Movers & Shakers: March 15

Brandi Huntimer has transitioned into the role of marketing manager at High Point Networks. She has eight years of marketing experience and has been with High Point Networks for six months.

•In addition, five new employees have joined the company in three different locations. High Point has offices in West Fargo and Bismarck, N.D., Detroit Lakes, Minn., Minneapolis, Brookings, Sioux Falls, Billings, Mont., and Denver. They are:

•Nathan Brodkorb joins as an inside sales representative in the Sioux Falls office. He brings three years of experience in the industry and was previously a sales coordinator at Daktronics, Inc.

•Tiffany Clanton joins as a project manager in the Sioux Falls office. She brings 11 years of industry experience and worked for two technology companies.

•Steve Hoffman joins as a telephony engineer in the Billings office, having worked in the telecommunications industry for 11 years.

•Adam Lindberg joins as an account manager in the Minneapolis office, previously working as a territory account executive, with 14 years of IT sales experience.

•Leann Wirtala joins as a help desk dispatcher. She has 14 years of industry experience.

Capital Services has promoted the following:

•Michelle Mueller has been promoted to chief operating officer/chief financial officer at Capital Services. She joined Capital in 2001 as a controller and was named chief financial officer in 2010.

•Mike Olafson has been promoted to president of Capital Prepaid Services. He joined Capital in 2014 and previously served as vice president.

The following staff has joined the RAS team.

•Chirag Shukla, as chief information and technology officer, brings a wealth of experience in software development and engineering.

•Hait Patel, as an underwriting assistant, recently graduated from the University of South Dakota, with a bachelors degree in business administration – finance.

•Ken Randall, as a claims examiner, brings previous experience as an insurance claims handler and has experience within the financial services industry.

•Melissa Morben, as an administrative assistant, brings previous experience in customer service and administrative support.

•Riley Leighton, as an administrative assistant, is working part-time, while pursuing a degree in business administration – accounting at the University of South Dakota.

•Stacey McDonald, as a claims assistant, is a recent graduate of Northern State University with a bachelors of arts degree in English and brings experience in customer service and support.

Brothers from the Davis-Hurley area harvested state-record yields in an annual corn yield contest sponsored by the South Dakota Corn Growers Association. Steve Hagena had the highest yield in the state at 312.9 bushels per acre, giving him bragging rights over his older brother, Jarrod Hagena, who had the second-highest mark at 309.4 bushels per acre. Both totals broke the state record. The Hagenas, who farm together with their dad, LaRohn Hagena, have all been place winners in past corn yield contests. The South Dakota contest is held in conjunction with the National Corn Yield Contest, which is in its 53rd year and its most popular program for members. South Dakota winners are as follows (including seed brand, hybrid and yield).

•Non-irrigated: 1. Daryl Akland, Beresford, Pioneer P1197AM, 267.9; 2. Harold Wipf, Scotland, Pioneer P1151AM, 266.4; and 3. Ronald Johnson, Alcester, Pioneer P1151AM, 265.1.

•No-till/strip-till, non-irrigated: 1. Scott McKee, Hawarden, Iowa, Pioneer P1151AMX, 289.2; 2. Brian Hefty, Baltic, Hefty Seed H5504, 268.6; and 3. Brian Hefty, Baltic, Hefty Seed H5302, 268.4.

•Irrigated: 1. Steve Hagena, Davis, Pioneer P1366AM, 312.9; 2. Jarrod Hagena, Hurley, Pioneer P1366AM, 309.4; and 3. Dean Bosse, Elk Point, Pioneer P1197AM, 288.1.

•No-till/strip, till irrigated: 1.Tyler and Jerry Poeschl, Yankton, Pioneer P1151AMX, 282.6; 2. Darren Mosel, Chamberlain, Dekalb DKC62-97RIB, 264.9; and 3. (tie) Darren Mosel, Chamberlain, Dekalb DKC60-67RIB, 261.3 and Tom Arens, Yankton, Pioneer P1197AMXT, 261.3.

The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology has been ranked 27th out of 140 four-year universities in the 2018 Military Times Best Colleges listing. Consistently ranked as a military friendly institution, S.D. Mines currently enrolls 173 veterans or active duty students, with 100 percent job placement rate among its veteran graduates. The university also offers a comprehensive Veterans Resource Center and has also been Gold Star designated by GI Jobs as a Military Friendly School and ranks No. 16 by Best Colleges for Veterans.

