of the brand and marketing firm, purchasing the business from long-time owner and founder, Norm Robinson. Robinson remains active in the business, managing his long-time clients established over the firm’s 26-year history.

The organization has also re-branded itself as Narrative.

Narrative is dedicated to helping organizations establish and focus their brands, marketing and communications by using the power of storytelling.

10 Prairie Business

November 2011

THE NATIONAL CANCER CLINICAL TRIALS PILOT BREAKTHROUGH COLLABORATIVE The Education Network to Advancer Cancer Clinical Trials (ENACCT) has awarded grants to six community-based cancer organizations to participate in the National Cancer Clinical Trials Pilot Breakthrough Collaborative. The six organizations were selected from a nationwide pool of applicants seeking to improve patient participation in cancer clinical trials, especially those from ethnic and racial minority groups and those 65 years and older. Each organization has formed an Improvement Team that will drive the organization’s efforts.

The six selected organizations are Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, Sioux Falls, SD; Bayhealth Medical Center, Dover, DE; Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA; Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Albany, GA; The Queens Medical Center, Honolulu, HI; The West Clinic, Memphis, TN.

November 27, 1991 ON Bank Bailout Bill – Both houses of Congress approved legislation authorizing $70 billion in additional borrowing authority for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) because of the record number of savings and loans failures.

LAKE REGION HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION AWARDS NEARLY $50,000 IN GRANTS The Lake Region Healthcare Foundation Board of Directors has awarded $47,500 in grants for health related programs and projects benefiting individuals in the region.

The Lake Region Healthcare Cancer Care and Research Center received funding for: Nutrition for Outpatient Chemotherapy Patients, Cancer Support Group Coordinator, and Wellness Programs.

Athletic Republic received support for the Athletic Republic Exercise Nutrition for All Program.

Support was also awarded to the following Lake Region Healthcare Departments: Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy Department for the Driver Rehabilitation Program, Nutrition Services for Oncology Nutrition Services Medical Nutrition Therapy, Respiratory Care for the COPD Support Group. The 2012 Men’s Night Program also received an award.

Grants were also awarded to: Ashby Public School for the After School Program, Partners for Home Nurse Visits, Pink Posse, and the Fergus Falls Area parish Nurse Network for Depression and Suicide Prevention and Awareness.

KK BOLD DESIGNED WEBSITE FOR NDEA NAMED BEST IN THE COUNTRY KK BOLD, in Bismarck, ND, announces that the website the agency designed for the North Dakota Education Association (NDEA) has been named “Best Web Site.” It is the second year in a row that NDEA has taken home top honors for its website.

The honors were announced at the annual meeting of the National Education Association’s (NEA) State Education Editors in Chicago. An independent panel of private-sector professionals with expertise in advertising, communications, web design, social networking, graphic design, photography and writing, judged sites from education associations across the nation.

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11

Prairie News

Press releases and photos about business news and events in North Dakota, South Dakota and western Minnesota can be e-mailed to avanormer@prairiebizmag.com for consideration

U OF M CROOKSTON RECEIVES GRANT; FEDERAL DESIGNATION For the past three years, the University of Minnesota, Crookston has served as the Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center for the state of Minnesota. That designation will continue with the recent awarding of a grant appropriation of $615,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Under the guidance of Jack Geller, Ph.D., who serves as director, the EDA Center will work with economic development agencies to focus on two complementary areas: fostering a climate of entrepreneurship in economically distressed rural communities and increasing digital literacy and technology adoption. Geographic regions in Minnesota each have their own unique regional economy as well as economic challenges and opportunities. The Center will leverage the Jack Geller, Director, EDA intellectual resources of the U of M to help distressed rural communities facing these economic and demographic challenges and broaden the tools available to regional economic agencies.

The grant also facilitates greater collaboration with University of Minnesota Extension. Geller worked with Dick Senese, associate dean for public engagement and the Extension Center for Community Vitality, to identify Extension programs and applied research that can be tapped to inform decisions in regional economies.

Extension has expertise in applied research for communities, especially as it relates to supporting community-driven approaches to economic development.

REGIONAL CANCER CARE INSTITUTE RECEIVES GRANT FROM NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE The National Cancer Institute’s (NIH) Centers to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities recently awarded a one-year supplemental grant of $139,968 to the Regional Cancer Care (Rapid City, SD) Institute’s (CCI) Walking Forward Program for a web-based clinical trial education module.

The web-based educational module will be used as a tool for community health educators to address the specific needs and expectations of at-risk and underrepresented communities. The role of community health educators in bridging the health care system and underserved communities is increasingly being recognized and could play an important role in increasing rates of clinical trial participation.

The Walking Forward Program’s community health educators will evaluate the value of the web module to enhance knowledge and clinical trial participation in regional underserved communities; help adapt the web module to be culturally sensitive to the American Indian communities; disseminate National Cancer Institute educational materials and messages; and participate in the annual National Outreach Network program meetings to facilitate exchange of relevant ideas and methods.

SOUTH DAKOTA WORKS: STATE LAUNCHES NEW SMALL BUSINESS LENDING PROGRAM South Dakota businesses have a new financial option to help them expand.

South Dakota WORKS is the newest financing program in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). The program, launched in collaboration with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, provides South Dakota businesses with working capital funds.

South Dakota WORKS is funded by a $13.2-million State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) grant approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The SSBCI program, which supports state-level, small-business lending programs, is an important component of the Small Business Jobs Act signed into law last fall. South Dakota expects to generate a minimum “bang for the buck” of at least $10 in new private lending for every $1 in federal funding. As such, this $13.2 million allocation is expected to support more than $132 million in new private lending.

12 Prairie Business

November 2011

MILLIONS INVESTED IN NORTH DAKOTA AIRPORTS More than $5 million in federal grants will be used to improve safety at the airport in Bismarck, ND and support air travel in Grand Forks, ND and Fargo, ND to ensure families and business persons have access to affordable air travel.

More than $4 million in federal resources were awarded to Bismarck to upgrade the airportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s apron - the area where planes are parked as travelers deplane and board the aircraft. Additionally, more than a million dollars were awarded to airports in Grand Forks and Fargo to support Essential Air Service in the Red River Valley. These resources are devoted to improving the cost efficiency of major airlines to continue routes into the state.

DID YOU KNOW... that 83 percent of American adults own cell phones and 73 percent of them send and receive text messages.

Source: Pew Research Center

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Prairie People

Please e-mail photos and press release announcements of hirings, promotions, awards and distinctions received by business leaders in North Dakota, South Dakota and western Minnesota to avanormer@prairiebizmag.com for consideration.

ANDERSON NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF NURSING AT LAKE REGION HEALTHCARE

LUCIA ANDERSON

Lucia Anderson, RNC-OB, BSN, has accepted the position of Senior Vice President of Nursing Lake Region Healthcare in Fergus Falls, MN. Anderson has filled the interim role for this position since March.

A member of the LRH team since 1999, Anderson has served as an LPN and RN on the medical floor, RN in obstetrics, house supervisor, and Director of OB. Anderson is a certified nurse in in-patient obstetrics. She received the LPN degree from Fergus Falls (MN) Community College and her BSN from Minnesota State University, Moorhead, MN.

NORIDIAN DEVELOPS, FILLS NEW POSITIONS As part of the company’s focus on strategic initiatives that match member expectations, two new positions have been created and filled at Noridian Mutual Insurance Company. Tony Tardugno has been named Noridian’s Executive Vice President, Technology Services, and Chief Information Officer. Tardugno brings 25 years of international information technology expertise to Noridian and will lead the IT transformation to deliver more member-focused services.

Denise Kolpack will add Chief of Staff duties to her current role of Vice President of Communications. In her new position, Kolpack will serve as liaison to executive staff at both Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota and Noridian Administration Services, work with the governing boards of both entities, and will serve as a strategic partner on all significant issues and programs.

TONY TARDUGNO

DENISE KOLPACK

November 2011

WIEDERRICH

DAMGAARD

The following Woods Fuller attorneys received Best Lawyer honors: Richard Gregerson - Advertising Law, Government Relations Law, Insurance Law. Merle Johnson - Trusts and Estates. Bill Taylor – Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Law, Real Estate Law. Gary Thimsen – Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Labor and Employment Law, Personal Injury Litigation. Bradley Grossenburg – Corporate Law, Tax Law, Trusts and Estates. Comet Haraldson – Workers’ Compensation Law. Kristine O’Connell – Health Care Law. Troy Leonard – Intellectual Property Law.

