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Dr. Gary Lemme, Chair. Dr. Gary Lemme is currently Professor and former Dean of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences at South Dakota State University. Lemme has a BS and MS from SDSU in ag education and agronomy. His PhD is in agronomy from the University of Nebraska. He has held faculty positions at Michigan State University and South Dakota State University. He has served in administrative roles at the University of Hawaii (academic programs), University of Minnesota (regional research and outreach center and agricultural experiment station) and Michigan State University (research and agricultural experiment station) prior to coming to SDSU. Dr. Lemme has been involved in community development activities in many of these professional roles.
Lemme is serving his first 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Christine Hamilton, Vice-Chair. Christine Hamilton co-owns and operates a large diversified farming and ranching business in South Central South Dakota. Christine has a MBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona. She has established a family foundation to participate in projects that address how to improve rural communities, and co-founded two groups dedicated to developing South Dakota investments-PrairieGold Ventures and South Dakota Ag Producer Ventures. Christine also serves on the Home Federal Bank and HFFC boards, the Board of Managers of the SDSU Foundation, and the Northern Great Plains, Inc. board.
Hamilton is serving her third 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Rodney Fouberg, Secretary/Treasurer. Rod has served as Chair of Dacotah Banks, Inc. in Aberdeen SD since 1984. He currently serves as the Past President of the Aberdeen Development Corporation, Past Chair of the Presentation College, Past Chair of South Dakota Rural Enterprise, Past Chair and board member of the South Dakota Community Foundation, board member of Avera Health System and serves on the State Junior Achievement Board. Rod is the current Chairman of the Education Assistance Corporation as well as a member of the South Dakota Transportation Commission.
Fouberg is serving his third 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Cheryl Chapman, Immediate Past Chair. Cheryl is a registered engineer and President of MATRIX Consulting Group, Inc., an environmental, community and government relations consulting firm. She is also a member and serves on the Board of Directors for the SPECTRUM Group, a Washington, DC firm specializing in corporate business strategies on federal issues. She is currently Vice President of the Black Hills Council of the Girl Scouts, chair for the Calvary Lutheran Church Endowment Fund and member of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Academic Advisory Board.
Chapman is serving her first 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Larry Atkinson. Larry Atkinson is president of Bridge City Publishing, Inc., Mobridge. Atkinson holds an MA in executive development for public service and a BS in journalism. He served six years as public relations officer and publisher of US Air Force base newspapers in Albuquerque, NM and Wiesbaden, Germany. Atkinson served on the South Dakota Tourism Board, and is a past president. Other service includes Governor's Task Force on Tourism, Missouri River Development Committee and the Governor's Missouri River Reservoir Access Improvement Advisory Task Force. Atkinson is also past president and board member of the Mobridge Economic Development Corporation. He currently serves on the board of North Central South Dakota Economic Development and the North Central Power Plant Task Force. In the newspaper industry, he served on the Board, and is a past president of, the South Dakota Newspaper Association and served on the board of the National Newspaper Foundation. He is current South Dakota chairman of the National Newspaper Association. Atkinson has been active in many community organizations.
Atkinson is serving his third 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Paul Batcheller. Paul Batcheller is a Partner at PrairieGold Venture Partners where he oversees all aspects of the firm's investment activities, from sourcing, structuring and negotiating investments to serving as a board member for portfolio companies. He currently serves on the boards of ZeaChem, iCentera, Game Plan Technologies, Augusta Systems and Agrivida. Prior to joining PrairieGold, Paul served as an advisor to Senator Tom Daschle, where he worked on economic policy, science and technology issues. He received his B.A. in economics from Macalester College.
Batcheller is serving his second 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Jon L. Farris. Jon Farris is the Director of Agricultural Development for the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and oversees the; loan programs; dairy development program; livestock, value added and crop development and marketing programs; and the mediation and ag finance counseling program. Jon has a BS from South Dakota State University and a MBA from the University of Phoenix. Jon has been with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture since 1994 and has been involved with cooperative development, business development and marketing. These areas consist of project development, counseling, product development, market research, trade shows, trade missions and locating international and domestic buyers, distributors and markets.