Northwestern College’s, Orange City, Iowa, online master of education degree in early childhood has received a top-10 ranking as sixth on the list for best degrees of its kind by Early-Childhood-Education-Degrees.com. Northwestern is the only Iowa college or university on the list.

SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has formed and launched a Utah-based wholly owned subsidiary, SAB Capra, LLC and incorporated the new entity under the SAB Biotherapeutics corporate umbrella. The new company leverages Transchromosomal (Tc) goats to produce human therapeutics and reagents for diagnostics and testing. SAB, founded in 2014, develops human antibody therapeutics using its first-of-its-kind natural human immunotherapy platform leveraging transgenic cattle (Tc Bovine).

For the first time, the South Dakota Quarter Horse Association honored their state’s 50 Year Quarter Horse breeders, AQHA Hall of Fame inductees, Producers of the Year, AQHA Ranch Heritage Breeders of the Year, with a special celebration during their awards banquet. Those honored include:

•AQHA Ranch Heritage Breeders of the Year 2017: Crago Cattle Company; and South Dakota Producers of the Year: Cee Heart Quarter Horses, Clayton and Sally Chord.

•50-year Breeders: Broken Heart Ranch (Pedersons); Dr. R.M. or Linda L. Christensen; Glen W. Hollenbeck; John G. Johnson; John Knippling; Gilbert and/or Zelda Lutter; Arthur and/or Frankie Reeves; and Dean Reeves.

•AQHA Hall of Fame Inductees: (2015) Stanley Johnston; (2017) Casey’s Ladylove (Loiseau broodmare); and (2018) Raymond and Georga Sutton.

•50-year Legacy Breeders: Lowell Thomas Barrett; Dean Hereford Farms; Jerry G. and/or M. Sue Golliher; Gene Hunt; Harry Kenzy; Ronald H. Krogman; Lee Lopez; South Dakota State University; Don and Kathleen Strain; James L. Sutton; Raymond Sutton; Triple U Enterprises (Roy Houck family); and R.C. or J.I. Waldner.

Two new broker associates have joined the Tyler Goff Group atHegg, Realtors:

•Michael Gengler brings a background in sales and customer service in sports nutrition.

•Shad Carney joins after spending several years gaining experience as a health care business consultant.

The LSS 2018 Foundation board of directors serve up to six one-year terms or two three-year terms. Members include:

Carol Twedt, Sioux Falls, chair; Kent Hartsuiker, Sioux Falls, vice chair; Jim Schade, Volga, treasurer; Rich Aguilar, Sioux Falls, secretary; Joel Black, Rapid City; Deb Bowman, Pierre; Carrie Churchill, Rapid City; Patris Eidsness, Rochford; the Rev. Bob Hansen, Hartford, past chair; Ron Hegge, Renner; Julie Johnson, Mina; Rita Karels, Sioux Falls; Tolcha Mesele, Sioux Falls; Julie Nesson, Sioux Falls; the Rev. Tom Opoien, Tea; Brad Scott, Spearfish; Mark Thomas, Sioux Falls; and Kris Wollman, Aberdeen.

The SDSU Foundation has added two new full-time staffers:

•Heidi Hopewell is the assistant director of Loyalty Giving. Hopewell joined the Foundation in early February. Previously, she served as a human resources coordinator at Daktronics.

•Allison Niedert joins the Foundation as the development administrative coordinator. She will coordinate and support the development staff, including event and hospitality planning.

The Eastern Chapter of the South Dakota Engineering Society has recognized the following engineering professionals and project teams:

•The Young Engineer of the Year award went to Jedidiah Reimnitz, EIT, a staff engineer II in the Sioux Falls office of HR Green, Inc. He is currently pursuing a masters degree in civil engineering. He is also president of the Eastern Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

•The Engineer of the Year award went to Wes Philips, PE, a principal engineer for the City of Sioux Falls working in the areas of streets, bridges, sidewalks and ADA compliance. He has recently lead efforts to inventory the condition and compliance of the City’s pedestrian facilities, including development of the City’s ADA Transition Plan.

•The Outstanding Engineering Achievement award went to the HDR project team for the Louise Avenue Reconstruction Project in Sioux Falls. The project featured access improvements and additional lanes for improved traffic flow and safety, upgraded utilities, new pavement and pedestrian facilities. Constructed under traffic on one of the busiest corridors in the state (26,000 vehicles per day), the project was completed early, which reduced impacts to the traveling public and adjacent businesses.