PHILL SJOBERG GREGERSON

RIESSA BLUMHAGEN

14 Prairie Business

Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith announces that 13 of its attorneys have been named to the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers®, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. Additionally, five of those attorneys have been named Lawyer of the Year for Sioux Falls.

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The following Woods Fuller lawyers earned Lawyers of the Year in Best Lawyers: David C. Kroon has been named the Best Lawyer 2012 Sioux Falls Health Care Law Lawyer of the Year. Jeff G. Shultz has been named the Best Lawyer 2012 Sioux Falls Workers' Compensation Law Lawyer of the Year. James E. Moore has been named the Best Lawyer 2012 Sioux Falls Insurance Law Lawyer of the Year. James M. Wiederrich has been named the Best Lawyer 2012 Sioux Falls Mergers & Acquisitions Law Lawyer of the Year. Roger W. Damgaard has been named the Best Lawyer 2012 Sioux Falls Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor KROON SCHULTZ Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law Lawyer of the Year.

MOORE

SJOBERG AND BLUMHAGEN JOIN BREMER BANK IN BISMARCK Bremer Bank announces the hiring of Phill Sjoberg, personal banker and Riessa Blumhagen, lead client services associate in Bismarck, ND. Bremer opened its new Bismarck location in early April.

Sjoberg joins Bremer from Wells Fargo, where he worked for three years as an assistant branch manager in Rochester, MN, before relocating to the Bismarck area where he then worked as a personal banker. Sjoberg has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO. Blumhagen relocated from Bremer Bank in Moorhead, MN, where she worked as the lead client service associate. She has been at Bremer for nearly 10 years and is a native of the BismarckMandan area.

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Leadership/Management

Top scams targeting South Dakota businesses

This year, a local Sioux Falls company received a fax purportedly from the credit bureau â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Equifax requesting sensitive financial information such as account numbers and officer signatures.

ccording to the fax, this information was required in order to conduct business with the U.S. Government. Since the company had no business relationship with the Federal Government, they questioned the authenticity of the fax, and contacted the Better Business Bureau. That very day, the BBB was able to send out a statewide alert notifying South Dakota businesses to this scam.

Every year, the BBB receives calls from local businesses that fell for an invoicing scam or were misled into paying for unordered products and services. Scammers arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always trying to steal money from a business; sometimes they are after a companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial or customer data and will use

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November 2011

many kinds of high and low-tech methods for getting it.

Other scams that have targeted local businesses include the following:

BOGUS YELLOW PAGE ADS Scammers have used the Yellow Pages name and logo since neither was trademarked. This scheme begins when a company receives a call from someone representing the Yellow Pages. The scammer notifies the business that they are only attempting to verify the listing information on file such as phone number, address, business name, etc. After the business confirms that the information is correct, the call ends. Days later, an invoice is received by the company requesting payment for advertising within their yellow page directory, which is followed up by the same perpetrators posing as a collection company representing the Yellow Pages. They request immediate payment for the listing and insist that there is a recording of the original call that verified the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s information as confirmation that the company agreed to advertise with them.

OFFICE SUPPLY SCAMS This scam typically involves goods or services that a business routinely orders such as copier paper, toner and maintenance supplies. A scammer will call the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main number seeking confirmation of the businessesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

address in order to fulfill the merchandise order, and the name of the person answering the phone. This conversation is intended to give the false impression that the merchandise was already approved, but is used later on when the scammers attempt to collect money when the overly priced merchandise arrives. The FTC advises that a business receiving unordered merchandise write to the seller offering to return the merchandise, provided that the seller pays for the postage and handling. However, the FTC states that there is no legal obligation for the business to return the items.

FAKE CHECK SCAMS This scam involves con artists purchasing large orders from a company and sending a check for more than the amount of supplies they purchased. The scammer will then ask the business to wire back the difference, or use the extra cash to ship the product out of town or out of the country. In the end, the phony check will bounce and your company will be out the merchandise sent to the scammer.

For questions or concerns regarding these or suspected scams, businesses are urged to contact the BBB at 605-2712066 or toll-free at 800-649-6814. Information is also available 24-hours a day at bbb.org. PB

JIM DAVID South Dakota State Director/Operations Director, Better Business Bureau jdavid@bbbsouthdakota.org

prairiebizmag.com

17

Company Spotlight

Quality Circuits

Wayne Dirkman, owner

Quality Circuits Headquarters (Photo courtesy of Quality Circuits)

Circuit boards - medical, ag and industrial industries Circuit boards manufactured at Quality Circuits in Fergus Falls, MN, come in all shapes and sizes. n addition, the company can provide clients every detail of a project under their 80,000 square foot facility.

“At Quality Circuits we are using the best available tools and have high quality employee involvement,” states Wayne Dirkman, who founded the company in 1988. “Everyone buys into a rewards system that provides incentives for meeting performance goals and customer needs.”

Quality Circuits was one of the original companies started in Fergus Falls with the help of the Project 500 Port Authority, whose purpose was to create 500 new jobs in 500 days.

Harold Stanislawski, Executive Director of the Fergus Falls Economic Improvement Commission, says the Project 500 Port Authority was the start of formalized economic development in Fergus Falls.

“Quality Circuits has provided jobs and stability,” Stanislawski

I

18 Prairie Business

November 2011

explains. “They have been a pillar in the community for more than two decades. I like the term Quality Circuits because it demonstrates what that company is all about and that is quality. They put their full force and reputation in that word ‘quality.’”

In addition, Stanislawski states that Quality Circuits have brought manufacturing leadership and a certain degree of philanthropy through their support of the community. “That is important because with a certain degree of the generosity and philanthropy of our businesses, it makes our community better,” he states. “To us having a company like Quality Circuits, it helps us recruit other companies. It helps to have companies that are successful like Quality Circuits. We are

very fortunate to have a company like that in our community. We salute them because of their commitment to manufacturing excellence.”

Quality Circuits was incorporated in 1988 by Dirkman. He brings more than 50 years of printed circuit board experience and expertise to Quality Circuits. His experience ranges from on hand technician to general manager in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards. He has developed and started other board shops in the Midwest, reorganizing and updating equipment, incorporating SPC, and managing various expansions. Dirkman was awarded the Minnesota Governors Entrepreneur of the Year in 1991.

Today, Quality Circuits is a national/international company with a volume of between $30 and $40 million per year. The company diversifies its business by producing 33 percent for medical companies, 33 percent for agriculture companies, and 33 percent for industrial computer companies.

There have been eight additions to the facility in the past 23 years. At two points there were at least 140 employees. Today, Quality Circuits has 100 employees and has been able to weather the past two recessions.

Along with the headquarters facility in Fergus Falls, Quality Circuits also has a sales branch office in locations around the Minneapolis, MN, area that includes Ramsey, Eden Prairie, and Otsego.

Quality Circuits bids on every project. A project can be completed and delivered within 24 hours.

“Most of the industry is competitive,” Dirkman explains. “We had to reinvent ourselves to survive.”

This includes moving toward higher technology and auto assembly equipment to add value to the company.

ND State Fair Center, Minot November 12-13 Saturday 10-5; Sunday 11-5

According to Dirkman, Quality Circuits is one of only 300 companies like it in the United States. In addition, it is one of the few companies producing circuit boards that can do everything under one roof.

The major portion of the company’s diversification revolves around high technology. In addition, Quality Circuits continues finding new markets that countries around the world, especially China, have not been able to dominate yet.

“China controls the market share,” Dirkman explains. “In order to get our share of the market, we have to have better service, quicker turnaround on the production of our circuit boards, and provide value for our circuit boards by controlling the type of raw materials we use.”

What also helps Quality Circuits in the marketplace is being able to finish the product under one roof. “Here we can control the quality of the circuit board from the raw material to the finished assembly,” Dirkman states. “That allows us to control cost and provide the highest quality.”

Quality Circuits is exploring new technology that could make a circuit board as small as 1,000 of an inch wide and 1,000 of inch in diameter. “This is the next concept level that we are looking at building,” he says.

