Dickinson Mayor, Dennis Johnson, speaks at Community Field Day

Community Field Day Successes!

We held Community Field Day on October 20, 2009 at Dickinson State University Campus. The day consisted of 4 panels—leadership, resources for development, entrepreneurship, and youth. These topics opened doors for communicating and networking on issues that relate to sustaining strategies for communities. To kick off our day, we had Mayor Dennis Johnson share his insight into strengthening communities. We were able to track him down later for a copy of his speech:

COMMUNITY FIELD DAY WELCOME

October 20, 2009

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Dickinson and Community Field Day. The staff of the Strom Center has put together an exciting and informative program for your benefit. Today we should hear about ideas and strategies that can lead to more prosperous communities.

This morning I would like to share with you three paradigms that influence my actions and policies as Mayor as we try to create a more prosperous and dynamic Dickinson community.

• Economic development happens where people want to live.
  • Quality of place paradigm.
• Economic development for rural communities is largely dependent upon local entrepreneurs.
• Leadership matters.

Communities compete with other communities for people based upon quality of place factors.

• Highly skilled people
  • Hospital Administrator said the impact on the hospital by a good
    general surgeon was $3 million per year.
  • Need to recruit Skilled energy workers and professionals
  • Recruit Skilled Diesel mechanics (Butler Machinery)
• People who have the ability to create their own jobs and jobs for others.

Highly skilled people and people who have the ability to create their own jobs and jobs for others can choose to live anywhere. As community leaders you want those people to want to live in your community and choose your community. Remember, economic development happens where people want to live.

Dickinson has concentrated on improving its quality of place. Some of our city’s major efforts to enhance quality of place are;

• West River Community Center
  • Northern Great Plains in door recreation makes sense. We can’t
    change the weather.
• Public Library renovation and addition
• Public golf course irrigation system
• Dickinson State University Building Projects (attract and retain
  quality students)
  • Student Union renovation and addition
  • Murphy Hall, science classroom renovation and addition
  • Future Library addition and renovation
• Badland’s Activity Center

Dickinson State University draws young people to our community. Many of them stay in the community. They are the highly skilled people and entrepreneurs of the future. Dickinson State is competing with other institutions for students and faculty. Dickinson State along with the community needs to be viewed as having a high quality of place.

Tell Marathon story (Spring 2006 at the time the 4th largest U.S. oil & gas company)

• Leased 200,000 acres and planning to drill 300 wells
• Establish an office in Williston, Minot, or Dickinson
• 40 to 50 employees plus contractors
• Chose Dickinson because this is where their people would want to live. (Quality of Place)

Entrepreneurship is essential to developing and growing small rural economies.

• Very difficult for rural communities to compete with larger urban communities in business recruitment. Small rural communities don’t have the economic development financial resources that larger communities have.
• In rural communities business recruitment isn’t going to create the quantity of quality jobs needed to have a dynamic and prosperous community. Local entrepreneurs are the best opportunity for job creation.
• Rural communities have to focus on attracting, retaining, developing, and improving their entrepreneurs. Communities compete for people who can create their own jobs and jobs for others. People with that talent can choose to live anywhere. It is essential that entrepreneurs want to live in your community and choose to live in your community.
• Stark County Development and area businesses are supporting the Strom Center because we want to foster an environment that continues to develop and encourage entrepreneurs.
• Entrepreneurs not only create jobs but they are a source of community leadership and charitable giving.
  • Private Funding for WRRC, BAC, and Library came largely from local entrepreneurs and businesses.Entrepreneurs generally have good leadership skills. It is important to fill community leadership positions with individuals who have the appropriate leadership skills because leadership matters.

Leadership matters.

• Vision: articulate what your community will become.
  • Be the 5th largest city and the best city in North Dakota.
• Inspiration: ability to inspire people to buy into the vision.
• Energy: the capacity to work hard to achieve the vision.
• Character: credibility so people will follow.
• Key community leadership positions (require quality leaders)
  • Community elected positions
  • DSU President
  • Hospital CEO
  • Superintendent of Public Schools
  • City Administrator
  • Director of Parks & Recreation

My advice for creating dynamic and prosperous rural communities is focus on;

• Quality of place
• Entrepreneurship
• Leadership

Again, welcome to Dickinson and Community Field Day. I hope you have a great conference. Enjoy the day.

To read about Mayor Johnson’s background, go the City of Dickinson WEBSITE!

We appreciate his input and time, this added to the success of Community Field Day! Watch for future information about the panels from Community Field Day!

