The June issue of Prairie Business includes our take on President Barack Obama’s historic May visit to South Dakota to deliver the commencement speech at Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown.
While much of the media coverage focused on the politics of Obama’s visit and the fact that South Dakota was the last of all 50 states for the president to visit, we keep our attention on LATI and its impressive track record of graduation rates and job placements. We also follow up with one of the graduates mentioned by name during Obama’s speech to find out if the presidential mention has boosted her budding business. Read “‘Best for Last’” for more.
On the topic of collaboration between industry and educators, we also explore how engineering firms are eagerly signing up for educational outreach opportunities in order to connect with teachers and spread the word about STEM opportunities to students.
Some firms are hosting teachers as summer interns, others are donating their time to College for Kids or other group activities that help raise awareness about the industry. College internships are also quite popular and while developing future workers is certainly a driving force behind most of the activities, many firm leaders say they also see outreach programs as a community service. Read “Reaching Out for Opportunities” for details.
Our Business Insider this month is Ben Hanten.
If you don’t know Ben, you probably have never been to southeast South Dakota or taken part in the eastern Dakotas’ entrepreneurial events. He’s only in his early thirties, but Hanten has been a businessman for nearly 20 years already and he’s recently dedicated himself to improving the entrepreneurial atmosphere in the region, and specifically his hometown of Yankton, S.D. He’s one of several young entrepreneurs in the region who are redefining what it means to have hometown pride and possess an unmatched drive to make the northern Plains the very best it can be. Read more about Hanten and his efforts in “Serving up encouragement.”
Finally, we get you up to speed on Lean Enterprises and what the efficiency improvement process could mean for your business with “4 Facts About Lean.” At a time of decline for several industries, experts say interest in lean is climbing as more companies explore ways to cut costs, but they stress that companies should explore improved efficiencies during good times as well. They set the record straight on several other misconceptions and make a solid case for why everyone should consider going lean.
Click here to read the entire issue.