“The impossible becomes routinely possible.”

Dirkman adds that the people in Fergus Falls are what really build the circuit boards. “Their early involvement in new products helps us reduce the costs,” he explains. PB Alan Van Ormer - avanormer@prairiebizmag.com

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For more information visit www.prideofdakota.com or become a fan on www.facebook.com/prideofdakota prairiebizmag.com

19

Sales/Marketing

increase

Tips to e-mail marketing open rates High printing costs and the increasing price of postage has contributed to decreased use of traditional mail, or “snail mail,” and has led to an increased use of e-mail to market products and services. ne of the top questions on managers’ minds is “How do I get readers to open my e-mail?”

The subject line is the most important part of your message, enticing the reader to open your e-mail.

Effective subject lines have the following characteristics.

O

ARE WITHIN 40 TO 60 CHARACTERS: Marketers agree that the subject line should stay within this range.

Describe the benefit to the recipient: Most people read from left to right and will be more likely to open an e-mail that states the main benefit at the beginning of the subject

line. For example, “$1 shipping on orders of $50 or more” is more effective than “Spend $50 and get your entire order shipped for $1.”

DO NOT USE BUZZ WORDS: The subject line is examined by spam filters. Subject lines that include words such as “free,” “win,” and “buy now” are more likely to end up in a junk e-mail folder.

PERSONALIZE THE SUBJECT LINE: Including the readers name in the subject line is more likely to elicit a positive response and lead to a higher conversion rate. “Robert, your special offer is waiting” is a more favorable greeting than “A special offer is waiting for you.”

TEST, TEST, TEST: The best way to determine if your subject line is effective is to test two to three variations. Also, be sure to stagger the days you send e-mail messages during your test phase to factor in e-mail timing.

According to the 2010 E-mail Marketing Trends Survey, 53.8 percent of small business marketers surveyed planned to increase personalization, and 52.4 percent planned to enhance subject lines and titles to increase the effectiveness of their e-mail marketing campaigns.

These e-mail marketing tactics can help to increase your open and conversion rates, leading to an even more successful campaign. What is your benchmark for a well executed e-mail marketing campaign? An average open rate will range from 20 to 40 percent, depending on the industry. If you are achieving this, your campaign can be considered successful. PB

RACHEL LUNDBOHM Marketing Instructor University of Minnesota, Crookston Associate Director Center for Rural Entrepreneurial Studies University of Minnesota, Crookston rlundboh@crk.umn.edu

20 Prairie Business

November 2011

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______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

COVER STORY

Digging for a diamond in the rough Finding workers is important when it comes to an economic development system flourishing. t has been tough to find the right workers, but workforce and economic development leaders are using all types of different sources to help communities fill those needs. “One of the most telling impacts on economic development is the average annual covered wage is increasing,” states Michael Ziesch, Research Analyst for Job Service North Dakota. “The statewide average covered wage is now $38,000.”

North Dakota has seen more than 16,000 openings across the state in August across all occupational groups. “Seventeen oil and gas counties account for onethird of the openings,” Ziesch says. “Two-thirds of the action is in non-oil counties and is spread geographically across the state.”

Pam Roberts, Cabinet Secretary for South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, notes that partnership is another outcome of the impact that workforce has on economic development. “We treat that partnership very closely in South Dakota,” she says.

In fact, Gov. Dennis Daugaard has established a workforce group that is meeting each week to develop a workforce plan that includes coordinating all resources in the state, partnering with economic development, discussing workforce issues, and helping with education in the communities.

“We are very poised to react and help businesses anyway they are requesting,” Roberts explains.

Because of its large financial services sector, South Dakota has been impacted by the banking regulations. “They have not had layoffs, but are losing overall jobs in that sector,” Roberts says. “We are happy those job losses have not caused the unemployment rate to increase. The South Dakota economy is able to absorb positions that aren’t being filled in the financial sector.”

Roberts says the State of South Dakota has been able to help companies find employees through job fairs, business outreach activities, and also helping with hosting on college campuses.

Aberdeen, SD, is one community that needs workers. The community hopes to add more than 1,000 in each of the next two years.

“When you build a brand new hospital, open a brand new state-of-the-art beef processing plant, continue the ramp up of the wind turbine blade manufacturer, and have a nice assortment of other businesses and industries growing at the same time, we have opportunities in nearly every skill set, and across all industry boundaries,” says Julie Johnson, Executive Director, Absolutely!

Aberdeen/Prairie Vision. “Entire families can relocate to our area.”

Aberdeen’s first priority is to bring folks back to the area that has experience with the area. This includes friends and families, as well as alumni. “We are working with communities throughout our labor shed, 50 miles any direction, to encourage them to recruit from their friends and family and alumni ranks, as well,” Johnson states. “Building our region is as important to us as building Aberdeen.”

Absolutely Aberdeen has developed a 9-page campaign strategy that is implemented every day, including as much earned media and paid media as are strategic to use. “We also sought to capture national headlines, which we have been fairly successful in capturing,” Johnson states.

The Fargo-Moorhead area is also developing unique ways to fill jobs throughout the metropolitan area.

Since 2007, the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Corporation has provided 173 community tours through October 2011. The total known relocations is 50. Currently, there are

I

Pam Roberts Cabinet Secretary for South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation

22 Prairie Business

November 2011

Business Services Specialist for Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

Tifanie Gelinske Director of Workforce Development for the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Corporation

____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ _

approximately 3,500 jobs open, which leads to plenty of opportunities available for workers.

“Professional and technical-type jobs require people to relocate,” says Tifanie Gelinske, Director of Workforce Development for the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Corporation. “Things that are happening in the area make it unique to Fargo-Moorhead.”

For example, leaders have made an effort to make the downtown areas more attractive.

“The three larger communities in the metro area did a good job of planning,” Gelinske states, adding that when a community is in the process of recruiting workforce, it is important to have a variety of opportunities.

Workforce Development has also worked to better connect information to opportunities that exist here, as well as participate with colleges to attract workers, Gelinske states. “Also, councils have been put together to help in the effort,” she says.

These workforce councils include a general workforce council and manufacturing council. The general workforce council is made up of companies that provide events, job fairs, and present other opportunities through annual events, like the Fargo Marathon. The council provides awareness through the global names of companies like Microsoft and Phoenix, John Deere.

The newly formed manufacturing workforce council is looking for ways to promote the manufacturing industry to both current and future workforce and is hoping to provide a job fair as well.

Workforce Development also focuses on the trailing spouse. “That is one of the deciding factors of a worker moving to our region,” Gelinske says. “We have a process of making sure of the opportunities and getting the family integrated.”

In west central Minnesota, the strength of agriculture and sectors like manufacturing and health care provides diversity that gives the region a good mix and balance of jobs, states Richard Schara, Business Services Specialist for Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

As a business services specialist, Schara is headquartered in the Fergus Falls office working with several counties in west central Minnesota to help employers with workforce needs and issues. The manufacturing sector, despite being strong, still needs positions filled.

One regional manufacturer took matters into their own hands by starting an onsite welding school where potential employees can come and learn how to weld before going to work. Other firms are working with higher education programs to develop internship programs.

Minnesota also has a Minnesotaworks.net website. In one case, Schara says he talked to a diesel mechanic who put his resume on the website and was contacted for a job. “Another thing we suggest business do is look at its own website,” Schara says. “Revamping websites to reflect why your firm is a great place to work might be a strategy. People do a lot of information gathering when looking for work.”

Overall, Schara believes that businesses need to develop diversified recruitment strategies. “Does it work?” Schara asks. “I don’t know, but you have to keep trying.” PB Alan Van Ormer - avanormer@prairiebizmag.com Richard Schara

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23

Technology

The search to find, hire and retain top talent Information technology leaders today are facing significant technical, operational and managerial challenges, including fierce competition, the pace of product innovation, globalization, and changing platforms and business models.

people can keep up with the changing technology.

Find Creative Ways to Advertise Open Positions – traditional advertising does not work with tech folks. You need to go where they are in order to reach them. Use electronic job boards, social networks, technical associations, or alumni groups.

Use Your Team to Network – offer your employees’ referral bonuses for helping you recruit quality candidates.