Farris is serving his second 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Tanya Fiddler. Tanya Fiddler is the executive director of Four Bands Community Fund - a native CDFI located on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in North Central South Dakota. She is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Tanya joined Four Bands in September 2001, serving as its loan and technical assistance officer and became the executive director in 2002. Tanya has a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary sciences from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Prior to joining the Four Bands team, Tanya worked as a housing specialist for Oti Kaga, a nonprofit housing development organization. Tanya is the recipient of the Small Business Administration's 2007 Minority Business Champion award for both the state and SBA Region VIII. She received the 2007 Visionary Leader Award for Outstanding Achievement award from First Nations Oweesta Corporation and the Entrepreneur Advocate of the Year award from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Tanya serves on several boards including Presentation College Lakota Campus Advisory Board, the South Dakota Small Business Development Centers Advisory Board, and Tribal Ventures- a Tribal nonprofit enterprise implementing a ten year poverty reduction program on the Reservations.
Fiddler is serving her first 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Curt Hage. Curt has been chairman of the Board/President/CEO of Home Federal Bank since 1996. Prior positions with Home Federal Savings Bank include EDP manager, Branch Coordinator, and Operations Officer. Curt has earned a BS/Business Administration from Augustana College in Sioux Falls; a Master in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and graduated from the Graduate School of Savings Institution Management University of Texas at Austin. Curt has served in several leadership positions, among them Sioux Falls Jaycees, Sioux Empire United Way, Junior Achievement of South Dakota, Sales and Marketing Executives of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, Federal Home Loan Bank, Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, Augustana College Board of Regents, Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society Foundation, Sheldon Reese Foundation, Chair of the Sioux Empire Boy Scouts of America, Treasurer of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, Past Chair for America's Community Bankers. He currently serves as President of the Thrift Industry advisory Committee to the Federal Reserve Board.
Hage is serving his third 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Valerie Kuhl. In Valerie's current role as Business Development Director for Citibank's Community Development business in South Dakota, she addresses the various community development and affordable housing issues facing the state of South Dakota. Through her work at Citibank, she has assisted economic development and non-profit organizations expand the capacity of their organization through fund development and applications for federal, state, and local grants, loans, and appropriations. She also assists with board development and the use of innovative financing tools to improve the organization's financial position. Prior to her 20 years with Citibank, Valerie was employed with United National Bank for 10 years where she was the Controller for the bank system. She began her career in banking in Austin, Texas. Kuhl currently serves as Secretary for the Sioux Empire Housing Partnership, Treasurer for Habitat for Humanity-South Dakota, a member of the Brookings Vision 2010 Advisory Board, Finance and Executive Committee for Southeastern Behavioral HealthCare, a member of Bethel Lutheran Home Foundation, and a member of the Pettigrew Heights Neighborhood Committee.
Kuhl is serving her second 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Aelred Kurtenbach. Dr. Aelred J. Kurtenbach is cofounder and Chairman of the Board of Daktronics, Inc., which designs, manufactures, markets and services large computer programmable displays, primarily scoreboards and large screen video systems. A native of Dimock, South Dakota, he has B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, all in electrical engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the University of Nebraska and Purdue University, respectively. Dr. Kurtenbach also taught electrical engineering at South Dakota State University and Purdue University. His past service includes the Brookings School Board, the South Dakota Board of Regents, Chairman of the South Dakota Manufacturers & Processors Association and as Director for the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves as Chairman of the Education Committee for the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry, member of the South Dakota Junior Achievement Board and Chair of South Dakota Enterprise Institute. Over the years Dr. Kurtenbach and Daktronics have been recognized with numerous awards for entrepreneurism and quality.
