Pictured left to right Delore Zimmerman, founder and president of CEO Praxis, Inc. in Grand Forks, Joel Bleth, co-founder of Pump Systems Inc., in Dickinson, and Gene Fisher, owner of Fisher Sand and Gravel Company and General Steel and Supply of Dickinson were presenters in the 2006 Entrepreneuring in North Dakota conference.

7th Annual Strom Entrepreneurship Conference

"Capture the Spirit"
Conference Dates: April 12-13, 2007

The Seventh Annual Strom Entrepreneurship Conference is sponsored by Dickinson State University, with the support of Jerome Strom, North Dakota native and entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs are those who organize and assume the risk of a business or enterprise.  They are those that have a dream or vision and find the courage and inspiration to carry it out, while others just dream about that new idea and don’t do anything about it. It is that new plan or idea that drives some people to become an entrepreneur so they can carve out their niche in the marketplace.  Their new product or idea will “be the one” that will make them rich and famous.

One of the biggest challenges we have in a rural state such as North Dakota is trying to grow our communities and economy from within. Communities rely on existing businesses and new entrepreneurs to help build their economy. The 7th Annual Strom Entrepreneuring Conference is sponsored by Dickinson State University.  Our theme is, “Capture the Spirit” and is about motivating and inspiring entrepreneurs.   The theme expresses the conference organizers’ and university’s attempt to reignite entrepreneurs spirit or to ignite new people to capture the spirit and become an entrepreneur.  All our speakers and presenters are involved in entrepreneurism and will share with conference participants their unique approach to entrepreneurism.  We are confident they will enlighten and stimulate you and help you to reassess where your community stands in the entrepreneurial picture.

Jerome Strom s a Dickinson State College alumnus who lives in Los Altos Hills, Calif. He and his late wife, Rosie Ann have been enthusiastic supporters of Dickinson State since their graduation in 1958 and 1960.

The Stroms have supported and contributed financially to Dickinson State University’s entrepreneurship conferences since its inception in 2001. They have stressed that there continues to be a need for new job opportunities within the state. Stroms, like many other graduates of the North Dakota school system, left the state in 1960, because opportunities were more apparent in other states. After teaching in Oregon and California, they have been in private business since 1963.

They credit their success in private business to the importance of commitment that was stressed by their North Dakota heritage. It is their belief that because of increased education, communication and transportation capabilities, North Dakota will become, more and more, a job destination.

Jerome Strom, a native of Beulah, N.D., graduated from Dickinson State in 1960 and his late wife, Rosie Ann (Ridl), a native of Dickinson graduated in 1958. They established the Strom Business Scholarship fund in 1982, which remains the largest single business scholarship at Dickinson State. In addition, they have funded many different activities, including being the sole contributor for Dickinson State University’s North Dakota Entrepreneurship conference. Strom owns and operates Yale Investment Company, a private real estate Investment firm in Palo Alto, California.

Past Conferences: 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006
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