Who knows better where to find these people, engage with them and speak their language? Recruiting should be everyone’s business!

Open the Job Internally First – remember that retention is as important if not more than recruiting new talent. Give your employees a chance to advance or try new projects in order to keep them engaged.

Make On-boarding a Focus – give new employees the tools to succeed from day one – educate them about your company’s vision, goals and strategies, and help them understand how their role impacts and supports your business.

Career Plan — have the foresight to plan and create a career path for each position so employees have the chance to grow in their position.

Don’t Underestimate the Value of Culture – your corporate culture can be a huge selling point. Be careful not to oversell and under deliver. Poll current employees to find out what attracted them to your organization and to identify disconnects. Evaluate this information and take action in order to retain good employees. Think of your reputation as your brand – you will attract those that are like you. Most of all, remember that you can always train for technical skills, but you can’t train for passion. PB

s this rapid change and advancement in information technology increases, companies face the following challenges in finding, hiring, and retaining the innovative talent needed to transform their business and succeed.

A

FINDING TALENT

As we come out of the recession, we are finding that companies are willing to invest in technology, but not wanting to hire full-time employees, and are looking for “project” help. With the shortage of technology professionals available, temporary contract workers are really hard to find.

Unemployment in the technology sector is two percent compared to the national average of 9.1 percent. With nearly 1 million computer network, systems and database administrator jobs in the U.S. today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts these roles to increase by 30 percent from 2008 to 2018, which is much faster than the average for all other occupations. That means nearly 300,000 new workers will be needed in the field during the next seven years. That does not even take into effect the amount of baby boomers who are likely to retire during that time period, so a number of those positions will need to be backfilled. Even worse, less than one percent of college students in the U.S. pick computer science as a major.

RECRUITING TALENT

Many companies don’t know how to assess their IT infrastructure needs nor the resources needed to staff an IT Projected IT Occupational Needs in ND, 2008 to 2018 operation. Most H.R. professionals don’t understand technology roles or lingo well Computer specialists, all other enough to write a good job description in order to attract for these important positions.

Network sustems and data communications analysts

RETAINING TALENT

SCOTT KOST Principal/CEO Eide Bailly Technology Consulting Fargo, ND skost@eidebailly.com

24 Prairie Business

While those with experience and talent will quickly find an increase in salary, the demand for recruitment will result in a lot of job hopping.

So, how do you proactively invest in technology and the professionals needed to meet the demands of your business in order to be successful? Here are a few solutions to consider when finding, hiring and retaining top talent.

Outsource Your IT – let someone who knows how to run your IT operation do to the job.

Invest in Your People – continually budget for training and certifications so your

November 2011

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HIGHER EDUCATION

COVER STORY

Marsha Krotseng, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Planning North Dakota University System

Dr. Lew Christopher Director, Center for Bioprocessing Research & Development

26 Prairie Business

Research critical to well-rounded economy Agriculture, defense, energy, health – all of these and much more are part of the research landscape for higher education institutions across North Dakota, South Dakota, and western Minnesota. esearch is critical to advancing North Dakota and the nation as a whole,” states Marsha Krotseng, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Planning in the North Dakota University System. “Research plays an important role in our state’s economy and has been a key factor in North Dakota’s increased competitiveness over the past decade.”

J. Pat Costello, Commissioner, South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development, adds states (like South Dakota) are dedicated to research because it solves a problem in an industry within the state, creates opportunities for jobs, and builds a cluster that can grow over time.

South Dakota has 10 research centers in operation.

Five of the Centers have ‘graduated’ or no longer receiving state ‘Center’ funding. The other five centers are in their third year.

From Fiscal Year 2005 to Fiscal Year 2011, South Dakota invested $24.6 million into the research centers.

During that time the research centers generated $155 million in ‘non-center funding’ primarily from federal agencies and private sources.

Total research expenditures by the Centers during those years have been $179.4 million. Businesses partnering with the research centers have raised more than $20 million in financing to commercialize research results.

The Center for Bioprocessing Research & Development (CBRD) has initiated 26 industry collaborations with private businesses and large bioenergy companies and has trained 79 graduate and undergraduate students. Four new faculty have joined the Center over the past two years.

In FY11, 55 graduate, 24 undergraduate and 8 researchers have been employed and trained through CBRD. The Center consists of 120 researchers from nine departments at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City and South Dakota State University in Brookings. The Center was established in 2006 through the Governor’s 2010 Initiative for Economic Development to bring together the bioprocessing research and development resources together.

“The bioprocessing research conducted by the Center is of national significance and contributes to the effort of reducing the national dependence on foreign oil and energy

R

“

November 2011

sustainability, which is a national priority,” states Dr. Lew Christopher, CBRD Director. “Implementation of research findings and technologies developed by the Center can bring about economic, environmental, and social benefits to our society.”

Christopher adds that an economic benefit would reduce dependence on imported petroleum; environmental benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced pollution by utilizing industrial and agricultural waste, and biodegradable, reusable and recyclable products; and social benefits would include social development of rural communities and improvements in human health and quality of life.

In the past five years, the Center has obtained $13.3 million through 88 awards from state, federal, and industry funding sources.

The North Dakota Centers of Excellence 2010 Annual Report states that the Centers of Excellence program has had more than $406 million in estimated total impact to North Dakota’s economy. The Centers have formed partnerships with 190 companies and have led to the creation of more than 1,000 direct jobs with an estimated payroll of $53.4 million. In addition, 18 new or expanded businesses have resulted from the Centers of Excellence program to date.

Public campuses around North Dakota have Centers of Excellence that focus on targeted industries, including energy, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, life science, technology and entrepreneurship, and aerospace. These Centers

generate economic growth and jobs through the combined assets of a strong university system and solidly committed private sector businesses.

“Having two major research universities helps create a culture of innovation in the state, with faculty members from various fields working together and partnering with companies to develop exciting new products and practical solutions,” Krotseng states. “Research has become a powerful magnet that attracts new businesses and individuals to North Dakota. This process builds the economy.”

UND has several areas of significant research pockets. One is energy coming from the work of the Energy & Environmental Research Center and the engineering departments on campus. There is also growing research in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the aerospace sector. The third involves research in the university’s medical schools and life sciences.

Michael Moore, Associate Vice President for Intellectual Property Commercialization and Economic Development for UND is responsible for soliciting intellectual property from the research faculty. His office protects the intellectual property and transfers it to the private sector through license agreements. He, along with the Vice President for Research, Dr. Phyllis Johnson, also acts as the economic development person for the campus.

“Research brings in jobs of various kinds,” he states. “When companies, big and small, even start-up companies are setting down roots here that brings stable jobs along with it.

This means stable management professional jobs, as well as opportunities for student

Students are doing research at the University of North Dakota.

(Photo courtesy of UND)

prairiebizmag.com

27

Learn more. Earn more.

Your choice.

COVER STORY research jobs.”

In Fiscal Year 2010, UND had an estimated $106.33 million in total sponsored research program expenditures. The economic impact of these awards on Grand Forks County, the state, and the North Central Census Region was $217 million in economic output, 1,837 jobs, and more than $21.5 million in local, state, and federal tax revenue, according to ‘The Economic Impact of Research at UND: Fiscal Year 2010’ report.

Although only on campus for just over a year, Moore has seen research coming from all different aspects of the university that includes the medical school’s neuroscience research program, unmanned aerial systems, biofuels research, and geological research pertaining to mining in western North Dakota.

Moore credits much of what is happening in research to the programs that Sen. Byron Dorgan set up through the Red River Valley Research Corridor. “The corridor labels the Red River Valley as a research corridor,” he states. “There are two major research universities, a significant amount of business support, and various facilities to carry out this research. Grand Forks and Fargo are labeled as research hubs.”

He adds that the research enterprise at UND is fairly new. “The campus historically did not do a lot of research, but it has taken off,” Moore states.

In fact, in the last 10 years, research has grown to generate more than $100 million per year. “That is pretty impressive,” Moore states. “It is exciting to be at a growing place. There are a lot of good things happening here. I see it continuing to grow.” PB Alan Van Ormer - avanormer@prairiebizmag.com

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Economic Development

Cooperatives: Example of successful economic development models armers and ranchers across the nation use co-ops to process and market their crops and livestock and to provide them with essential production supplies and services.

