|
Presenters Bios Diane Almendinger |
Steven
Hannah | Dean
Hildebrand | Jim. Jenkins | Don
Macke | Delore Zimmerman DIANE ALLMENDINGER
Steve Hannah presently serves as the Vice President of Technology at Northern Great Plains. Northern Great Plains Inc. is a non-profit research and demonstration organization working with a network of rural development, business, policy, and academic leaders to build a healthy economic and ecological future for the people and communities on the Northern Great Plains of North America. Their primary service area includes the five-state region of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In addition to his responsibilities at Northern Great Plains, he teaches various courses in local area networks, system architecture, computer security, and operating systems at the University of Minnesota Crookston Center for Business DEAN
HILDEBRAND
James J. Jenkins grew up and now resides on his family's cattle ranch near Callaway, Nebraska. Jim, along with his father Wayne Jenkins, operates a 200-head cow/calf operation. Jim is President of Spring Creek Management Inc., a start-up company, which has opened two Skeeter Barnes barbecue restaurants and one Pane Bello restaurant in Nebraska over the past three years. In 1996, Jim founded Wild West, Inc., the company that owns and operates the Whiskey Creek steakhouse chain, with locations in Nebraska, Missouri and Florida. Before returning to Nebraska in 1996, Jim served as vice president of operations for Heartland Food Systems. Jim serves as a Vice-Chairman of the Nebraska Restaurant Association board of directors and serves on the Custer County Planning Commission. Jim also served for several years as the Executive Director of the Nebraska Corn-Fed Beef program. DON
MACKE
Delore Zimmerman is a founder and President of CEO Praxis, Inc. a community and enterprise development firm located in Grand Forks, North Dakota that is recognized nationally for working with entrepreneurs, economic development and technology research organizations to create enterprise opportunities in technology and information industries. Delore is Senior Fellow for Community and Enterprise Development at the Denver-based Center for the New West (1996-2002) where he leads the High-Performance Community initiative. |
Diane Allmendinger is currently the Mayor of the City of Dodge,
North Dakota. She is employed as the Business Manager of Dodge
school. She serves as a Case Aide for the North Dakota Partnership
Program as a mentor to children at risk. Diane is the Administrator
of Weed Control for Stark County. Under Diane's guidance, Dodge
earned "City of the Year" honors for exhibiting community-wide "Can-do
spirit" and "community loyalty, hard work, volunteerism
and pride". Diane has directed community projects that have
ranged from renovating low income homes and working with a private
sector partnership to open a convenience store, to tree plantings,
park development, and a remodeled city auditorium. 
STEVE
HANNAH
Dean
Hildebrand owned and operated "The Boatyard", a marina
on Creel Bay of Devils Lake for many years. He also represented
the Lake Region for three sessions in the North Dakota Legislature.
Dean belongs to many professional clubs and organizations and has
received numerous awards and recognition for his diverse accomplishments.
Dean was named Director of the North Dakota State Game and Fish
Department by Governor Ed Schafer and assumed the position on April
1, 1996. He was reappointed by Governor John Hoeven on July 1,
2001. 
JIM
JENKINS
Don Macke is Co-Director of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship.
Don's current work focuses on entrepreneurship in rural America.
Don serves as the Entrepreneur in Residence with the Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation. He is a visiting scholar with the Rural Policy
Research Institute at the University of Missouri Columbia. Don
is a Fellow with the Center for Applied Rural Innovation with the
University of Nebraska Lincoln and an Associate Fellow with the
Center for Great Plains Studies with the University of Nebraska.
He also serves as the Senior Advisor with the Nebraska Community
Foundation.
DELORE ZIMMERMAN