Miss Dickinson/Miss Dickinson Outstanding Teen Pageant

Earn scholarship money or pay down student loans! The Miss Dickinson and Miss Dickinson Outstanding Teen pageants are looking for contestants. They are the local pageants for the Miss North Dakota and Miss North Dakota Outstanding Teen scholarship programs. The pageant for both categories will be held Sunday, January 10 at Dickinson Trinity HS Auditorium. Contestants in the Miss Dickinson category must be between the ages of 17 and 24 and the Teen contestants must be 9th 10th or 11th graders. 3 Titles will be awarded for each age group. The Miss category will include the titles of Miss Dickinson, Miss Badlands and Miss Queen City. Miss Dickinson must be won by someone who lives in the Dickinson vicinity or goes to school in Dickinson and the other two titles can be won by anyone who lives in ND or attends a ND school. The Teen titles will follow the same rules. The categories of competition include Interview, Talent, Evening Gown and Swimsuit (Sportswear for teens).

Last year, the Miss North Dakota pageant awarded nearly $40,000 of cash scholarships. Why shouldn’t a Dickinson area young woman win some of it?

For more information or to request an application, contact :

SuAnn Olson at
701-220-0907
5star@btinet.net

Annette Olson
701-527-0727
netters_12@hotmail.com

or visit the Miss Dickinson Website

Business Challenge Viral Video Contest

Business Challenge is trying something new for 2010! With this year’s program coming up quickly, June 13-18, 2010, now is the time to submit your viral video so you can attend for FREE!

You are more than likely asking yourself “What is this Business Challenge Viral Video Contest?” Well, here’s the answer…the contest is your chance to show everyone what BC is all about, why you loved it, or maybe it’s just a chance for you to goof off with your friends!

Make sure that you read all of the requirements and rules (posted below) so you know what you need to put in your video! The contest is open to everyone, not just past BC students and educators, so pass the message on to your friends & family if they are thinking of coming to Business Challenge 2010!

Here’s a little more information to get you started…

What is a viral video?????

A viral video is a video clip that gets a lot of attention through email or media sharing websites (like YouTube). Viral videos are often funny and include parodies like Jo Jonas Dances to Single Ladies, amateur videos like the popular Numa Numa Dance or slightly more professional videos like The Pink Glove Dance, or Coming Together As One! Click on the links and watch these videos…they are great examples!

What is the Business Challenge Viral Video Contest?????

The BC Viral Video Contest is YOUR chance to show US what Business Challenge is and why you love it! It could also be your chance to be creative, show off your lip-sync or dancing skills, goof off with your friends…or just have fun! YOU can show the WORLD why Business Challenge is the best thing to do this summer! The videos above are an awesome example of how to have fun with a video and still promote at the same time…well except the Numa Numa Dance video, we just put that in there because it’s funny!

Videos will be accepted until January 25, 2010…then they go global! All entries will be posted to the Business Challenge YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/businesschallenge78) on February 1st – March 31st as a playlist for easy viewing. That’s when your friends, family, neighbors, and everybody else can go on and cast their vote for your video!

What’s in it for you?

Besides having fun making a video? You can come to Business Challenge 2010 for FREE! The person who submits the video that gets the most votes (via comments section) will receive FREE REGISTRATION for Business Challenge 2010! That’s a value of $125.00!

Here’s the steps you need to follow to get started…

STEP 1 – VIDEO CREATION

Here are some ideas and tips to get that camera rolling:

o Tell us why you are participating or about your past involvement and how amazing it was.

o Challenge someone you know or your school to attend BC!

o Make your own Top 10 Reasons to attend Business Challenge.

o Get your friends together and do a skit or parody.

o Originality. Viral videos are so popular because they are original in some way .

o Make it good… as in make sure we can see and hear it clearly.

o Be lame or make a fool of yourself!

o Be sincere and personal. Even if you’re faking it!

o Don’t make a commercial!

o Make something that a viewer will just have to look at.

Requirements –

o Videos must be between 15 seconds and two minutes (120 seconds) in length and no larger than 2 GB. Accepted file formats include: Windows Media Video (.WMV), 3GP (cell phones), .AVI (windows), .MOV (mac), .MP4 (ipod/psp), .MPEG, .FLV (adobe flash), .MKV (h.264) .
o VIDEOS MUST INCLUDE THE NEW BUSINESS CHALLENGE DATES SOMEWHERE IN THE VIDEO! The new dates are: JUNE 13-18, 2010
o All entries must be received by January 25, 2010.

STEP 2 – SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO

Remember: All videos must be received by January 25, 2010! Entries may be sent via email or mail.

Email videos and forms to: katherine.mehrer@dickinsonstate.edu

Title your email: Business Challenge Viral Video Contest 2010 – (Your Name)

-or-

Copy video to a disk and mail with the forms to:
Business Challenge
291 Campus Drive
Dickinson, ND 58601

When submitting your entry, remember to include these three items:

YOUR VIDEO!
Viral Video Contest Entrance Form
Permission forms (from everyone who appears in the video)

STEP 3 – THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE VIRAL VIDEO CONTEST

Videos will be posted on the Business Challenge YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/businesschallenge78). Videos will be posted on a playlist for easy viewing.

