A little bit about how and when you got started: After my daughter was born in April 2010, I was a new stay-at-home mom and had plans to be a freelance graphic artist. While I was busy coordinating my new freelance business, my hobby online shop took off and the rest is history. It all started when I made my newborn daughter a pair of baby booties and quickly discovered they were a great product not available anywhere else. The booties stayed on my daughter’s busy feet, were machine washable and were lined with cuddly faux sherpa that she loved to wiggle her toes into. I perfected the design, and opened a shop on etsy.com selling the Bison Booties. Within a few months the online shop had numerous sales and generated a wholesale inquiry. Today, 18 months later, Bison Booties are sold in six specialty retail shops across the USA and North Dakota. I also sell Bison Booties at a few local craft/art shows during the year. I’ve had great success online, selling to over 15 foreign countries and BisonGirlShop/BisonBooties has over 1,800 Facebook fans. Bison Booties are a Pride of Dakota product and I handcraft each pair in my home studio in rural Mandan, ND.

What should people know about your business: Bison Booties are soft-sole baby booties available in sizes from newborn to 24 months. The machine washable, cloth booties are available in many styles for boys and girls. The soft soles support foot development and balance, all while looking cute and keeping little feet comfortably warm.

What one tip do you have for other YPs that are interested in starting a business: Follow your passion and have fun with it.

Where can people learn more about your business:

www.etsy.com/shop/bisongirl

www.facebook.com/bisonbooties

www.twitter.com/bisonbooties

If you are a YP and own your own business, we want to feature you! Email ldell@trainingnd.com.

Population
about 1100-1200

Fun Fact about the community
There is actually NO “beach” in the town of Beach, ND.

Local hot spot/where will you find YPs hanging out
We have bingo on Friday nights at the Legion and a lot attend that. We do also have Pool leagues and Dart leagues at the Backyard bar.

Best reason for a YP to visit
If you are looking for a relaxing time… Beach is the place to go. It is quiet, peaceful, and you can see the stars very clearly at night!

Anything else you would like to share about the community
Beach is a wonderful town to raise children in. It’s small enough to where your children can roam around the town alone or with friends and the parents don’t really need to worry about them. That is what I remember about being a kid growing up here – was being able to ride my bike anywhere I wanted, along with going to the Beach Swimming Pool about every day of the summer! Granted, there is not a whole lot for kids to do here but it is definitely a nice close town where everyone knows everyone. We have lost some amenities since I was young, like the bowling alley and movie theatre, but it’s still a great little town!

- Vanessa Ueckert, Beach Resident and YP

See Google Map of Beach

If you would like to feature your community, email ldell@trainingnd.com.

Now there are several ways to lose your carbon footprint, at least from the K-Cups. Some companies are now making it possible to help reduce plastic waste filling up the landfills with these cups.

When it comes to reusing and recycling, many new and innovative products withvariations on lids and filters have flooded the online market for the Keurig brewing system. One of the most popular alternatives is the My K-Cup sold by Keurig. It is are usable coffee filter that can be used with any variety of ground coffee. You simply pop out the black cup holder that comes with the machine and insert the grey filter holder, filter basket and lid. For those who want it even simpler than that, the Solofill filter is it – designed for use without removing the filter holder. It’s simply are usable filter basket with a lid and is proportionate to the K-Cup. You can find both the My-Cup and Solofill locally from Target.

The My-Kap lids were introduced to meet environmental concerns and save the consumer some money. The K-Cups are reusable using plastic colored My-Kap lidsor K-Saver steel lids. You can also designate your favorite blend of coffee through the plastic color-coded lids. When purchased from online retailers, you usually receive three lids, a removal tool and brush to clean out the cups. These money-saving lids allow you to reuse your K-cups 10-20 times before the plastic starts breaking down.

To recycle the K-Cup, take the foil lid off the cup, rinse the coffee grounds out and let it dry. Then, repack the cup with fresh ground coffee. To prevent your K-Cup from leaking, reuse the same hole in the bottom of the K-Cup to brew your new coffee,tea or hot chocolate. In addition to these options is the EZ Cup system and Perfect Pod Holster, all of which can be used with the Keurig system. Some consumers even claim it works well to use their own aluminum foil or Glad’s Press and Seal to cover their K-Cup before brewing.

If you would like to recycle further, add the coffee grounds to your compost, use theK-Cup to start seeds or put it to other creative uses.

