Gov. Daugaard Announces Appointees To New Board Of Technical Education
PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced today the initial appointees to the Board of Technical Education.
The nine-member board will provide state-level oversight to the state’s four technical institutes, taking on the functions currently served by the state Board of Education. The Board was created by Senate Bill 65, which the Legislature passed and the Governor signed this year.
Under Senate Bill 65, the Governor appoints the nine-member board, with members representing diverse geographic areas and industry sectors, and no more than six being members of the same political party. Each technical institute submits a list of nominees, and the Governor must select one from each of the four lists. The remaining five members are selected at large.
The Governor’s appointees:
· Rod Bowar, of Kennebec, is the majority owner and manager of Kennebec Telephone Company, Inc. (KTCI). He has been with KTCI since 1976 and purchased the business in 1998. In addition to the telephone business, KTCI business divisions include PowerCom Electric, Charley’s Welding and Auto, Kennebec Telephone Construction, and Chamberlain NAPA. Bowar serves on the Mitchell Technical Institute Foundation Board, the Kennebec Town Board, SDN, the South Dakota Telephone Association, and numerous boards and organizations in Kennebec. He was selected from among the four nominees submitted by Mitchell Technical Institute.
· Dana Dykhouse, of Sioux Falls, is the chief executive officer of First PREMIER Bank, a position he has held since 1995. He has served on many civic and community boards. He is the chair of the Build Dakota Scholarship board and is a past chair of the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and Forward Sioux Falls. He also serves on the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority, the South Dakota State University Foundation board, and the Sioux Falls Sports Authority
· Doug Ekeren, of Yankton, is the regional president and CEO of Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton. Ekeren has been with Sacred Heart since 1993. He serves on the board of directors of the Regional Technical Education Center (RTEC) in Yankton, and is a past president of the Yankton School Board and the Yankton Chamber of Commerce.
· Bob Faehn, of Watertown, is a 40-year resident of Watertown. He is a businessman who currently owns and operates KXLG Radio. Faehn served from 2005-11 in the State House of Representatives, including as house majority leader from 2009-11. He is a member of the South Dakota Lottery Commission and the Lake Area Technical Institute strategic advisory council, and a past president of the South Dakota Skilled Workforce Advisory Council, the Watertown Area Chamber of Commerce, and the South Dakota Broadcasters Association.
· Scott Knuppe, of Rapid City, is the facilities manager for Caterpillar Black Hills Engineering Design Center. He is a graduate of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and worked with Caterpillar in Illinois, Indiana, and China prior to returning to lead the Rapid City facility. He serves on the Build Dakota Scholarship board.
· Ed Mallett, of Watertown, is the vice president for the Midwest Region for Country Operations at CHS, Inc. Mallett earned his ag business degree from Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI). With CHS since 1978, Mallett has management oversight for agri-service centers across South Dakota, southwest North Dakota, southwest Minnesota and northeast Nebraska. He serves on the advisory boards at LATI for Ag Business and Production curriculum, Strategic Advisory Council and LATI Foundation board of directors. He was selected from among the four nominees submitted by LATI.
· Scott Peterson, of Belle Fourche, is the owner of Scott Peterson Motors in Belle Fourche and Sturgis and has been in the car business since 1988. Peterson also serves on the Governor’s Workforce Development Council, the South Dakota Automobile Dealers Board and the Belle Fourche Development Corporation. He was selected from among the four nominees submitted by Western Dakota Technical Institute.
· Terry Sabers, of Mitchell, is co-president of Muth Electric. He is a 1975 graduate of Mitchell Technical Institute and is a member of the MTI Foundation Board and the Build Dakota Scholarship board. Sabers served for eight years as a member of the state Board of Education, which had state oversight responsibility for the technical institutes prior to the passage of Senate Bill 65.
· Diana VanderWoude, of Sioux Falls, is the senior executive director of Academic Affairs for Sanford Health. Prior to joining Sanford Health, VanderWoude served for 11 years as the executive director of the South Dakota Board of Nursing. VanderWoude is chair of the Southeast Technical Institute Foundation board and a member of the Build Dakota Scholarship board. VanderWoude was selected from among the four nominees submitted by STI.
The law creating the Board of Technical Education takes effect on July 1, and the Governor’s appointments will be effective on that date. He is announcing the nominees now to give the new board time to organize and schedule its meetings prior to July.
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I see they have their one woman like every board seems to operate.
Kennebec that little town in Lyman County being the county seat that has historically contributed so much to South Dakota in regards to public servants.
Let’s have a cheers for the diversity!
I see that there are no common folk appointed. Good old boys and girls club continues on in SD.
They are all rich.
The caliber of this group might rival any board in South Dakota. Top to bottom they have a deep understanding of the mission of the Technical Institutes and come from a broad spectrum of employers who will hire graduates of our technical institutes.
Anyone else not a Dana Dykhouse fan? I’m really tired of the first premiere guys putting their names and ego on everything in my former hometown of SF.
Yeah, they just put their names on there… has nothing to do with the fact that the buildings, etc, wouldn’t exist without their help.
There’s a lot a jealousy towards the Sanford folks, and criticism on how the money was made, but I think we should remember a couple things… Someone was going to run that business and make that money… I think South Dakota is extremely lucky that it’s someone who’s willing to give so much back to our state. It could have easily been someone from another state, who could care less about South Dakota. Our state would look a lot different now if that were the case.
Some people don’t realize that these people that donate for buildings whether their name is on them or not did not have to. They could of put that money elsewhere and spent it on themselves or put it outside of South Dakota and even outside the US.
Dana might have more money than the rest of us but he doesn’t have more time in a day, week, month or a year. We should be grateful he is also willing to sacrifice his time for the betterment of the future of our vocational education student/grads.
First, great board. Very talented group that doesn’t have to volunteer to serve these young future community members in our state (tech students). Good choices.
As for the green with envy comments about Sanford/Dykouse/etc, let’s just think about that brain fart for a moment. U of M refused to name their football stadium after Sanford for 35 mil. After getting snubbed their, Denny Sanford funded children’s hospital, underground lab, Denny center, USD sports facility addition, SDSU stadium, USD bus school, Dakota state new facility….and a bunch more.
You can’t fix stupid ….don’t act like Minnesota, when the correct response is THANK YOU.