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Official Publication of The Chamber-GF/EGF
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A group working to identify strategies for en-hancing local workforce recently sent a sur-vey to local businesses seeking input.
The Business-Post Secondary Education Engagement Task Force of The Chamber, Grand Forks Region EDC, Job Service of ND Workforce Committee is seeking input about local internship opportunities and programs currently being offered and others that could be offered or expanded.
“This information will also allow us to work towards increasing the number of internships available throughout the Greater Grand Forks area, as well as improving workforce retention rates of young University of North Dakota and Northland Community & Technical College students,” said Barry Wilfahrt, president of The Chamber.
“Keeping post-secondary students in our region after graduation is a key strategy in addressing the urgent workforce shortage in our community,” said Keith Lund, EDC vice president.
With more than 2,500 job openings in Grand Forks County alone every option to address workforce needs is being looked at, according to Wilfahrt.
We need to continue the mutually beneficial partnership that has brought us this far and
Official Publication of Grand Forks - East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce
THEAugust 2014
Official Publication of The Chamber - GF/EGF
PO Box 315 East Grand Forks, MN 56721
(701)772-7271 (701)772-9238 Fax [email protected] www.gochamber.org
202 N. 3rd Street Grand Forks, ND 58203
Local Employers Asked to Provide Inputcontinue to make critical investments in the communities of our western neighbors, be-cause we know that sustained, responsible oil development benefits our community and the entire state. It increases overall economic ac-tivity across all of our industries and provides tax revenues to continue to lower our tax burden, while enabling us at the same time to invest in our children and create opportunities to keep them here at home.
After decades of slow growth, we have the ability now to develop the intellectual and physical infrastructure needed to ensure North Dakota continues to lead the nation, and your Chamber will continue to work hard to advocate on behalf of our members and ensure our region is well-positioned for con-tinued opportunity and prosperity.
CLICK HERETo access the survey.
Please compete the survey by August 15th.
We appreciate your input!
Chamber Hosts Development Outlook MeetingGrand Forks and East Grand Forks continue to grow at a robust pace with taxable sales, building permits and just about every measure of growth up sig-nificantly in our communities.
Grand Forks City Administrator Todd Feland and City Council-man Ken Vein shared the Grand Forks future Infrastructure plan with more than 65 people in the chamber conference room last month.
A new Water Treatment plant for Grand Forks is at the top of the list. Securing 50% state fund-ing for the project has been a top priority of the City and busi-ness community for more than a year. Meetings have been held throughout the first half of the year with legislators from throughout the state to show the need for this regional $130 mil-lion facility.
The Red River Valley Water Sup-ply project was another major project requiring state funding that was discussed. When we think of the Red River we tend to think of flooding and not the alternative challenge which is too little water in the late sum-mer months. This actually poses
Staff
Barry Wilfahrt President/CEO
Lisa Swanson Vice President of Operations
Kimberly Strom Program/Event Director
Carla Younce Finance Director
[email protected] Emberly Lietz
Membership Director [email protected]
Connie Klefstad Administrative Assistant
Audrey Lind Project Assistant
OfficersChair: Chris Wolf Alerus Financial
Chair-Elect: Kristi Magnuson Nelson Hugo’s/Hugo’s Wine & Spirits
Past Chair: Jeff Wilson Vilandre Heating, Air Conditioning &
Plumbing Secretary: Ron Galstad
Galstad, Jensen, McCann PA John Oncken - True North Equipment
Craig Amiot - 5 Star Collision Barry Wilfahrt
The Chamber - GF/EGF
Directors Dan Dahl - Dahl Funeral Home
Amy Haagenson - Brady Martz & Assoc. Pete Haga - City of Grand Forks
Bonnie Haley - Bon Voyage Travel Brady Hansen- Verizon Wireless, BeMobile, Inc.
