At any Dakota West branch you may visit with your loan officer, complete a transaction with one of our Member Service Representatives, or even speak by phone with a member of our Loan Processing team, yet the names and faces who are the guiding force behind Dakota West Credit Union are not the people with whom you meet or speak – they are our Board of Directors and their voices develop the long-term direction of our organization.
With five voting members, three of whom serve as Board officers, the Board of Directors’ leadership responsibilities comprise an important part of Dakota West’s governance. As members, they have a vested interest in the success of the organization, yet they lead with an absence of self-dealing and with open-mindedness for the success and strength of the credit union on behalf of the entire membership.
Joy Brew, our current Chairperson joined the board in 2009, but we are also proud to count her as one of our members for nearly thirty years. Jim Svihovec, who likewise has belonged to Dakota West for several decades joined the Board of Directors in 2005 – our longest serving board member – and is currently serving as our Vice Chairman. Lynn Oberg currently serves as our Secretary, beginning as a member more than a decade and a half ago, having joined our Board in 2018.
Erin Forbes, who joined as a Director in 2019, having also served our members as an employee, and Karla Quale, a member for more than a dozen years, recently completed the full Board as a voting member. We are thankful for both the insight and the oversight these outstanding individuals offer to our leadership team, but also we value their membership, as we do all our members.
To understand more about the contributions and commitment of these five Board members, we encourage you to review the Board Philosophy and Expectations, as well as the Committees on which they serve. If you would like to offer your voice and be a part of the strategic direction of Dakota West, please reach out to us at dwcu@dakotawestcu.org and become an Associate Board Member.
Meet Nathan Stoker
If you’re stopping by our Watford City branch, you may have the opportunity to visit with Nathan Stoker, our Member Service Manager, who leads a team of five assisting our members with branch services. Nathan might also sit with new members and guide you through the process of opening a new account. Nathan could be the face at the drive-through on Saturday mornings, or he might be behind the wheel of a McKenzie County Ambulance, or plowing your driveway in the winter.
Nathan worked in law enforcement, but decided to make a career change and last year received his bachelor’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University. “I wanted to take a new course with my life, and began working with Dakota West as a Member Service Representative.”
Moving to the Bakken region from Wyoming during high school, his family followed opportunities in the energy industry to settle in Watford City. Family time consists of camping and getting together with his parents, brother, sister, and including his extended family in southern Utah. He even journeyed to South Africa for two years on a mission trip.
One of the most common questions Nathan receives from members relates to the frequency with which he helps new members open accounts: what do you need to become a member? “That’s a two-fold answer,” he explains, “as there’s documents required to open any account, such as a proof of address, but many new members ask about what is required to belong to Dakota West Credit Union.”
Credit union membership varies, but for our members, it is simply a matter of living in or around one of our communities. Although Nathan admits he uses the question as a way to get to know new members and create lasting relationships with them.
If you’re interested in starting a relationship with Dakota West, stop by any of our branches and open a new account. You might find yourself sitting with Nathan and becoming a part of his Dakota West family.
Scholarship Profiles - Hannah Johnson & Morgan Reiser
Dakota West applauds two more of our scholarship recipients: Hannah Johnson of Grenora and Morgan Reiser of Turtle Lake, both of whom are heading into their second year of college. These women rely heavily on Communication and shared their experiences on their applications.
Morgan studies Nursing at Dakota College at Bottineau but found herself in an unusual situation midway through her second semester. “I had left campus for spring break without my books, only carrying my laptop to check up on my classes. Soon, it was communicated across the state that students could not return to campus. I started to panic, as I had no books and now, I had to continue my education through online learning. If not for communication with the school, I would have had to navigate classes without my book. Thankfully, I was able to rush back to campus and grab my books and more clothes.”
Hannah, a two-time Dakota West Scholarship recipient, is making a career out of Communication at the University of North Dakota. “Currently, communication in the world has adapted from face-to-face interactions to other forms, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Regardless of being in a time of adapting to different circumstances or not, we should try to communicate effectively so the illusion that communication took place, is not a problem.” Hannah is also seeking a double major in Marketing.
We proudly recognize these young women as they continue their education here in North Dakota and thank them for being outstanding members of Dakota West Credit Union.
Watch for more individual profiles of these outstanding young members throughout the summer.
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.