Electric and telecommunications utility cooperatives supply rural America with a reliable, affordable source of energy and communications technology, including phone and Internet services.

In the Upper Great Plains, there are many successful models of economic development, and the most prominent, particularly in rural areas, are our Cooperatives.

It is important that we focus on economic development and recognize that one of the most tried-and-true examples of success is the cooperative business model. Cooperatives are often one of the largest employers in our communities.

They continue to grow, diversify, and invest in new technologies to ensure that rural citizens have the same amenities as our urban counterparts.

As the country looks toward an economic recovery, it is fitting that we focus special attention on cooperatives as a key source of jobs. Co-ops are playing a role as our nation strives to reduce high levels of unemployment by providing good jobs for tens of thousands of people in the farm sector alone.

Because co-ops are locally or regionally owned by their members, a larger percent of these dollars “stay local,” circulating in the rural communities and towns where their members live and work. These dollars also support other local businesses and generate tax revenues that in turn support schools, police and fire services, and other local

It’s hard to live in rural America without being touched daily in some way by cooperatives.

JASPER SCHNEIDER State Director USDA Rural Development jasper.schneider@ nd.usda.gov

F

government services. Cooperatives often take part in community improvement programs, ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to benefit from the cooperative experience.

When one such co-op adds just three new jobs, it can be big news in a small town. It may translate into three more houses having “sold” signs in the front yard and commission checks for a real estate agent to deposit in the local bank or credit union. It could mean more students in a rural school, maybe enough to justify hiring a new teacher, resulting in another house being sold. It can mean a dozen or more new consumers to help support a rural grocery store and a surge in new business for the local barber, mechanic, and so on.

Co-ops also represent democracy in action, with control exercised by a board of directors elected from the ranks of members; the board hires and directs management and is ultimately responsible to the members.

There are more than 29,000 cooperative businesses in the United States that generate more than two million jobs, create more than $74 billion in wages, and collect nearly $654 billion in annual revenue, according to a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives.

USDA Rural Development has a strong commitment to cooperatives and is proud to partner to provide financing to upgrade, expand, and maintain infrastructure, as well as, providing resources for research and technical assistance to further support the development of new and existing cooperative businesses. We at USDA will continue to foster co-op development and will strive to help improve co-op operations throughout the Upper Great Plains. PB

FYI

SANFORD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE APPROVED FOR CARDIOVASCULAR FELLOWSHIP The Sanford School of Medicine of The University of South Dakota, in Sioux Falls, SD, has been approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for a Cardiovascular Fellowship - two specialist training spots per year – for the three year program.

This new program is one of just 187 Cardiovascular Fellowships approved for development in the United States and addresses a critical health care need in South Dakota.

Fellows selected for the Sanford School of Medicine program will receive education and training from faculty that has more than 130 years of combined teaching experience, including Sanford Health cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons.

30 Prairie Business

November 2011

More oil pockets?

The southwest corner of North Dakota and northwest corner of South Dakota is about to become an oil play. owever, Lynn Helms, Director, Department of Mineral Resources, doesn’t expect the oil play to hit stride for at least five years.

It is expected that the first wells will be drilled this year. As for a timetable for the Tyler Formation oil play, Helms states that the best model to follow is what happened in the Bakken Formation.

“The first attempt was in April 2004 and the first commercial well was in April 2006,” he states. “It was another three years before the code was really broken.”

Most of the attention has been placed on the Bakken Formation north of the new oil play. The production in the Bakken has been setting records in every area, according to Helms. There are currently 201 drilling rigs and by the end of the year Helms expects 225. “In addition, oil production sets records every month,” he says.

The Tyler Formation is estimated to be half the size of the current Bakken and is expected to have the potential for more than 7,000 wells, according to Helms. The Tyler Formation has been producing oil from vertical wells in the Dickinson, ND area since the 1950s.

The area consists of carbon-rich shale and silt layers. The first wells are expected to be started in December into early 2012.

Helms says southwestern North Dakota will be the main area of production, but he is also confident it will go into Harding and Perkins counties in South Dakota.

“It is different from the Bakken in that it’s shallower,” Helms explains. “The cost of building the wells will be cheaper. The oil will be harder to produce.”

Helms adds that companies will use the experience in the Bakken in the new oil play. For example, organizing wells in a pattern and in rows 2-4 miles apart. The hydro fracturing technique has also become more efficient. In addition, the state will be able to utilize transportation consultants to plan and identify roads that need to be used. Cities will also need to prepare for activity that is expected to come from the Tyler Formation.

Helms says the two major challenges will be there is very little infrastructure in the areas and there is very little water. “Those will be issues,” he states.

H

32 Prairie Business Energy

November 2011

Hettinger County is one area that is expected to be impacted by the latest oil play.

Mark Resner is the Economic Development Director for the Hettinger County Job Development Authority. He is responsible for job creation and tourism promotion throughout the county.

“We’re on the very cusp of development,” he says. “We’re very fortunate in that we have had all these best and less than best models from other counties in the state. Everybody has been helpful in saying this is what we ran into.”

Hettinger County had some producing wells in the 1980s, but those wells shut down in the 1990s and the county has not had any new wells since.

Resner says that for the past two years there has been considerable leasing activities; especially in the northwest half of the county.

“One oil company has currently applied to the industrial commission for three, 1,280 acre well spacings,” Resner states, adding that one is located five miles east of New England and the other two along Stark County to the north. “No drilling permits have been issued as of yet.”

Resner continues saying that the same company has applied for 30 locations in an area south and east of Dickinson, ND. “There have been other companies that have leased considerable amount north of Regent and east of New England,” he explains. “It really looks like we are going to have considerable development. Not all the wells are in

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Classes available online or at Dickinson State, Bismarck State and W illiston State. prairiebizmag.com

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the Tyler Formation. Some are in the Three Forks Formation. It is really exploration at this point.”

When and if oil starts flowing, Resner believes it will have an impact on the county. For example, he states that calls to the sheriff ’s office

Map courtesy of North Dakota Geological Survey

34 Prairie Business Energy

November 2011

between January through August in 2010 and 2011 have increased from about 300 to 600 even though oil isn’t being produced in the county.

“We have seen a real increase in social services cases and escalation on housing demand,” he states. “We don’t have any producing wells, but are really feeling the impact.”

As for the economic impact, that will be huge just like in every other place oil is being produced. “Our county commissioners have been proactive by forming an oil development task force a year ago,” Resner says. “Written man camp regulations are already being developed. We’re meeting with oil company representatives. We are making an effort to have everybody informed and involved.”

The county commission has also developed a new comprehensive plan for county and is rewriting all of the zoning regulations.

“We’re going to have the procedural structure formed and in place if and when we get inundated,” Resner states. “That is going to make things a lot easier.”

Alan Van Ormer avanormer@prairiebizmag.com

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FYI

BSC ENERGY MANAGEMENT DEGREE RANKED SEVENTH MOST AFFORDABLE IN U.S.

The bachelor’s degree of Applied Science in Energy Management offered by Bismarck State College (BSC) was ranked the seventh most affordable online management degree in the nation by GetEducated.com, a consumer group that publishes online college rankings and online university ratings. The Get Educated Official List of Best Buys ranks the top 35 regionally accredited and most affordable online bachelor degrees in management in the United States. BSC is the only institution in North or South Dakota to receive a ranking.

Based on costs from Spring 2011, BSC’s Energy Management degree received an A- in the rating scale and a number seven ranking for its overall degree cost of $29,194.

Richard Northrup, assistant professor and developer for the BSC BAS Program believes the program is quickly becoming the premier energy management on-line program. “The BAS Program is training the present and future managers needed in the energy field. I am proud to be a part of the program. Although I instruct many of the classes, I continue to marvel at how much I learn from the students.

The various parts of the business that they work in and their perspectives of the industry give me, and their fellow students, insight into how diverse the energy business really is.”

The program currently has over 200 students located all over America and different parts of the world.

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Alternative energy source J research underway

Researchers associated with the North Central Sun Grant Center at South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD, will be working on four alternative energy projects associated with producing biomass feedstocks that can be converted into biofuels. ames Doolittle, Director of the North Central Sun Grant, states that this research could have an impact on the nation’s energy needs because of the research associated with finding a sustainable, cost-competitive feedstock supply.

