Dick Heidt - City Magazine

| WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA
The Manufacturer’s Roundtable:
Making History through Dedication and Determination
Medieval knights were not the only
ones with a round table. In the
1980s, major manufacturers in
Dickinson formed an informal organization,
the Manufacturer’s Roundtable.
“Our first meeting was at the Elks club,”
Guy Moos, president of Baker
Boy, recalls. Some of the
major founder manufacturers
that solidified this alliance
include TMI Systems
Design Corporation, Steffes
Corporation, Baker Boy and
Fisher Industries.
For well over two
decades, these committed
community leaders have been
demonstrating citizenship
and contributing to a better
quality of place. Major local
manufacturers meet bimonthly to discuss
opportunities, resolve issues and to improve
the competitiveness of the manufacturing
industry in Southwestern N.D.
Among the diversity of topics, the
group discusses workforce training and
development issues, employee retention, sales
successes and technological breakthroughs.
“Manufacturers in Dickinson are a very
sharing group. We share our successes, trials,
By Deanna Voutsas
“ Manufacturers in
Dickinson are a very
sharing group. We share
our successes, trials,
and tribulations. We
constantly encourage
each other. ”
and tribulations. We constantly encourage
each other,” says Moos.
Networking is another key element that
becomes attainable through these gatherings.
As Joe Rothschiller, president and chief
operating officer of Steffes Corporation
says, “The Manufacturer’s
Roundtable is a “networking”
vehicle that enables business
leaders to informally share
experiences of best practices;
openly discusses local, state
and national issues; support
one another professionally;
and helps each organization
grow.
He says, “The whole of
the group is smarter than
the individual person. As a
group, our intent is to grow
Southwestern N.D.”
The group is also concerned with how to
create opportunities for the Dickinson community
that will positively affect our quality
of life. According to Gaylon Baker, Stark
Development Corporation executive vicepresident
and Roundtable facilitator, “We
are working together to help the community
prosper.”
The members of the Manufacturer’s
Roundtable have been instrumental in supporting
local projects that have helped shape
Dickinson into what it is today. Such projects
include the West River Community Center,
the Workforce Training project and the
Badlands Activities Center, to name just a few.
Although it may be true that the present
members of the Roundtable are not famous
historical knights from the past, the dynamic
group is most certainly making history in
Southwestern N.D. Their dedication, determination
and drive for success will keep
these team players fueled for many, many
years to come.
40 thecitymag.com