Jason Heintz - Scheels Kenny Holweger - Kenny’s Music Curt Kreun - GF City Council
Pat McLean - Clear Channel Comm. Bob Moore - River Cinema
Dennis Riesenour - Altru Health System Brian Rydell - Rydell Auto Center Cheryl Swanson- Alerus Center
Klaus Thiessen - GF Regional EDC
Matt Walkowiak - Ground Round
Sr. Military Advisor to the Board
Colonel Paul E. Bauman - GFAFB
2 www.gochamber.org
Chamber News
and even bigger threat to Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. Ide-ally Grand Forks and Fargo will be able to partner on this project and secure funding for a long term sustainable water supply for eastern North Dakota.
Transportation projects were also on the list. Continuing upgrades and repairs on major roads like Columbia and 47th street were topics as was a potential new interchange at 47th street which is another legislative priority for the City.
Finally the two talked about the various commercial, industrial and residential developments cur-rently being built and several that are planned for the future. The presentation focused on how each would be phased in over a period of years and how Grand Forks will now likely move more the West in addition to the South and the city “squares itself off to maximize the use of its infrastructure.
The Chamber plans to hold simi-lar meetings at least once a year to secure business community input on the City’s growth pans.
Cont. on page 3
16 South 16th Street • Fargo, ND 58103701.235.1121 • 888.526.1121 • www.knightprinting.com
This is sand,
not snow...Making it happen.
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488948_06june_kp.indd 1 4/10/14 3:40 PM
Chamber News
3 www.gochamber.org
42nd Street Gift Important Boost to Community AestheticsThe Marcil Family gift of $300,000 for a sculpture along the 42nd Street arts and parkway will pro-vide a huge boost to aesthetics in our region. We are hearing a lot more talk about the value of aesthetics in our community from fixing up dilapidated properties and developing the 42nd street corridor to making improvements downtown and along the gateway drive corridor. Aesthetics are important as documented by the Gallop Organization in conjunc-tion with the Knight Foundation back in 2010.
Below is a letter to the editor that appeared in the GF Herald about a year ago.
Why Community Attachment Matters.
Aesthetics play a key role in community attachment. What attaches people to a partic-ular community? Why do people love where they live? In 2010,
Cont. from pg. 2
the Knight Foundation work-ing with the Gallup organization found people in some communi-ties have a bond to their com-munity that is stronger than just being happy about where they live. The Knight/Gallup “Soul of the Community” project found there are 10 key drivers to com-munity attachment: Social Offer-ing, Aesthetics, Education, Open-ness, Leadership, Basic Services, Economy, Social Capital, Civic Involvement and Safety.
In every community studied including Grand Forks the top three community characteristics that connect to the passion and loyalty residents feel for a place are social offerings (fun places to gather); aesthetics (an area’s physical beauty including the availability of parks, playgrounds and trails, beauty and physical setting and green spaces) and openness (how welcoming a place is). In Grand Forks Social Offer-ing was the most important factor followed by Aesthetics, Openness and Education. That is why proj-ects like the many special events, the Greenway, downtown beau-
tification and the proposed 42nd street corridor are so important.
The study also measured per-ceptions of the local economy and basic services, the top three social offerings, aesthetics and openness were always more important in terms of their re-lationship to community attach-ment. This is not to say that communities should focus on building parks when jobs are not available. However, it is clear these top factors, beyond the basic needs, should be included when thinking about economic growth and development. These seemingly softer needs have an even larger effect that previously thought when it comes to why people choose to live where they live.
The study also found that com-munity attachment is tied to local GDP growth - communities with higher attachment saw the larg-est growth in their economies.
Using this research as a baseline; the Chamber, Community Foun-dation and the two cities came together to do the NV360 Com-munity Visioning process. Unlike previous vision processes which focused on mainly infrastructure and basic services these softer factors were also incorporated. Interestingly the Knight/Gallup results were further reinforced as the more than 1,500 partici-pants in the NV360 community visioning process emphasized the importance of social offering, openness and aesthetics over and over again.