“We know there is technology,” Doolittle says. “One of the limitations of the value chain is the cost of feedstock. We are looking at means for sustainable supply and enough margins to produce fuel and sell it.”

Doolittle adds that the United States cannot produce enough corn to fuel the country.

Federal states that 16 billion gallons of fuel should be coming from corn supply. “When we move on we are going to need other sources of feedstock for fuel,” Doolittle explains.

The Sun Grant Initiative is national program that networks land-grant universities with federal agencies, government research laboratories, and forestry resources for

36 Prairie Business Energy

November 2011

biobased energy technologies. There are five land-grant universities, including SDSU, that serve as regional SGI Centers to address relevant projects that address national issues.

Through the development, distribution, and implementation of biobased technologies, the SGI: • Enhances national energy security • Promotes diversification in and the environmental sustainability of agricultural production in the country • Promotes economic diversification in rural areas of the United States • Enhances the efficiency of bioenergy and biomass research and development programs through improved coordination and collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, and land-grant universities and colleges.

On the latest projects, researchers are working the Department of Energy to produce biomass feedstocks that can be converted into biofuels.

One project addresses using second-generation biofuel feedstocks to improve the carbon economy of the country’s agriculture. The study will examine the design of incentive-based policies that reward greenhouse gas mitigation. Researchers will also examine the costs of achieving various levels of mitigation as well as implication is for the regional pattern of crop production, for the allocation of land between food and fuel crops, and for food and fuel prices.

The project is expected to end in August 2013.

A second project involves improving production, resilience, and biodiversity of perennial grass mixtures and monocultures as biofuel feedstock across environmentally heterogeneous landscapes. Researchers will study biomass production and species’ performance in fields of warm-season grasses and forbs planted one to three years ago. The researchers will also install

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new controlled experiments to determine, by pairing numerous combinations of native prairie species, which species grow best together.

The research will end in October 2014.

The third research project will look at production and economics of perennial-based woody and herbaceous biomass crops under alleycropping systems. The study will determine productivity of woody and herbaceous biomass species in the ally cropping configuration and evaluate cover crops to control erosion and improve diversity.

Researchers will also gather production data and refine enterprise budgets for alley-cropping and other perennial-based biomass cropping systems and they will integrate production and economic data into a decision-supported tool.

The project runs through April 2014.

Finally, researchers will look at intensifying the corn-soybean

rotation with the use of winter rye grown for biomass energy production. Researchers will evaluate the potential of winter rye as a biomass crop. The rye would be planted in the fall after growing corn the first season, then harvested the next year in late May to early June before soybean planting. The system would give producers the possibility of harvesting three crops in two growing seasons.

Researchers will also evaluate the effects of this practice on corn and soybean yields, and they will estimate the breakeven price matrix based on biomass production as well as corn and soybean yields and prices.

The project is expected to be completed in March 2014.

Doolittle says all the research projects look promising. “This could provide us the opportunity to produce sustainable crops to assist the energy biofuels industry,” he states.

Alan Van Ormer - avanormer@prairiebizmag.com

Bakken model for North America Eileen M. Campbell, Vice President of Public Policy for Marathon Oil Corporation, was the keynote speaker during a recent State of Energy Summit hosted by the Chamber (Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo). fter her presentation, she and Terry Kovacevich, Bakken Asset Manager for Marathon Oil, held a press conference to answer questions about the energy industry.

Here is an edited excerpt from the press conference, along with additional comments for clarification: One of the major issues concerning Marathon Oil is regulation from the national perspective. In Campbell’s view, oil companies need to work in partnership, not in conflict, with regulatory agencies so they have a better understanding of what the industry does.

“It needs to be done with an understanding of our business and how we can create economic prosperity at the same time we are operating responsibly and in an environmentally safe manner,” she explains.

When asked about exploration and the possibility of oil in South Dakota, Kovacevich notes there is a small amount of oil and gas production in South Dakota. “Right now, based on the subsurface and geological interpretation, I would say it is somewhat limited as compared to the Williston Basin in North Dakota,” he says. “We have looked at it (exploration in

A

38 Prairie Business Energy

November 2011

South Dakota) in the past and we will continue to look at it. Right now, I’m not aware of any company actively leasing or even proactively looking at large-scale development down there.”

As for the outcome of what is happening in the Bakken, Kovacevich says the first thing that comes to mind for him is the rapid growth and the factors that led to that growth, dating back more than a decade.

“What is mind-boggling since I have been here is the growth of drilling rigs,” he says. “We (the industry) increased to almost 100 at the end of 2008, then it tailed off a little bit. As crude oil prices gained strength later in 2009 and natural gas prices remained depressed, the growth of rigs continued and the number has reached almost 200.”

Campbell adds that North Dakota and the Bakken have set the stage for unconventional resource development in North America.

“Bakken was the first,” she says. “We believe the industry, in partnership with regulators, government officials and the business community, has created the model for the rest of the nation.”

FYI

South Dakota PUC urges FERC action to evaluate EPA regulations

he South Dakota Public Utilities Commission filed comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking FERC to study how regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency will impact the reliability and affordability of electricity. The PUC urges FERC to establish one or more joint boards comprised of federal and state representatives, including a board for South Dakota and the Upper Midwest region.

The South Dakota PUC joins the South Carolina PUC and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski in demanding FERC use its resources and expertise to study the potential negative impact on the nation’s electric grid that could occur as a result of recent EPA regulations.

“Studying the effects of EPA’s regulations is a shared responsibility of FERC and state public utility commissions. States cannot conduct this analysis alone because the impacts of EPA’s regulations are experienced regionally and nationally,” states the letter to FERC sent by PUC commissioners Gary Hanson, Chris Nelson and Kristie Fiegen.

The PUC further pointed out that numerous proposed EPA regulations that will become effective over a very compressed time frame have the potential to cause the premature retirement of a number of generating facilities in the Midwest, creating serious reliability and economic consequences. Approximately 70 percent of the electricity used by South Dakotans is generated by coal-fired power plants.

T

Hanson, the commission’s chairman, expresses disappointment with FERC’s inaction related to the EPA’s process. “FERC’s refusal to address the reliability issues of the new EPA regulations is going to cause havoc,” he says. “I am very concerned about our environment but that does not mean we can simply arbitrarily close down electric generation facilities without having a comprehensive plan on how electricity will be provided to our citizens.”

PUC Vice Chairman Nelson emphasizes the need for the two federal agencies to work together and with affected stakeholders. “It is imperative that state regulators and members of the electric industry be part of this analysis,” he says. “It’s very troubling that FERC and the EPA have not recognized the value these frontline voices can bring to the process and even more troubling those folks in Washington are dismissing the huge detrimental impact these regulations can have on citizens.”

“Clearly, this is an important issue that can significantly impact many states,” states PUC Commissioner Fiegen. “Electric service interruptions are serious and, as we’ve seen in South Dakota, can have far-reaching repercussions especially in the winter months. We need assurance from the federal regulators that their actions strive to protect the integrity of and not harm electric reliability.”

No Dakota’s coal industry creates jobs and North keeps the cost of living low. That’s the power of coal. ke Affordable power supply keeps the cost of living low.

Coal provides 27,000 jobs in the state.

Each year, coal provides $3 billion in total business activity.

The coal industry pays $90 million in state taxes each year.

To learn more how coal keeps North Dakota strong, please visit powerofcoal.com.

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Community Spotlight

Madison

Initiative helped sustain Madison, as well as changed the way the community looks at economic development The first Forward Madison initiative five years ago was not only a program that was designed to move Madison, SD forward, but leaders found out that it was also an initiative that kept the community growing when a recession hit others around the country.

orward Madison was a new venture for this community. It moved our economic development outreach to a new plateau setting broad goals clearly resembling a different type of resource base,” states Jeff Nelson, General Manager, East River Electric Power Cooperative, who was a member of the Lake Area Improvement Corporation Board of Directors during the initial Forward Madison campaign. “Then came sharp changes in the economy. Without Forward Madison this community really would have much more difficulty in dealing with those external forces outside of its control.”

