Dr. Donald Tanaka

Dr. Donald Tanaka, former research soil scientist at the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plain

Research Laboratory, Mandan, was presented with the Northern Pulse Growers Researcher Excellence Award Jan. 24 at the NPGA 19th annual Convention in Minot.

The NPGA Researcher Excellence Award is given to a researcher who has spent a tremendous amount of time and effort promoting and supporting the pulse industry.

Tanaka began his career with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Sidney, Mont., in 1980, developing no-till crop-fallow systems and has been a significant leader in the team-centered research at the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory for over two decades.

Tanaka retired his 31-year career at the end of 2011. Tanaka and his wife live in Mandan.

The Northern Pulse Growers Association is a nonprofit organization representing Montana and North Dakota producers and industry representatives of dry peas, lentils and chickpeas.

(l-r) Mary Erman and Jason Johnson.

Mary Erman, chief operating officer at Starion Financial, will now oversee the loan center for the bank, and Chief Financial Officer Jason Johnson has been named to the management committee.

Based in Mandan, the loan center is responsible for loan processing – including monitoring and recordkeeping of open loans and loan documentation – for all Starion Financial banks in North Dakota and Wisconsin. With her experience in lending, deposit and bank operations, Erman will help align deposit and loan operations and software strategies, and help create efficiencies for the company’s commercial and personal banking divisions.

Erman joined Starion Financial in 2001. She manages the bank’s investment portfolio and supervises the areas of finance, technology, and centralized bank operations.

She began her banking career in 1975, working in various positions before joining Starion Financial. Erman is a graduate of the School of Bank Marketing and Management in Boulder, Colo., and attended the University of North Dakota.

Erman is past-chair of the Independent Community Bankers of North Dakota. In 2005, she was featured among the Midwest’s Top Women in Banking in Independent Banker magazine.

Johnson will join the Starion Financial management committee, which brings together leadership from all functional areas of the bank to help plan and accomplish the organization’s strategic goals.

He is responsible for budgeting, regulatory financial reporting, and monthly and annual financial statements. He is chairman of the bank’s asset liability management committee and is a member of other committees, including the audit committee, strategic planning committee, and retirement plan advisory committee. He supervises the bank cashier and financial analysts.

Johnson joined Starion Financial in January 2009 as controller and was promoted to controller and vice president the following year. He was promoted to chief financial officer last year.

He has seven years of experience in public accounting. Prior to joining Starion Financial, he was an audit manager at a large regional accounting firm in Fargo.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and is a certified public accountant.

Paul Davis has been named director of safety services. He succeeds Wally Kalmbach, who retired near the end of 2011. A native of Grand Forks, Davis oversees a department which provides safety training and coordinates the journeyman apprenticeship program for electric cooperative lineworkers. Davis was hired by NDAREC in 2006 to work as a safety instructor. Prior to NDAREC, he worked as a journeyman lineworker for Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck.

Gerald Nielson began working for NDAREC in December as a safety director. He filled the instructor position left vacant by Davis’s promotion. Nielson, a Richardton native, was previously employed as a lineworker for a Wisconsin municipality.

NDAREC is the statewide trade association for 16 electric distribution cooperatives and five generation and transmission cooperatives operating in North Dakota. The distribution cooperatives provide electricity to nearly 250,000 North Dakotans via 147,000 meters.

After four years in the making, plans are falling in place for a Walmart Supercenter to be built in Mandan.

The new supercenter is expected to be located at the northeast corner of the Old Red Trail and Sunset Drive in the Terra Vallee area.

Walmart Spokesman Ryan Irsik says Walmart will submit site and building plans by late February. If approved and built, the Walmart Supercenter will be approximately 150,000 square feet and will employ approximately 250 associates with the majority of those jobs being full-time.

The Bismarck-Mandan Development Association reports that Walmart is still in the very early stages of the approval process and does not have a construction timeline. At this time Walmart representatives are working on a variety of permits, final due diligence on the site, site engineering, final store design and related detail. A recent BMDA report states that “although the project is not a 100 percent go, it would appear fairly certain barring any unforeseen event occurring.”

Mayor Tim Helbling says the announcement is “a great thing for the city.” He says it’s important to stop sales tax dollars from “flying across the river” to Bismarck, which has two Walmart Supercenters.

Walmart representatives have indicated they are always looking for good talent and looks forward to creating job opportunities in Mandan.

The BMDA, on behalf of the city of Mandan, has been working with representatives of Walmart on development of this project for the last four years.

The Mandan City Commission at that time believed that securing a major retailer like Walmart would be a major step in providing the lost retail which has been a growing problem for the city for over the last several years.

In July 2011, a delegation of Walmart corporate officials and the contract realtor made a trip to Mandan to look at the various sites which the BMDA had provided them. Their ultimate decision was the chosen site, which was also a preferred site for the city.

Mandan’s new downtown restaurant, Harvest Brazilian Grill, has only been on Main Street for a couple on months, but its reputation for quality has already spread to the pages of a popular magazine.