Grand Forks is short on things you normally find in the aes-thetic column like mountains and lakes. Thus we need to be more creative and work a little harder when it comes to how to make our community more attractive. We have the greenway an attrac-tive downtown and many parks. A new idea is the 42nd street art and sculpture corridor from Demers avenue to 32nd avenue along 42nd street. A project like this would enhance the aesthetics of our community and would be another thing in our growing list things that help create commu-nity attachment.
Engagement in The Chamber At An All-Time HighWith 5 months remaining in the year, chamber member-ship has passed the new member goal! Due in part to the one of the most successful in-house membership drives 2 years in a row, an increasing number of businesses in GF/EGF and our region have been investing in The Chamber, resulting in strong membership growth.
In addition to the growing number of chamber members, programs, events and committees have seen record atten-dance and sponsor support over the past years. Our busi-ness community is seeing the value of their membership.
The Chamber partners with many organizations in our region to ensure key issues are addressed and projects relevant to our community are carried out. We are working for our members to ensure a healthy business climate in our area.
Having recently achieved a 4-star Accreditation, The Chamber - GF/EGF is in the top 150 chambers in the na-tion. If you know of a business that is not yet a member, let us know. We would love to visit with them! Send us the information at [email protected] or call us at 772-7271.
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citizens-cu.com3351 32nd Ave S • Grand Forks, ND
701.772.9960
Chamber News
Membership RenewalsThe following businesses know the value of their Chamber Membership and have renewed their membership in The Chamber - GF/EGF. Please visit them for your purchasing needs.
AFLAC - Maxine BachmeierAFLAC - Shari Hanson
American Cancer Society/Relay for LifeAmerican Family Insurance - Jeremy Fulton
Anytime FitnessApplegren ConstructionBert’s Truck Equipment
Cabela’sCelebration Church
Cenex - Gateway DriveCost Cutters - Grand Cities Mall
Dakotas Chapter NECAD.J. Burris Quality Carpet Cleaning
Dietrich’s of Grand Forks, Inc.DM Acoustics, LLC
Grand Forks Blue Line ClubGreen Mill Restaurant
Guesthouse InternationalHarmon Glass Doctor
ICON Architectural GroupJohnstown Bean Company
Morgan StanleyOlson Auto Repairs
Pins & NeedlesPrudential Crary Real Estate - Sarita Bansal
Richard P. Stadter Psychiatric CenterRuffing It Doggie Daycare & Overnight Cen-
terSmall Business Administration - GF Office
Stray Media GroupStreet is Neat Custom Bikes & Trikes, Inc.
Subway (1801 Gateway Drive)Subway (1850 S. Columbia Rd.)Subway (2400 S. Washington)
Subway (2551 32nd Ave South)Subway (2800 S. Columbia Rd.)
Subway (32nd Ave S.)Subway (DeMers Ave.)
Subway (Emerado)Sue Krenelka, CPA
Super Cuts - 32nd AvenueThur O Clean, Inc.
Town Square Farmers MarketUniversity of Minnesota Crookston-Center for
Adult LearningZWireless
RMI invites all Chamber Members and their employees to join them for a fun Business After Hours Scavenger Hunt. Before you head over, join us in our scavenger hunt by
searching at home for the following unwanted metal items! RMI will pay cash for all items redeemed in the scavenger hunt!*
1. This item lies around in your junk drawer, but would rather unlock doors for you.2. This item lights up December and make the holiday season more festive.
3. This item brings power and electricity from the outlet to all things electrical.4. This item takes 30 days to be consumed, recycled, and return to the shelf again.
5. This item allows the alternator to start your car’s engine.
Your cash rewards and number of prize drawing entries increase with the number (weight) of items redeemed in the scavenger hunt!
Visit www.residualmaterials.com/BAH for more hints and items to look for!*Items redeemed in the scavenger hunt will not be returned.
Door prizes include: 4 Sioux Football Tickets (Stony Brook Game), 2 Sioux Hockey Tickets (Providence Game), $100 Toasted Frog gift card, $100 L&M Meats gift card, and several
other fantastic items!
Business After Hours is a great time to network, catch up with friends, coworkers and clients in a fun and casual way. Spread the word and plan to attend the next Business After Hours.