Tammy Miller, CEO, Madison Community Hospital and another member of the LAIC board five years ago, says not long after the campaign went into effect, the economy went south. “It is hard to see that we were impacted by that,” she explains. “On the other hand, you never know if it didn’t sustain some things. We saw that here people were struggling.”

Forward Madison’s purpose was to create and retain jobs, to create and retain new business through workforce initiatives, work with innovative engineers, and market the assets of Madison and Lake County.

It is estimated that 80 percent of Madison’s economic growth over the past five years has come from within the community. That includes development of new businesses and expansion of long-time businesses within the area.

“Forward Madison was a tremendous benefit,” states DeLon Mork, owner of Dairy Queen. “The initial 100 plus

F

“ Dr. Douglas Knowlton President Dakota State University

Jeff Nelson General Manager East River Electric Power Cooperative

Tammy Miller CEO Madison Community Hospital

40 Prairie Business

November 2011

of investors said I like Madison and like to do business here. It was a good morale thing for the community.”

Pat Prostrollo, President, Prostrollo Auto Mall, adds it has changed the way Madison looks at economic development because more people are now involved in the process. “They understand what economic development is all about,” he says. “That is a good thing.”

Under the business retention and workforce development goal, at least 24 companies or other entities have received assistance in business planning, marketing planning, and financial planning, as well as receiving training dollars through state and local workforce training programs.

The focus on growing local businesses shows the Lake Area Improvement Corporation facilitating loans and training dollars to at least 16 companies or programs. The LAIC also negotiated the purchase and sale of buildings and lands to at least 17 companies or projects.

Forward Madison II will continue with the earlier process but also ask specific questions on retail, manufacturing, housing, workforce development, business retention, and business recruitment.

“If we didn’t do this, I wouldn’t want to know what Madison would look like without the LAIC and Madison’s efforts,” Mork explains. “We are in the position to have another successful campaign and be able to have positive growth. This can provide nothing but good things for Madison.”

PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY

Community Center

Dairy Queen

East River Headquarters

x

Custom Touch Homes

Madison Community Hospital

Prostrollo Auto Mall new expansion

Entities like East River Electric Power Cooperative, Madison Community Hospital, Prostrollo Auto Mall, Custom Touch Homes, and Dakota State University are just five of the many businesses that have helped the community grow.

East River has always remained actively engaged in the community and is committed to leadership in the community. Currently, Linda Salmonson, who runs the economic development program for East River, is the LAIC Board president.

East River is a wholesale provider to retail electric cooperatives to eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota. In the past decade, the economic growth in the agriculture sector has been especially strong and it has reflected in the cooperative’s business.

“Our growth in energy supply has increased substantially,” Nelson states.

In an effort to keep up with that growth, East River has expanded its downtown facility focusing on investments in new technology such as smart grid applications and migrating technology into everyday operations.

“New technology improves our utility operations,” Nelson explains.

The Madison Community Hospital has been able to sustain what it has in the past in an effort to allow people to stay in the community for their health care needs. The hospital is focused on wellness and education, but has many outpatient and inpatient services. More than 150 employees, including eight active physicians and three physician assistants, service an area of 18,000 people that includes Lake County, but also portions of surrounding counties.

As an independent hospital, Miller believes that this is the best decision for the community. Currently, the hospital board is looking at options for redoing the adjoining clinic, as well as inpatient and outpatient services.

“We are continuing to stay ahead of the curve in the different treatments, therapies, and services,” Miller states.

“We’re in a niche community. We’re not as large as most regional hospitals, but we’re also not as small as other hospitals. We continue to have slight growth.”

Prostrollo Auto Mall is in the midst of expanding its Lincoln and Ford franchises by building a 15,000 square foot facility. In addition, the headquarters building is being renovated for the 72 full-time and 15-part-time employees.

“What is good for the community is good for Prostrollo,” Prostrollo states. “We see Prostrollo growing bigger and stronger within our 60 mile radius.”

Prostrollo adds that the expansion is part of an optional Image Program that will make the car dealership more competitive around the region in the future.

He adds that Forward Madison has had a huge impact, not only on his dealership, but also Madison in general.

“Forward Madison has given the community the opportunity with the monetary stability to go out and recruit, advertise, and put up signage,” Prostrollo states.

“Without that monetary ability, we are paralyzed. That has been the main thrust.”

Custom Touch Homes has seen an increase in its business in the past four years. In 2007, the manufacturer home builder constructed 49 houses. In 2011, that number is expected to reach 150 homes. Custom Touch Homes averages 18-20 houses per month. In 2008, Custom Touch Homes employed 25 employees. Today that number is 80 employees. They have also added an additional 50,000 square feet pushing the company to 100,000 square feet to build the homes.

“Our sales are up 350 percent over what it was three years ago,” states Scott Larson, who along with Jeff Larson and Virginia McDonald, owns the business in the Lakeview Industrial Park.

There are many factors that have helped with the increase including a booming farm economy, the speed in which the company can build its product, placing spec homes and allowing home owners to visit the site during construction, as well as being in the right place at the right time.

“Western North Dakota can’t get enough housing and the competition is limited,” says Larson, who is working with companies in the Bakken to construct homes. “It is tough for contractors to build an entire house plus the quantity they are asking for.”

Dakota State University, South Dakota’s lead information technology institution, has invested more than $20 million into renovation and improvements on campus that includes upgrades of the Science Center, Residence Hall, and Community Center. It also includes infusion of higher levels of technology for the students in the university that is known for its technology prowess.

More than 3,000 students attend DSU and 250 graduate students are involved in graduate programs offered by the school.

In addition, DSU is launching its largest media campaign – ‘Technically, We’re Better,’ which DSU President Dr. Douglas Knowlton states will go right after the students companies are needing in IT. In addition to the very technologically sophisticated classrooms and specialized labs there has been a major expansion online. DSU is in the final stages of developing masters of applied computer science. Also, DSU has received a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a Cyber Security Scholarship Program.

The first class is slated for this year.

“We have companies needing our graduates, but we don’t have enough for them,” Knowlton says. “Demand has gotten so high and it has become a very competitive environment.”

Lake Area Improvement Corporation Executive Director Dwaine Chapel notes that Forward Madison II is underway and the program is expected to be refined shortly. “The community once again is excited about embracing new opportunities while continually addressing existing challenges. The retail component has been discussed in detail; the plan and process is being developed and will act as a solid footprint leading to success,” he states. “Madison is fortunate to have positive-forward thinking community leaders. These organizations mentioned in this story are truly pillars of the community.” PB Alan Van Ormer - avanormer@prairiebizmag.com prairiebizmag.com

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ViewPoint One client’s view of technology

It’s like plumbing; it should just work when you turn on the faucet oday one of our managed services clients said “Technology is like the plumbing in our office, when I turn the faucet on, I know there will be water, the same holds true for our technology.” As a Managed Services Provider, that statement is music to our ears. This particular client has come to the point where all companies should be with their technology provider. We are their trusted technology advisor, and they can focus their energy and expertise on their core competencies, which in this case happens to be the ready-mixed concrete industry.

There is a fine line when we articulate the value of Technology Advantage, Corporate Technologies’ managed service. To over simplify technology perhaps under values our service. At the same time, to overwhelm and overcomplicate our client’s technology with intricacies can lead to distrust and confusion. When visiting a mechanic, if I am told I have a worn out timing belt that means nothing. If you tell me if I don’t replace it I will ruin my engine, you have my attention and I understand how it will impact my life.

Technical speak and jargon have no place when discussing your business’ requirements. First and foremost, your provider should be addressing your business needs, challenges and goals. What are you trying to accomplish to

T

JUSTIN STANSBURY VP/General Manager Corporate Technologies Fargo, ND Justin.stansbury@ gocorptech.com

MADISON, SOUTH DAKOTA • 605-256-9111• TOLL FREE 800-777-4146

42 Prairie Business

November 2011

stay ahead of the competition and grow your business?

How is technology helping you do just that?

Ask your provider to explain how their solution will help protect your critical assets and grow your business.

Consider the following: • Data is critical, but not all data is equal. Protect and manage data based on its criticality to your business.

• Technology breaks. The ability to quickly access a Help Desk or schedule a visit from a technician should be accessible within minutes.