When it comes to making an impact on the environment, these are some of the simple ways of greening your cup.
Link: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000072389

A little bit about how and when you got started:
I’ve been freelancing to some degree for the past 10 years. I’ve been working full time on 81designs since April 2009 and we just started Argyle Media in the last 6 months.

What should people know about your business:
We do web design and web development for small and medium sized businesses throughout the US. We currently have a few contract employees that work off site and will be hiring a few in office staff this month.

What one tip do you have for other YPs that are interested in starting a business:
Start small and stay lean. Grow your company within the amount of money that you can put back into it from profit and avoid debt. In the first few years you’re going to make mistakes. And if you have debt, the mistakes are magnified.

Where can people learn more about your business:
http://81designs.com and http://argylemedia.net

If you are a YP and own your own business we want to feature you – email ldell@trainingnd.com.

Population approx. 2000 residents (we buck what the census tells us)

Fun Fact about the community
People used to associate our town with Native Americans with the symbol of a ‘bow’ and a ‘man’, however we have no past history or association with Native Americans or any reservation.  Our town was named after a gentleman who helped establish the community along the railroad.  No one is sure were the original ‘bow-man’ logo came from.

Local hot spot/where will you find YPs hanging out
The coffee shop!  We have a great gourmet coffee/gift/flower shop that is very popular for all ages. Our main street has an abundance of young business owners and young professionals and you’ll often see them grabbing a cup of joe.

Best reason for a YP to visit
Usually YP’s that visit end up staying and we like it that way. We’ve got jobs, housing, daycare and we are still clean and safe.

Anything else you would like to share about the community
People associate the west with all kinds of negative images-unsafe, dirty, hectic, etc.  Things are NOT that way in Bowman, we are in the oil field but we still have housing, hotels and are above all-clean and safe!   We have opportunity here and we want to keep our community attractive for young families and lifelong citizens. Cleanliness and recreational opportunities are top priorities. Come take a look for yourself… and grab a cup of coffee too!

For more information visit www.bowmannd.com

See Google Map of Bowman

Thank you to Ashley Alderson, Executive Director of Bowman County Development Corporation, for sharing her town with us!

If you would like to feature your community, email ldell@trainingnd.com.

A little bit about how and when you got started: I started Snoack Studios in 2009 out of my home. At the time, I was working for a company that wasn’t doing very well and they informed me one day that they were going to cut back my hours to 3 days a week. I had actually been toying with the idea of starting up a side freelancing gig. However, with the recent cut back at my job, it seemed like the perfect time to start an actual business, something I could do full time eventually. So I created my website, trademarked the name, setup a business bank account and I was on my way within a week! After about 8 months of fewer and fewer part time hours with the previous company, Snoack Studios became my full time job.

What should people know about your business: Snoack Studios is a web and graphic design studio, we help businesses shine through creative and powerful design solutions. We specialize in website design and development, creating custom websites for businesses that are targeted and visually powerful. We also provide: logo design and branding, print design and marketing, social media design, and email marketing. We focus on providing quality designs and great customer service!

What one tip do you have for other YPs that are interested in starting a business: Get connected in your community and network like crazy! Networking is the best way to get your business name out there and start gaining clients. Also, find out what people really need and want in your industry and a way to do it differently than everyone else. If you don’t have something to differentiate yourself from the competition, people won’t see the need to work with you instead of them.

Website where people can learn more about your business: www.snoackstudios.com

If you are a YP and own your own business we want to feature you – email ldell@trainingnd.com.

Make sure your backup system is automated
When was the last time you backed up your files, do you know what version of which files were backed up, finally do you know where the backup is located? I know if I didn’t have automated backups I certainly wouldn’t be able to tell you.

Be able to check your backups periodically to make sure all the data is in good shape.
Believe me, the worst time to find out your backup is out of date or no good is on the day you need it. Try checking a few files from time to time to make sure that data is being backed up properly.

Is your backup safe from fire and flood?
With internet connections becoming faster, I’d recommend using an online backup service such as carbonite.com or mozy.com. All you need is an internet connection to start backing up. A backup drive connected to your machine is a good solution until there is a theft, fire, or flood.

What about your online services
Imagine if your gmail, google docs, or other online services all of a sudden lose your data. It may not be at the fault of the service provider, but that someone gets access to these services. If you need to make sure your online networks are backed up check out backupify.com.

By implementing a few cheap and quick backup solutions you will turn the nightmare of losing data into a mere inconvenience of having to go get a cup of coffee while your data is restored to your computer. Tell us below about how you are protecting your data and if you have any other great tips.