• Free Admission• Complimentary hors d’oeuvres from L&M Meats grilled by Alerus
Financial, drink tickets• Door Prizes and Scavenger Hunt Prizes
• Stainless Steel Drinking Glass for all Attendees• Progressive cash drawing is at $500!
Hosted by
Residual Materials, Inc.
Thursday, August 21 2014
4:45pm - 7:00pm
EventwillbeheldatRMI’sOffice,222RedDotPlace,GrandForks
(RMI is located behind Border States Electric on Mill Road and behind Strata on Red Dot Place)
Directions to Residual Materials – there are 2 ways to access: 1.Take Mill Road and turn right on Red Dot Pl (right after Minnkota Power), enter the Strata parking lot and
proceed through to Residual Materials 2.Take Mill Road past Minnkota Power and Border States Electric, you will go past the street sign that says Red Dot Place and turn right on the gravel road right after Border States Electric (there is a sign here that says
Residual Materials), the road leads right into RMI.
Chamber News
6 www.gochamber.org
Sakura Japanese Steakhouse
Cherrywood Village
Scheels
Ambassador
Ribbon Cuttings
Congratulations Ambassador of the
Quarter Patty Hajostek!
Chamber News
7 www.gochamber.org
Greenberg Realty – Roberta BensonRoberta Benson3651 S. Columbia RdGrand Forks, ND 58201(C) 701-213-5953(O) 701-772-6641(F) [email protected] have been a Realtor for 5 years in the Grand Forks area. Having the right real estate agent makes buying or selling a home a more enjoyable experience!
Allied Building ProductsAric Rasmusson5505 Gateway Dr.Grand Forks, ND 58203(P) 701-775-8086(F) 701-775-8534aric.rasmusson@alliedbuilding.comwww.alliedbuilding.comAllied Building Products is a distrib-utor of exterior building products including but not limited to Siding, Windows, and Roofing
DOSHOST.NETDaniel Schott4200 James Ray DriveGrand Forks, ND 58201(P) 701-203-2002(P) [email protected] specializes in technology consulting for organiza-tions large and small. The com-pany provides hosting services, custom software development and consultation on a wide range of technologies. The company also-operates websites featuring digital currency economy.
Welcome New Members!Sakura Japanese SteakhouseIvy Chen3250 32nd Ave S.Grand Forks, ND 58201(P) 701-757-3888(F) [email protected] offers a wide array of fine Japanese dishes. You can enjoy your favorite food for lunch, dinner or take-out! Our goal at Sakura is to provide an unforgettable dining experience for all our patrons.
Casa MexicoSergio Aguirre112 14th St. NEEast Grand Forks, MN 56271(P) 218-773-4331(F) [email protected] Mexico serves delicious au-thentic Mexican food. The recipes have been passed down for gen-erations! We can accommodate parties and banquets and offer carry-out catering.
Erbert & Gerbert’sTed Horan3000 32nd Ave. SouthGrand Forks, ND 58201(P) 701-757-3070(F) [email protected] offer exceptional gourmet subs and six different soups daily. Order box lunches, group soups and party platters to be catered to your office! We deliver to most of Grand Forks.
Noodles & CompanyTed Horan3000 32nd Ave. SouthGrand Forks, ND 58201(P) 701-757-1720(F) [email protected] & Company is the perfect stop-over for a satisfying lunch or dinner while you’re shopping at nearby stores, when you’re out for dinner and a movie or even on bowling night!
Gary Grosgebauer Insurance Agency, Inc.Gary Grosgebauer1521 24th Ave. SouthGrand Forks, ND 58201(P) 701-772-2279gary.grosgebauer.deaa@state-farm.comwww.garygrosgebauer.comOur mission is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams.
Bakken BackersRobert LindbergBismarck, ND 58501(P) 701-989-5432(F) [email protected] Backers are entrepre-neurs, leaders, energy workers, and everyday people who support what the Bakken means for North Dakota’s economy and American energy security.
