Strom Center Staff – Lenny Johnson, Marketing Specialist

Lenny Johnson is the newest addition to the Strom Center staff, joining the team on July 17, 2008 as a Marketing Specialist. Originally from California, Lenny moved to ND after serving in the United States Air Force for six years. He moved to Dickinson following completion of his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Minot State University and worked for TMI as a detailer. On a personal note, Lenny married Miranda Berger, a Hazen native, who is completing her Bachelors degree in Special Education at Minot State.

Lenny is excited about the opportunity the Strom Center is providing him to market ND, a state he has come to love, to people looking to relocate. His first publication proclaiming the benefits of southwest ND can be found in the fall edition of Peaks and Plains. Be sure to pick up a copy and catch his excitement! Lenny will also be representing southwest ND at the state’s “Experience ND” events in Michigan and Colorado later this year.

Other marketing endeavors Lenny is currently developing are marketing plans for several events to be hosted, co-hosted, or held at the Strom Center. These include the Values Based Leadership seminar on August 21^st, a community wide job fair in September, a Heritage/Ecotourism seminar in October, and the Gateway to Opportunity in January, 2009.

In addition, Lenny will soon be conducting marketing research for companies throughout the region upon request to assist local entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

Buie Seawell came to Dickinson

The Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation hosted Buie Seawell, a professor at the University of Denver, attorney, and former Colorado Democratic Party figure on Thursday, August 21, 2008. He was born in North Carolina, the son of the state’s former Attorney General, Malcolm Buie Seawell. Buie Seawell earned a bachelor’s degree from Davidson University and a master’s degree in Theology from Richmond, Virginia’s Union Seminary, after which he served as a Presbyterian minister in Alabama and North Carolina.

Here is what Buie has to say about his seminar:

In a period of unparalleled social, economic and political change effective leadership is no longer an elective, it is a necessity.  From the community to the international levels of governance and commerce our times cry out for leaders who are both trustworthy and effective.  Buie Seawell, Chair of the Department of Business Ethics and Legal Studies, at DU’s Daniels College, has spent a lifetime in public and academic leadership.  The community meeting focused on “Values Based Leadership for Community Leaders.”  Three broad topics were addressed: (1) change and transition, (2) values and ethics, (3) trust and community.

Kim Hayes
Talent Initiative Assistant
Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Entrepreneurship in North Dakota: From Pleasure to Profit

Hunters in North Dakota face a tough choice.  In fact, they have too many choices in the fall.  According to www.ndtourism.com, “Hunters can decoy ducks or geese in the morning, chase pheasants in the afternoon and be back in their decoy spread again for the evening flight. Or they can bow hunt for pronghorn and mule deer in the drop-dead gorgeous Badlands.”  With hunting seasons that stretch from August to March and game variety including mountain lions, pheasants, coyotes, mule deer, and more,  the wide, open range has enough game to keep all walks of hunters busy for a countless amount of days.

Not only is North Dakota known for hunting, but the entrepreneurial options are just as varied.  From technology or manufacturing to food or hunting, entrepreneurs have always found North Dakota a great place to do business.  With a state that offers enough tax breaks to entice any type or size of business, it is no wonder many businesses are able to build to a national or international level.  Even so, there are still those North Dakotans that choose to turn their pastime into a business venture, a venture that gives others a chance to experience what North Dakotans have grown to love.

One such entrepreneur is John Henry Wieglenda III, a third generation farmer and rancher.  John Henry Wieglenda Sr. emigrated from Prussia to Gladstone in the early 1880s.  Evolving from horse ranching to cattle ranching and farming the Wieglenda homestead flourished until the farming slump of the 1980s.  At this time, a change was needed in order to keep the farm in the Wieglenda family, so John returned to school to earn a Bachelor’s of Science degree in University Studies from Dickinson State University.  He continued his education through internships and practicum to receive his addiction studies certificate.   Currently John and his wife Marsha run 90 head of cattle give or take a few, while operating an addiction clinic in town.  Continuing his entrepreneurial ventures, John turned his home into a bed and breakfast, where anyone who enjoys horseback riding, scrapbooking, or hunting can come enjoy his family farmstead and the peace and quiet of a weekend retreat.  Since the deer population has grown over the years, for a small fee bow hunters readily bag a trophy buck on the ranch.  With rolling hills, trees, and a river, on the Wieglenda ranch, there is enough land to keep up to six hunters busy for a couple days.

John and Marsha are one example of an entrepreneurial family that is stimulating the economy in Southwest North Dakota by taking advantage of commodities North Dakotans have taken for granted for generations, land, beauty, and game.  In doing so, they illustrate the entrepreneurial spirit of their pioneer heritage.

If you would like more information on the Wieglenda ranch visit www.hrpreserve.com and come visit the beautiful Southwest region of North Dakota.