• Breadth and depth of skill set is a necessity even for a small business. With the complexity and variety of technology solutions it takes a larger pool of expertise to support all aspects of your infrastructure. A Managed Solutions Provider should have experts in everything from communication to storage.

• Stability of your environment - surprises are generally not welcome. Appropriate documentation, monitoring and maintenance of an environment will help reduce the number of business interruptions.

• Control of your budget – a managed services approach will help control spending fluctuations and allow you to invest in strategic solutions to improve your business.

A Managed Services Provider’s goal is to have your technology running smoothly behind the scenes, supporting your business’ operations while providing both the stability and agility you need to excel your business.

Just like expecting water from the faucet, when you power up your technology your business should flow. PB

Money

‘Don’t keep T your plans to yourself’

It is 5:30 p.m. 5 years from now and you’ve just died. Does your spouse know what to do, or is your planning a well-kept secret?

he surviving spouse is suddenly making decisions, wondering if they will be okay and too often haunted by thoughts like “what would my husband do.”

A disparity between spouses isn’t limited to older generations. With many demands, younger families fall into patterns where one spouse handles financial affairs. Maybe the one who opens the mail pays the bills then winds up making other financial decisions.

FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

The spouse with less involvement in a family business may not be aware of buy-sell arrangements. Does the spouse understand how to run the business, how to sell the business, or how to transition leadership to family members? Would your spouse be able to execute an exit strategy if you were dead or incapacitated?

Financial planning should be done together. First, by doing things together each spouse is able to manage without the other. Second, each understands the reasoning behind the plans. Third, more options are available when done sooner.

GETTING STARTED Start by understanding where you are. Do financial statements for your family and for your business and share them. If you have a financial advisor, attorney, tax professional, and banker, make sure your spouse is well acquainted with them. When adding or changing advisers include your spouse. Be deliberate about your selection so that your advisers are working for both of you and you both feel invested in the relationships.

Be realistic. Owners overvalue their businesses. Get an independent valuation. If your business relies on your relationships and personal knowledge, there may be little or no value to someone else.

Understanding value helps you appropriately plan for your family.

Often the business is the bulk of family assets, but there are several kids and only one wants to take over. How to be fair? While it is tempting to put everything back in to grow a business, adding diversity to your holdings gives you and your family more distribution options. Diversification can protect the family if the business can’t be sold.

GETTING HELP Another challenge to the surviving spouse is handling transfers. Serving as trustee or personal representative may be too much for a spouse dealing with your loss. A specialized corporate trustee can help with estate administration.

Planning is more than letting your spouse know where the key to the safety deposit box is and which desk drawer the will is in. There are many more things to consider, especially for second marriage families. By planning together, the surviving spouse will have the confidence to make decisions on their own. PB 44 Prairie Business

November 2011

DOUG MELBY Retirement Services Heartland Trust Company Fargo, ND doug@heartlandtrust.com

Prairie Business to Business

To Advertise:

John Fetsch: 701.238.9574 or jfetsch@prairiebizmag.com Brad Boyd: 1.800.641.0683 or bboyd@prairiebizmag.com prairiebizmag.com

45

By the Numbers EMPLOYMENT

(NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED) UNEMPLOYMENT RATE Aug. 2011 North Dakota Fargo MSA Bismarck MSA Grand Forks MSA Minot MiSA Dickinson MiSA Williston MiSA Jamestown MiSA Wahpeton MiSA South Dakota Sioux Falls MSA Rapid City MSA Aberdeen MiSA Brookings MiSA Watertown MiSA Spearfish MiSA Mitchell MiSA Pierre MiSA Yankton MiSA Huron MiSA Vermillion MiSA Minnesota Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA Brainerd MiSA Winona Fergus Falls MiSA Red Wing MiSA Bemidji MiSA Alexandria MiSA Hutchinson MiSA Marshall MiSA Worthington MiSA Fairmont MiSA

3.3 % 3.9 3.0 5.0 3.2 1.8 1.0 3.3 3.8 4.7 4.5 4.5 3.6 4.5 4.0 4.2 3.7 3.2 4.4 3.3 4.5 6.7 6.7 7.8 6.5 5.9 6.3 8.6 5.6 7.8 5.6 5.4 6.8

Aug. 2010 3.7% 3.9 3.4 4.4 3.2 2.3 1.6 3.8 4.4 4.5 4.7 4.3 3.2 4.3 3.9 4.4 3.6 2.9 4.4 3.4 4.0 7.0 7.1 8.0 6.9 6.1 6.7 7.9 5.8 8.1 5.3 5.2 6.8

EMPLOYMENT Aug. 2011 Aug. 2010 372,230 115,658 61,102 52,369 33,452 18,101 23,640 10,982 13,255 433,650 123,590 66,020 22,990 17,365 18,585 13,265 13.090 12,895 11,485 9.860 6,730 2,808,370 1,748,060 45,373 27,597 29,402 24,651 20,406 19,825 18,865 14,147 11,097 10,885

364,683 115,944 61,477 52,161 33,607 16,232 18,198 11,517 11,755 430,835 122,030 66,980 22,585 17,565 18,450 13,275 12,880 12,390 11,285 9,635 6,885 2,778,407 1,731,039 45,710 26,761 29,736 25,020 20,207 19,839 18,885 13,919 10,888 10,888

AUTOMOBILES

PB

MINNESOTA

Intl Falls-Rainer Grand Portage Baudette Warroad Roseau

NOV 2011

% CHANGE /NOV 2010

TRUCKS NOV % CHANGE 2011 /NOV 2010

63611 40048 16478 16837 4836

6.62% 19.35 -27.63 14.05 3.25

2093 1727 473 1076 703

3.31% 20.77 -35.91 27.34 - 6.52

40515 8807 5395 10596 5191 3819

5.87 -26.02 15.80 - 6.26 2.77 6.65

18207 5409 637 1795 901 286

8.19 -22.52 -62.92 - 3.23 - 29.50 -49.20

NORTH DAKOTA

Pembina Portal Neche Dunseith Walhalla Noonan

Source: US Customs and Border Protection

46 Prairie Business

November 2011

JULY 2011 JUNE 2011 APRIL 2011 JULY 2010 JUNE 2010

JULY 2011 JUNE 2011 APRIL 2010 JULY 2010 JUNE 2010

Sweet Crude Price/BBL

Production Oil-BBL/day

$91.79 $91.49 $103.91 $67.35 $63.14

423,600 384,700 351,300 321,042 314,477

Drilling Permits 136 138 125 145 128

Source: NDOMB

Producing Wells 5,756 5,558 5,536 5,054 4,977

September Rig Count

Rig Count 177 175 173 135 125

199

JULY AIRLINE BOARDINGS BOARDINGS

MSA — Metropolitan Statistical Area MiSA — Micropolitan Statistical Area Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Job Service North Dakota, South Dakota Department of Labor

CANADIAN BORDER CROSSINGS

NORTH DAKOTA OIL ACTIVITY

Minneapolis-St. Paul Fargo Sioux Falls Rapid City Bismarck Duluth Grand Forks Minot

% CHANGE/2010-2011

1,581,671 29,243 39,373 31,870 16,156 14,730 8,737 13,990

3.61 - 7.27 29.30 -10.30 - 0.95 -11.64 -15.59 59.01

Source: US Customs and Border Protection

CANADIAN EXCHANGE RATE 09/23/10

08/23/11

U.S. to Canadian Dollar-

$1.03 or $0.96

$0.99 or $1.01

$1.00 or $1.00

U.S. to Euro

$0.75 or $1.33

$0.69 or $1.44

$0.74 or $1.35

U.S. to Chinese Yuan

$6.70 or $0.1492

$6.40 or $0.1563

$6.39 or $0.1566

U.S. to Japanese Yen

$84.30 or $0.012

$76.57 or $0.013

$76.28 OR $0.013

U.S. to Mexican Peso

$12.64 or $0.079

$12.32 or $0.081

$13.78 or $0.073

Source: Bank of Canada

09/23/11

Data provided by Kingsbury Applied Economics

Put Your Business First

What is the value of clean?

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Connect your business with decision makers and political leaders of the Northern Plains. Prairie Business is the only regional business magazine that reaches over 60,000 readers every month.*

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Utilizing proper cleaning procedures and products positively impacts employee health.

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