July Brown Bag Seminar
MAC Golf Tournament
Canad Inns Business After HoursCanad Inns
Business After Hours
Canad Inns Business After Hours
MAC Golf Tournament
MAC Golf Tournament
Community Development Meeting
Canad Inns Business After Hours
Canad Inns Business After Hours
Business Briefs
AE2S Hires Mishleau AE2S (Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.) has hired Caroline Mishleau as a Database Ad-ministrator in the firm’s Grand Forks, ND headquarters. She
will oversee and administer AE2S’ Vision database, develop manage-ment reports for analysis of opera-tions, assist with new software integration, and work with man-
agement on strategic process initiatives.
Prior to joining AE2S, Mish-leau was a Financial Analyst at Ecolab Inc. in Grand Forks, where she was instrumental in creating and implementing several analytical tools and performance metrics to create better reporting and efficien-cies. She also identified re-
porting requirements for vari-ous customers, and worked to streamline reports and proce-dures to meet their needs.
“Caroline has the critical think-ing and analytical business skills to ensure data integrity as we launch several new soft-ware platforms,” said Sheryl Smith, AE2S Chief Adminis-trative Officer. “She will also facilitate report development to best meet AE2S’ business needs. Caroline has extensive knowledge and background in Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, and SQL, which will help her succeed in her new role.”
Mishleau has a Bachelor de-gree in Business Administra-tion and Business Management from the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND. She is cur-rently pursuing her Master degree in Business Adminis-tration from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks,
Cont. on page 11
Sometimes projects need a boost when trying to cross over from concept to reality. AE2S Nexus helps bridge that gap. We focus on creating solid plans, aggressively pursuing funding options, and assisting you with implementation to make sure your project is on solid ground.
The Financial Link
bridging the financing gap
• Utility Rate Analysis• Funding/Financing• Project Development and Administration• Economic Development• Asset Management
SerViceS
www.AE2SNexus.comA Division of AE2S (Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.)
to be completed by the end of the year.
Syverson, Herman and Berg Promoted at Choice Financial Torrie Syverson was pro-moted to Frontline Operations Manager, Michael Herman was promoted to Senior Front-line Specialist for both Choice Financial locations in Grand Forks and Samantha Berg was recently promoted to Hu-man Resources Specialist for all Choice Financial locations..
Syverson joined Choice in June 2012 as a Front-line Customer Service Repre-sentative. She is a graduate of Minnesota State University Moor-head, Moorhead
www.gochamber.org 10
Minn., with a degree in mass communications. Syverson has previous management ex-perience in the retail industry and is active in the community by volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.
Herman joined Choice Financial in February 2013, and most recently served as Front-line Specialist. Herman brings prior experience in retail and sales
and attended the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D., for business administra-tion.
Berg joined Choice Financial in 2008, and has held a variety of positions within the bank, most recently as Direc-tor of Frontline Operations.
Forks Lath and Plaster, Inc. Recognized Forks Lath and Plaster, Inc. has been named in the Top 50 Walls & Ceilings Contractors in the nation for 2014 in Walls & Ceilings Magazine. This is the second consecutive year the company has been named in the top 50. It is the only North Dakota based company to be named both years. To view the full article in the magazine, visit www.wconline.com.
Owner of Forks Lath and Plas-ter, Inc., Gerald Roach, oper-ates the business out of Meki-nock, ND. He started the busi-ness in 1996. The company has grown from 5 employees to over 100 with subcontrac-tors at times during certain projects. Their customer base is primarily corporate busi-nesses in the tri-state region. The business started out as a plastering contractor and in 1998 added metal stud fram-ing and drywall.
Business Briefs
New Leadership at GF Steffes Corporation Steffes Corporation is pleased to announce Paul Eiden-schink as the Division Man-ager for the Manufacturing Solutions Value Stream. Paul will be located in their Grand Forks, ND location.
Paul, for the past two years, has held the Division Manager role for the Manufacturing So-lutions Value Stream, in Stef-fes’ Dickinson plant. Prior to joining Steffes, Paul held Gen-eral Management & Engineer-ing roles at ProBuild Corpora-tion, Potlatch Corporation, and J..Scott Industries. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from North Da-kota State University.