The restaurant was recently named to the magazine Midwest Living’s Top 25 New Places to Stay, Eat and Play.

The owner of the restaurant is Zila Oliveira, a native of Brazil, who expanded Harvest Grill following the popularity and success of its original restaurant, which was located in Linton.

The magazine, in its description of Harvest Brazilian Grill, wrote, “Carnivores head to this churrasco-style restaurant for perfectly seasoned meat delivered on huge skewers. The Parmesan pork alone is worth the trip, but also try the Brazilian rice and beans. Sangria adds a fruity flourish to this all-you-can-eat extravaganza. Our dinner for two cost nearly $100 with tip. Spendy for North Dakota? Yes. Good for a special occasion? Absolutely.”

Harvest Grill is located at 308 W. Main St., also known as the former J.C. Penney store.

-Brian L. Gray

Tanaka

Dr. Donald Tanaka, research soil scientist at the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, retired at year’s end. His 31-year career helped change the future of agriculture.

Tanaka began his career with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Sidney, Mont., in 1980, developing no-till crop-fallow systems and has been a significant leader in the team-centered research at the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan for over two decades.

Through his leadership with the multi-disciplinary research team at Mandan, he pioneered no-till crop sequencing research to take advantage of soil-crop ecology interactions and improve soil moisture management. His efforts led to the development of dynamic cropping systems where production synergies enabled increased crop production, lowered input requirements and enhanced natural resources. Research data was later used to develop the Crop Sequence Calculator of which over 13,000 have been distributed at no charge from the lab’s website.

Using his cropping systems expertise, he helped develop interdisciplinary integrated crop and livestock systems to reduce overwintering cow-calf input costs while developing sustainable systems.

In addition to his research reporting in numerous scientific journals worldwide, Tanaka has been routinely interviewed by the farm press and featured in countless popular press articles. He has been a proficient, authoritative speaker throughout the United States and Canada.

His two decades of research and promotion of improved cropping systems supported North Dakota farmer’s efforts to diversify crop production. Today, North Dakota is nationally ranked in the production of 12 crops. His research and promotion of sustainable cropping systems reduced fallow acres in the state by 84 percent.

Tanaka’s research improved the sustainability of family farming. He has received the Conservation Research Award from the International Soil and Water Conservation Society and the Professional Awards from both the North Dakota Association of Soil Conservation Districts and the North Dakota Soil and Water Conservation Society. He was named a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Zero-Till Non-Farmer of the Year for the United States by the Manitoba-North Dakota Zero-Tillage Farmers Association.

Tanaka and his wife, Terry, will continue to reside in the Bismarck-Mandan area after retirement.

Brandon Price

Dr. Brandon Price has been selected as the director of Medical Informatics at St. Alexius Medical Center. As director, he works closely with physicians, nurses and various other providers on the overall implantation of an enterprise-wide Electronic Health Record at St. Alexius. He also works directly with St. Alexius’ Clinical Informatics Department.

Price plays an important role with the use of clinical applications and technology to serve patients, improve patient safety and quality and impact workflow efficiency positively.

Price still maintains his practice as a family physician at the St. Alexius Center for Family Medicine in Mandan.

County employees who were honored for their years of service are (back, l-r) Keith Olson, Tim Nilson, Jacob Achtenberg, Brad Pratt, (front, l-r) Karen Schelske, Annette Tomac, Rebecca Saxowsky, Brenda Schwalbe, Deb Weigel, Wanda Guenthner, Toni Snider. Not pictured is Lyla Himmelspach, Allen Schantz, Krista Kottsick, Bryan Kirchmeier, Kim Pittman, Tad Pritchett, Gail Woodall and Alan Smith. Submitted photo

The annual Morton County employee recognition luncheon was held Tuesday, Dec. 13, to recognize those employees with lengthy service to Morton County.

Those who were honored for their years of service were: 35 years – Brad Pratt, Alan Smith. 30 years – Wanda Guenthner, Gail Woodall. 25 years – Keith Olson, Tim Nilson, Toni Snider. 20 years – Brenda Schwalbe, Bryan Kirchmeier, Kim Pittman, Tad Pritchett. 15 years – Krista Kottsick. 10 years – Jacob Achtenberg, Karen Schelske, Annette Tomac, Rebecca Saxowsky, Deb Weigel, Allen Schantz. Five years – Lyla Himmelspach.

Amy Meyer

Railway Credit Union has announced that Amy Meyer has returned to its Bismarck location as a financial services officer.

Meyer, who is originally from Mandan, has been working and living in Minneapolis, Minn. She and her husband recently decided to return to the Bismarck-Mandan area.

Meyer has over 10 years of previous financial experience and is dedicated to providing friendly and professional service.

Hummert has been with Interstate Engineering since 2007 and has eight years of experience in land surveying. In addition, Hummert holds a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Ill.

Interstate Engineering, headquartered in Jamestown, provides engineering, surveying and planning services to federal, state, local and tribal governments as well as corporations and private individuals.