Kurtenbach is serving his second 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Jim Mirehouse. Jim Mirehouse served in the United States Air Force as pilot, staff officer and commander for twenty-two years, retired as a Colonel and began a career in financial services. Mirehouse functioned as a loan officer, bank president and regional manager with a major national banking system working in all aspects of commercial banking. Following his banking career, he founded a Venture Capital Company in South Dakota to provide startup equity capital for new businesses and served as the Regional Manager for the Small Business Development Center for Western South Dakota. Currently, Mirehouse is CEO of the Black Hills Business Development Center and Genesis Equity Fund, LLC. He serves on five company boards of directors, several non profits boards and the Lakota Fund Loan committee.
Mirehouse is serving his first 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Gloria Pluimer. Gloria Pluimer began working for Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC), based in Sturgis, as the Equity Coordinator. In this position, she developed and implemented programs for girls and women that promoted education and training leading to economic self-sufficiency. Currently, as Director of Education and Workforce Development for BHSSC, she administers and supervises a variety of programs providing education, training and employment services to individuals of all ages and walks of life throughout the Black Hills area. Gloria was the first Economic Director for Sturgis Industrial Expansion Corporation. During this time she coordinated and organized economic development efforts for the local board including marketing of the area, solicitation of primary, out-of-state businesses and planned and implemented monthly board and annual planning meetings. Solicitation efforts landed a bullet manufacturer from Detroit, Michigan in 1995 adding to the gun and ammunition business cluster that continues to expand in Sturgis. Gloria continues her involvement in economic development as a Board Member of the Rapid City Economic Development Partnership Board.
Pluimer is serving her first 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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John Porter. John T. Porter is the President/CEO of Avera Health, a Catholic-based integrated network made up of 225 hospitals, medical practices, extended care facilities and other related health providers in eastern South Dakota and the surrounding service area. John is a native of South Dakota, 1974 graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law and has an office in Sioux Falls. Mr. Porter has served on numerous hospital, college and foundation boards in South Dakota, is a past board member of Catholic Health Association of the United States, a past member of the House of Delegates of the American Hospital Association, chaired the legal services committee of CHA, has served two terms on the AHA Region VI Policy Board and has served as Chair of the Council on Legislation of the South Dakota Association of Health Care Organizations. Porter is also a Past Chair of South Dakota Rural Enterprise.
Porter is serving his second 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Bruce Rampelberg. Bruce is currently Vice President of Business Development at First Western Bank in Rapid City. He has been a banker for 40 years and served as President of three different banks. He currently holds board positions on the South Dakota Housing and Development Authority, Community Health Center of the Black Hills, Ellsworth Heritage Foundation, Summit Christian College, Development for the Disabled, Boys Scouts District Council, Central States Fair Board and Foundation, Black Hills Area Community Foundation, Lutheran Social Services Foundation, and Starbase of South Dakota. He is also actively involved with the Ellsworth Task Force, Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve Committee, Junior Achievement, Rapid City K-12 Partnership, Rotary Club and is a Deacon for First Christian Church.
Rampelberg is serving his first 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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Linda Salmonson. Linda is the Economic Development Manager at East River Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., Madison, SD. Since 1996 she also has been an administrator of Rural Electric Economic Development, Inc. a non-profit loan fund comprised of twenty-one rural electric cooperative members in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota. She holds a degree in Commercial Economics from South Dakota State University. Linda also serves as a director of the National Association of Development Organizations, as past president of the National Rural Economic Developer's Association, Vice President of the Lake Area Improvement Corporation, on the Lake Area Technical Institute Strategic Advisory Committee, and as Chair of Dakota Horizons Girl Scouts. She is twice a Past Chair of South Dakota Rural Enterprise.
Salmonson is serving her third 3-year term on the SD Rural Enterprise, Inc. Board.
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In addition to the affiliations set forth below, the Board members are active in many community, trade, and charitable, educational and religious organizations.
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