Paul will be instrumental in the growth strategy for Steffes Corporation between the three manufacturing locations.
Steffes has experienced rapid growth over the past five years and will continue on this tra-jectory by expanding their current product lines, continu-ing new product development and providing value added
solutions to their customers. “Grand Forks workers have played a significant role in our growth the last two years and having the opportunity to expand again in Grand Forks is exciting. The Grand Forks community and economic de-velopment people have been outstanding to work with”, said Joe Rothschiller, President.
Sunshine Memorial Foundation Hires Pierce Jena Pierce joined Sunshine Memorial Foundation in April as the foundation relations
and development coordinator. She spent the past nine years as director of alumni relations and development for the UND College of Education and Human Develop-
ment. Jena is a UND gradu-ate, earning a bachelor’s de-gree in communications. She lives in Grand Forks.
“I am honored to work with
Cont. from page 10
Cont. on page 12
Home Place Thrift StoreHome Place Thrift StoreHome Place Thrift Store 701-795-9704
1811 S. Washington, Grand Forks, ND1811 S. Washington, Grand Forks, ND www.prairieharvest.netwww.prairieharvest.net
Call us to pick up your donations! (Available Monday, Tuesday or Thursday, schedule permitting)
* Furniture * Appliances * Electronics* Furniture * Appliances * Electronics
* Household Items * Clothing * Books* Household Items * Clothing * Books
All Proceeds Benefit:All Proceeds Benefit:
who has exhibited outstand-ing service and contributions to the real estate industry. To qualify for the award, individu-als must first be nominated by a Grand Forks area real-tor. A winner is then selected from all nominations based on affiliate spirit, including civic activity and business accom-plishments.
Hagen joined Alerus in 2013 and has more than 27 years of experience in the banking industry including past experi-ence as a teller supervisor and personal banker. She received a banking and finance degree from Northland Community and Technical College. Hagen is actively involved with the Grand Forks Board of Realtors and Minto American Legion; she is also a previous member of the Minto Action League. Originally from Minto, Hagen now lives in Grand Forks with her husband, Rich, and their three children.
JLG Named Best Place to Work JLG Architects has been named one of the top eight best firms to work for in the United States and Canada by ZweigWhite, a management consulting and research com-pany. ZweigWhite awarded the firms based on workplace practices, employee benefits, retention rates and other fac-tors. JLG was ranked fifth on the list.
Now celebrating its 25th an-niversary, JLG was selected in part for its flexible, family-oriented structure, opportuni-ties for career growth, and unique benefits such as profit-sharing and stock ownership. JLG has been honored by ZweigWhite for its employee programs in the past, and was recently presented with the Grand Forks Young Profes-sionals Grow Grand Award for employers who demonstrate exceptional workplace oppor-tunities and environments for young professionals to work
the Foundation and with a project to help families and loved ones see light in dark times,” she said. “Their com-mitment to help others is evident every day and it is a wonderful environment.”
To contact Jena, please call 701-738-2462 or email [email protected].
Marco’s VP of Sales Re-ceives Award The University of North Da-kota has awarded Jonathan Warrey, Vice President of Sales at Marco, Inc. with the 2014 Young Alumni Achieve-ment Award.
The award was established in 2002 to recognize UND’s more recent, outstanding alumni
as they embark on their chosen paths and strive for greatness. Recipients have demonstrated high levels of achievement in their chosen
career, leadership ability and support for the University of North Dakota, as well as sub-stantial commitment to the service of others. Awards will be presented at The Sioux Award banquet on October 9th, 2014 at the Alerus Center Ballroom.
Hagen Named Affiliate of the Year Marlene Hagen, mortgage officer at Alerus Financial, re-cently was named “Affiliate of the Year” by the Grand Forks Area Association of Realtors.
The honor was presented to Ha-gen at the Stars Luncheon on July 17, 2014, at the Gorecki Alumni Center.