Encouragement of young workers to build their future in North Dakota has been a focus of many within the state. To create that future young workers look for opportunities to be a part of companies that will help them build their homes and leave their legacies within the area.

For these reasons, the North Dakota Young Professionals Network (NDYP) finds it important to recognize business that provide high quality jobs and a work environment enticing to and in support of young professionals.

NDYP has chosen Applied Engineering, Inc. in Bismarck as the 2011 Best Place to Work.

“The quality of nominees from across the state signifies that businesses in North Dakota understand the importance of attracting, retaining and engaging young professionals. We are excited about the growth of NDYP and continuing to work collaboratively across the state on supporting ongoing economic, workforce and community development initiatives.” says Laurie Morse-Dell, NDYP Coordinator. “We are very pleased to present Applied Engineering, Inc. with the Best Place to Work award and to recognize their tremendous efforts in developing young professionals.”

“Applied Engineering is honored to receive this award.  At Applied Engineering, we work hard to create a culture that offers exciting opportunities and careers for young professionals. As an employee-owned company, we’re proud of this recognition, and we look forward to continuing to offer an invigorating, positive environment for talented young professionals who share our commitment in providing superior engineering services and technology solutions” shared Dave Raatz, CEO/President at Applied Engineering, Inc.

Over 50% of Applied Engineering Inc’s staff is comprised of young professionals. They were recognized not only because of the diversity that working with a company like theirs gives yps, but because of the opportunity to build relationships with colleagues and clients from all different industries worldwide. As we all know, even with the best products and services, strong relationships are the key to success in any industry. Their young professionals are fundamental players in building and cultivating these relationships.

Started by NDYP in 2008, the Best Place to Work Awards coincide with the Best Place to Intern Awards. The awards are a reflection of the creativity and innovation that businesses offer young professionals. To be considered for the award applicants submitted a detailed questionnaire about the company benefits, advancement opportunities, and why their business is an outstanding place for young professionals to work.

Runners up as Top Places to Work include the following employers: Absolute Marketing Group, Moorhead; Ackerman-Estvold Engineering and Management Consulting, Minot; Appareo Systems, Fargo; Bank of North Dakota, Bismarck; Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck; Coventry Health Care, Bismarck; Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson, Bismarck; State Bank & Trust, Fargo; and Sundog, Fargo.

North Dakota Young Professionals Recognize Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson as Best Place to Intern

As the face of business changes, so does the future of our state. Younger faces step up and look to make their mark. Young workers engage companies, and look for opportunities where their contributions will set the path toward their future career.

For these reasons, the North Dakota Young Professionals Network (NDYP) promotes businesses in the state that are willing to provide positive jobs and experiences for young professionals.

NDYP has chosen Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson as its 2011 Best Place to Intern.

“KL&J is so much more than engineers, surveyors, and planners; they are a community, a family. They welcomed me with open arms and treated me as an equal, not an intern. They gave me projects that would challenge me and force me learn on the spot, but they are also teachers. I have learned more from this organization in the past year that I’ve been here than I have ever learned in the classroom,” explained Ashley Erickson, Government Affairs Research Analyst at Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson.

“The North Dakota Young Professionals Network finds it important to recognize businesses that provide high quality internships to budding professionals,” says Laurie Morse-Dell, NDYP Coordinator. “The NDYP Best Place to Intern Award is a reflection of the hands-on creativity and innovation businesses provide throughout a student’s internship.”

The Best Place to Intern Awards coincide with the Best Place to Work Awards, which were started by NDYP in 2008. The awards were created to acknowledge creative approaches that enrich careers for young professionals. To be considered for the award applicants must submit a detailed questionnaire regarding the work styles, environment, and contribution consideration from interns.

Runners up as Top Places to Intern include the following employers: Altru Health System, Applied Engineering Inc. and Sundog.

A statewide committee of five NDYP board members judged the nominees and determined the winners and runners up in each category. Committee members were Melissa Korslien, Jen Dobrowski, Brian Haugen, Sarah Gasevic and Kayla Shafer.

WHEN
The Summit begins on Wednesday, June 6 with an evening networking social followed by a two-day conference to be held in Minot, North Dakota on Thursday, June 7 and Friday, June 8. We wrap up the conference by 2 p.m. on Friday so you can enjoy your weekend plans!

WHY
Hundreds of young professionals from across five states will be in attendance. The goal of the summit is to help young professionals enhance their professional skill set, instill community engagement and diversify their networks.

WHO
The key demographic of the conference is young professionals between the ages of 21-40. However, the conference is open to anyone over the age of 21.

REGISTER HERE