Voting will take place February 1 – March 31, 2010.

Votes are submitted by posting a positive comment to the viewers’ favorite video.

The person whose video receives the most votes (via Comments section) will receive FREE ATTENDANCE TO BUSINESS CHALLENGE 2010! (Prize covers registration fee of $125 only).

Rules:
1. Entrant is responsible to secure permission from all talent included in the video.
2. Videos can be shot with camera phones, digital video cameras or any other digital moving image format.
3. By submitting your contribution to the Business Challenge Viral Video Contest, you warrant and undertake to Business Challenge that your contribution (i) is your own original work and that you have the sole right to submit it to the contest (ii) does not violate in any way rights of third parties including copyright and other intellectual property rights and (iii) does not violate any applicable laws.
4. Acceptable source video includes sources that are not copyrighted. Participant takes responsibility that all images and soundtracks are not copyrighted material. This means, do NOT use commercial copyrighted music or images.
5. Your contribution to the contest should not include any content whatsoever which would reasonably be understood to be defamatory, threatening, distasteful, racist, unlawful or otherwise objectionable.
6. Entrants agree to grant to Business Challenge an everlasting, royalty-free, assignable, exclusive license to use, utilize, replicate, alter, adapt, modify, publish, broadcast, translate, produce derivative works from, distribute, present, play, sublicense and exercise all copyright and other intellectual property rights with respect to your contribution worldwide and/or to include your contribution in other works in any media now known or later created forever. Each entrant agrees and grants Business Challenge permission to make available and display/perform and otherwise distribute entrant’s video submission in all media in perpetuity without compensation.
7. Entrants participating in this contest are liable for any copyright infringements caused by their videos.
8. Business Challenge assumes no responsibility for lost or late entries or for incomplete computer transmissions or technical failures.
9. Sponsor and organizer reserve the right not to accept entries that are considered inappropriate for the site. If we deem the video inappropriate you will receive email notification.
10. Business Challenge reserves the right to change these terms and conditions at any time and at its sole discretion.

For more information about the contest or to get the necessary forms to submit your video please contact Business Challenge Coordinator, Katie Mehrer at (701) 483-2515.

Kim Goldsmith
Web & Social Media Manager

Strom Center’s Ladies Night Out shopping event a success

On December 01, 2009 The Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Dickinson Small Business Development Center hosted a “Ladies Night Out Shopping Celebration” in Downtown Dickinson, North Dakota.

This event showcased downtown stores, restaurants, and bars. Varied downtown professional businesses helped the event by sponsoring events, advertisements, and funds. The list of professional businesses and their sponsorship are listed below:

2 Gold Sponsors: Strom Center and KDIX-Am-Radio

4 Silver Sponsors: Mackoff Kellog Law Firm, Ameriprise Financial Advisors, Dickinson Dental Center, Blue Hawk Booster Club

6 Bronze Sponsors: Ty and Michelle Orton, Dickinson State University, American West Real Estate, Small Business Development Center, Howe & Howe Attorneys, Bank of the West

28 downtown businesses participated to make an eventful night for over 300 attendees. Some of the attendees were asked how the event transpired to them; Shirley Dukart said, “Loved it. That it was a great event. I shopped with my daughter and granddaughter and we went to 18 of 26 stores.”

The downtown businesses were just as enthusiastic about the event: Jeanette Dohrmann, from the Village Gift Shop said, “it was wonderful. Everybody was so enthused and in such a happy mood. We heard many comments that they hope this is done again next year. It was a beautiful evening and it put everyone in the Christmas spirit.” and Peggy Anderson from JP Frameshop said, “I thought it was wonderful. I’m appreciative to the Strom Center for setting this up. I am looking forward to doing it again every year and making it bigger and better.”

Keep checking back on the ladies night out for an updated photo gallery of the evening.

If you have any questions about the evening you can contact Amanda Moser at 701-483-2830 or
Amanda Moser

COCO to host audio training at the Strom Center

On December 16, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. COCO (Coalition of Charitable Organizations) will host Boom Generation Women Create New Horizons for Fundraisers audio conference at the Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Dickinson, North Dakota.

COCO will be holding educational opportunities via audio conference for non-profit training. This audio will be presented by Margaret May Damen, CFP, CLU, CHFC, CDFA. The sponsor for the event is West River Health Services Foundation. COCO’s educational opportunities are free to COCO members, $25 for non-members.

For more information or to register , contact: Julie Raatz at 701-483-2830 or
Julie.Raatz@dickinsonstate.edu.

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