The annual “Af-filiate of the Year”
award is presented to a lo-cal real estate professional
Business Briefs
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and succeed.
CETEC Engineering Joins AE2S AE2S (Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.) is pleased to announce that the staff of CETEC Engi-neering Services, Inc. of Rapid City, SD, a leading engineering firm in the region, has joined AE2S. The two firms special-ize in environmental and civil engineering services, with a focus on water.
“Both companies share a strong commitment to provid-ing outstanding client services, and a focus on delivering high quality projects,” said Gary Cline, PE, AE2S Chief Devel-opment Officer (CDO). “This joining allows us to better meet the needs of clients in South Dakota.”
The CETEC business will oper-ate as AE2S going forward, and will maintain its current office in Rapid City. Clients will still have access to the services CETEC provided, as well as additional services such as instrumentation and controls, financial services, structural and electrical engi-neering, and more.
“We are excited about what this means for our clients and our business,” said Ted Schul-tz, PE, CETEC Engineering Manager and Principal. “AE2S shares the same core values that we do. We are excited about our future as we com-bine the expertise and dedica-tion of CETEC and AE2S, and continue the tradition we’ve built for technical excellence, innovative solutions, and qual-ity service.”
Since 1996, CETEC has pro-vided professional and ex-perienced civil engineering evaluation, planning, design and construction management services for development and
Cont. from page 11
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Business Briefs
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renovation of public and pri-vate infrastructure.
Stray Media Group Re-ceives Awards Stray Media Group received two Summit Creative Awards from the Summit International Awards Organization in May of 2014.
The Summit Creative Awards recognize small and medium sized agencies worldwide that design outstanding advertis-ing. Since 1994, companies and individuals from 50 coun-tries, and across five conti-nents, have entered their work in this prestigious competition.
Stray Media Group, a local marketing company, added to
its collection by taking home two creative awards in the Website Re-design and Video Production cat-egories. Dave Gil-bert, Stray Media Group’s President,
is humbled by this recognition. “We are honored to be rec-ognized by such a prestigious organization.
Everyone at Stray Media Group is thrilled to share in the success we strive to bring every customer, on every project. We’d like to thank our customers for letting us be a part of their success, and for being a part of ours as well.
Choice Financial Recog-nized Choice Financial was recently named to “The Best of the Best” list by the Indepen-dent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), an organiza-tion that represents more than 6,500 community banks of all sizes throughout the country.
As part of its annual perfor-mance rankings of ICBA mem-ber institutions, ICBA Inde-pendent Banker pulled FDIC
year-end earnings data to identify the top 25 banks in six asset-size categories. Choice was ranked third for Return on Equity (ROE) and fourth for Return on Assets (ROA) in our category of a $500 million to $1 billion Subchapter S Corp bank.
“We are thrilled to be recog-nized by ICBA for this designa-tion. We have top-notch em-ployees, and this recognizes their commitment to helping our bank become the region’s leading community bank,” stated Brian L. Johnson, Choice Financial CEO.
New GM Takes Helm at Columbia Mall Justin Valinski, a Grand Forks native, has been named gen-eral manager of Columbia Mall, announced mall owner GK Development, Inc.
“Justin’s experience in vari-ous aspects of leasing, project management, and merchant relations will be instrumental in the ongoing progress of Co-lumbia Mall. He brings strong management skills and an understanding of today’s retail environment. We’re confident that his expertise will reinforce Columbia Mall’s position as the preferred retail destination for consumers in the Red River Valley area,” said Garo Khola-mian, president of GK Devel-opment.
“My goal is ensure that Co-lumbia Mall continues to be the premier destination for shopping and entertainment in northeast North Dakota while enhancing the mall’s perfor-mance,” said Valinski.
Valinski brings significant ex-perience in operational man-agement, leasing and custom-er service to his new position. He takes over from long time general manager Bill Reid who recently retired.
He has firsthand knowledge of Columbia Mall and its mer-
chants, having served as specialty leasing representa-tive for the regional shopping center since 2009.
