Tomorrow’s Top Hands Beef Leadership Summit
Partnering with cattle and ranch organizations throughout western North Dakota remains an important aspect of Dakota West’s region, and this week we are proud to sponsor the North Dakota Stockman’s Association’s Tomorrow’s Top Hands Beef Leadership Summit in Minot this Thursday through Saturday in Minot.
The Tomorrow's Top Hands Beef Leadership Summit is a high-energy, power-packed, beef-industry career exploration and leadership development conference to help youth gain connections and develop leadership skills. Focused on the youth ages 14 through 20, speakers from across North Dakota are gathering to help instill the leadership skills among the next generation of North Dakota’s ranchers.
We've supported ranching students from 4-H fundraisers, to regional saddle clubs, from high school rodeos to our own Dakota West scholarship recipients such as Charles Eriksmoen. Supporting today's students and tomorrow's ranchers will continue the traditions of western North Dakota.
To learn more about this event, and all the ways the North Dakota Stockman’s Association is serving ranchers, be sure to visit ndstockman.org, or follow its Facebook page to learn more about current events in our region. Dakota West is proud to be a member of this organization and support its work in supporting the efforts of ranchers throughout western North Dakota.
Scholarship Profiles - Ethan Kobos & Charles Eriksmoen
Throughout the summer we are featuring our 2020 Dakota West Scholarship recipients and sharing their thoughts on the value of Communication from their applications. Today we introduce Ethan Kobos of Watford City and Charles Eriksmoen of Mohall.
Ethan plans to study Cyber Security at UND and wrote this about his view of the importance of Communication, “I recognize that communication is a skill that I will carry with me throughout my entire career as I develop relationships with clients who entrust me with their security numerous vulnerabilities and will expect me to the able to effectively communicate their shortcomings as well as how to address them.”
Charles will be starting his second year at Bismarck State College in the fall. He knows the impact Communication has on his future plans as a cattle rancher, “Communication affects me pretty hard right now because I am just getting started in my business of ranching and I am just starting to meet all of the people I need to know most such as marketing advisors that can help me contract my calves so I can get the best possible price for them. I also need to be able to talk to my parents about all of my plans because they need to know what I am doing in case they have any good advice for me to stay on the right track to become successful in the ranching industry.”
We celebrate our scholarship recipients, their parents and families, and all the members of Dakota West who support the education goals of these young members. Congratulations Ethan and Charles!
Watch for more individual profiles of these outstanding young members throughout the summer.
When she started college, Michala Kueffler planned to be a nurse. She studied all through college and even anticipated earning her graduate degree in the health care profession, but life sometimes takes another course.
Growing up in Grenora, Michala’s father worked for Dakota West for almost a quarter of a century and when the opportunity arose for her to follow in his footsteps three years ago, she really wanted to change direction. “I really wanted it,” she recalled of her chance to start as a part-time Member Service Representative. Today she serves our western-most community and its members full time.
Besides living and working in the same community, Michala enjoys the opportunity to really get to know everyone she helps, seeing the same faces and spending each day in a friendly atmosphere that welcomes her, and where she welcomes others. “Our members like to be able to talk to someone they know,” and Michala is definitely that someone. “That is something that is lost at bigger banks.”
On weekends, she helps her family raise cattle and when she can, she gets out to ride the horses. Michala recognizes that her change in careers is kind of the way life went, and for the members of Dakota West, we’re so glad it did.
Stop into one of our branches today and discover why our communities matter to us and meet someone you can talk to about your financial needs, too.
Growing up in a ranching family and learning the trade from an early age, it was inevitable that Brent Fix would find himself working in a career supporting both farmers and ranchers in the same region of the country that Brent calls home. Brent’s ranching roots are just down the road from his current home in Dakota West’s Bowman branch.
A big fan of summer, Brent finds time while the sun is high to fish, golf, or just ride in the saddle. But when it’s time to get down to business, Brent supports our ag members from southwest North Dakota. His education brings his love of the land back to our members as an ag loan officer surrounded by the sunflowers and wheat fields of Bowman, Slope, and Adams counties.
Brent tackled a double major (Financial Services and Banking, plus Business Administration) from the University of Mary and admits that he enjoys a good challenge. Although he confesses to enjoying public speaking, he also values the importance of listening, and spends a good part of daily activities finding ways to develop relationships with our ag-based members in the corner of the state.
Most farmers in the ag industry spend the latter part of the winter preparing for the coming season, whether planning for the spring planting, or anticipating the arrival of new livestock to join the herd. Brent will be working likewise, to provide the support and structure farmers and ranchers need to carry their operation into the next cycle. Members of the ag community can reach out to Brent at 800.411.7590 to include Dakota West in those upcoming plans. We are ready to listen.