Valinski has a bachelor of busi-ness administration degree from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. He also holds a North Dakota commer-cial real estate license.
Valinski and his family reside in Grand Forks.
IRET Properties Open House OPEN HOUSE August 20th from 3-6pm!
IRET Properties is opening Cardinal Point, a truly Luxury Apartment Community unlike anything in Grand Forks. It will feature an Indoor Pool, Community Room, Fitness Room, Theater, underground parking, and so much more!! (There is even an Indoor Gym.) Cardinal Point is conve-niently located at 2150 47th Ave S, across from South Middle School.
Come see our model unit on display and located at 1375 S Columbia Road, Suite B, right next to the old Scheels.
Mike Ronnie, Business Solutions Consultant for Arvig Arvig is pleased to announce that Mike Ronnie has joined the company as a Business Solutions Consultant serving Grand Forks and its surround-ing areas. He provides area businesses with design, analy-sis and estimating for security systems and network cabling.
“Security can be anything from a burglar alarm - monitored by an outside company - to panic but-tons, video sur-veillance, access control or all of
the above depending on the
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Cont. on page 14
customer.” said Mike Ronnie. “I sit down with each individual customer and find out what they’re trying to accomplish with their security system, then I design a system that is both functional and cost effec-tive.”
Mike is a new father and pre-viously worked for a com-munications company for 10 years where he also worked with business owners directly to solve their communications problems.
Marco Partners With AGT Marco has partnered with Applied Global Technologies (AGT) on their new Marco Managed Video (MMV) cloud-based video collaboration offering. MMV is powered by AGT’s Video-as-a-Service plat-form that connects HD confer-ence systems, desktops, web browsers and mobile devices in a single conference. Marco is expanding their robust Man-aged IT services portfolio with Marco Managed Video by pro-viding the service to customers via a simple monthly fee.
The partnership with AGT enables Marco to quickly de-liver a turnkey managed video conferencing service to its cus-tomers, while also extending high-quality video and content sharing from the traditional conference room to a variety of video-enabled devices and platforms. MMV is available as a desktop video client as well as a mobile video application in Apple iTunes and Google Play.
AE2S Nexus Survey Re-sults AE2S Nexus, the financial divi-sion of AE2S (Advanced En-gineering and Environmental Services, Inc.), is now distrib-uting the 2014 North Central Utility Rate Survey. The Sur-vey includes responses from 108 municipal water systems serving populations of 5,000 and greater, 81 systems serv-
Business Briefs
ing populations less than 5,000, and 35 regional sys-tems.
The Survey includes infor-mation regarding average monthly residential water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste utility rates, as well as commercial water and wastewater utility rates. The Survey found that between 2002 and 2014, the average water and wastewater charge in our region climbed at a rate higher than inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). This illustrates the challenge that utility managers and pol-icy makers continue to face in meeting financial demands on system operations while striv-ing to minimize user charge increases.
As in previous years, Survey data was solicited from utilities in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. This year’s Survey also includes responses from communities in Wisconsin. Each participant of the Survey will receive copies of the com-plete report.
Participants of the Survey have expressed that it is a useful tool as they evaluate their utility rate charges and plan for the future. Those who participated in the 2014 Rate Survey can expect a copy of the report soon.
Connect With The Chamber on Social Me-diaThe Chamber is plunging deeper into the Social Media ring to connect with our mem-bers. We want to keep up on what is happening with you and keep you in the loop on what The Chamber is doing.
We have a Facebook page, a LinkedIn Group and now.....a Twitter account!
Please take a moment to Like
14 www.gochamber.org
Us/Join Us/Follow Us! Let’s connect and communicate on Social Media!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thechambergfegf
LinkedIn Group: The Chamber - GF/EGF
Twitter: www.twitter.com/the-chambergfegf.
We know many of our mem-bers are on several social me-dia platforms also. We’d like to follow you as well. Send us your Facebook Page link and Twitter link so we can like and follow you.
Don’t forget to take a moment and like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
