Saint Mary's Newsroom

After pitching an invention to one of the executives on TV’s Shark Tank, presenting to Saint Mary’s faculty was a piece of cake.

Stephany Beck ’21 might only be a freshman, but the Entrepreneurship and Marketing double major is already finding ways to enhance her pitching skills, network with area professionals, and learn how one day she could put her name on an innovative product that could help others.

Beck first got her entrepreneurial feet wet while she was a junior in high school in Oshkosh, Wis. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh sponsored a business pitch competition, and the grand prize was an opportunity to present for Damond John (of Shark Tank) at the Oshkosh Area Women’s Foundation banquet.

Beck and her two high school friends pitched the Klick-a-Kane.

Beck came up with the concept after volunteering at a hospice in her hometown. One of the other hospice volunteers, Ruby, told Beck that finding a spot to store her walking cane in her vehicle was often a hassle, so Beck devised a safe and convenient holder. Klick-a-Kane is a C-shaped device that attaches securely to the center console with Velcro and firmly holds a cane close by, yet out of the way. “I worked with Ruby to develop the idea, and I had her test it to be sure it worked,” Beck said.

Beck’s student group, voted “most likely to succeed” in the Oshkosh competition, earned the honor of meeting with Damond John, who Beck described as friendly and encouraging. “He’s a personable guy,” she said. “He came in jeans and a blazer. He started as a small business owner. He said my friends and I did a great job presenting and he encouraged us to keep pursuing our dreams.”

Carrying her idea forward in Saint Mary’s annual Elevator Pitch Competition — sponsored by the Kabara Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies last week — Beck again did well, placing first overall, as well as winning in the “social impact” category.

Earlier in the fall, Beck was also one of three students who participated in Start Up Weekend, a national program sponsored by Saint Mary’s Kabara Institute and Collider Core of Rochester. Beck was part of a team of entrepreneurs who collaborated on a business plan for 54 hours.

“We were in the midst of high school students, young professionals, pre-med students at Mayo Clinic, and other professionals,” Beck said. Olivia Osterbauer ’18 and Beck worked on Farm to Kitchen, a company that brings farm-fresh products to your table. They presented their idea of a to-go box to a panel of judges and received second-place honors.

“We distributed surveys at the farmer’s market and interacted with different people to do market research,” she said. “I did the marketing and layout and design of our presentation, and they said our layout was the best because it was clear and concise.”

Beck has also attended presentations by various campus speakers the Kabara Institute has hosted, and she believes these experiences are invaluable to a young entrepreneur.

“I like the culture here,” she said. “The connections I’ve made through the Kabara Institute have been valuable and the opportunities have opened my eyes,” she said.

Her dream is to one day own her own business like a clothing boutique and/or to work in marketing for the Green Bay Packers.

Until then, she plans to complete the 4+1 B.A./M.B.A. program, which was one of the main reasons she chose Saint Mary’s.

And she won’t give up on her dream of one day marketing a product, like Klick-a-Kane.

“Entrepreneurship is about letting your creativity flow and seeing what you come up with,” she said. “Entrepreneurship is about finding your passion. And your ideas can also benefit others.”

There’s no question what inspires Deb Henton M’95, C’96, D’99, superintendent of North Branch Area Public Schools.

Actually, there are approximately 3,000 inspirations. Her students.

“Whenever I can raise student achievement, that’s No. 1,” Dr. Henton said. “That’s why I come to work every day. I want to create an environment where kids have the best opportunities possible to achieve their dreams. Our vision statement is to inspire dreams, build integrity, and instill hope in our students, our staff, our families, and our communities.”

It’s because of this commitment, passion, and “outstanding leadership and innovative spirit” that the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) recently named Dr. Henton as the 2018 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year.

A proud alumnus, Dr. Henton attributes much of her success to the education she received from Saint Mary’s.

“I will always have allegiance and loyalty to Saint Mary’s,” she said. “It has helped me become the person and the leader that I am today.”

A press release announcing her honor touts a lengthy list of accomplishments — during her 11 years at North Branch and throughout her career.

During her tenure Dr. Henton developed and implemented two five-year strategic plans which resulted in: new course offerings; updated buildings; the establishment of an education foundation; greater efficiency of systems; better support of students, staff, and families; a 1:1 digital device initiative for grades 5-12; all-day kindergarten; Spanish K-12; and early childhood programming, beginning at age 3.

In 2014, Dr. Henton implemented new literacy methodologies in NBAPS’ primary and intermediate grades, which greatly improved test results. She’s also improved the district’s overall community engagement and was lauded for the innovative actions she’s taken to reduce the budget, most notably the enactment of a four-day school week.

Originally a stay-at-home mom, Dr. Henton was encouraged to go back for her bachelor’s degree in education by one of her friends. “She told me I should think about going to college because once my two sons were in school, I’d probably want to do something,” she said. “I started teaching Sunday school to see if I liked teaching, and I did. And one of my parents asked me, ‘Are you a teacher; you’re a natural.’ ” After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in 1989, she was further encouraged by colleagues to get her master’s degree and go into education administration.

It was then she was introduced to Saint Mary’s and enjoyed her studies from the very first class.

“No matter the class or location, I found Saint Mary’s to be flexible in meeting the needs of its adult learners,” she said. “They provided relevant content that increased my own tool kit, and I found the university’s values to match my ethical beliefs. I came out of Saint Mary’s with a deep understanding of the educational trends and topics and with the keys to what it means to be a good leader.”

Dr. Henton earned a M.Ed. from Saint Mary’s in 1995, followed by education administration licensure in 1996, and then her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership in the university’s very first cohort in 1999.

“Saint Mary’s has been the foundation for my success,” she said. “It’s helped me every day feel grounded and feel like I have the knowledge and the skills to do my job.”

As the Minnesota honoree, Dr. Henton is a candidate among other state recipients for National Superintendent of the Year, to be announced during the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) convention held on Feb. 15-17, 2018 in Nashville, Tenn.

Photo provided by Isanti-Chisago County Star

Angie (Pieper) Bissen ’07 describes herself as “practical.”

When she was choosing a major, she thought about the type of career she could envision herself in, as well as what job opportunities would be available.

At the time, accounting jobs were in high demand. As she loved numbers, an accounting major seemed … practical.

Her sophomore year, she added a second major in human resources, thinking the unique pairing could be beneficial.

Currently the HR programs supervisor at Hormel Foods Corporation, Bissen’s instincts were spot-on. “Businesses need to make a profit, so being able to understand the numbers and have a grasp on general business practices is extremely important, no matter what aspect of business you’re interested in,” she said. “In human resources, you know you can’t have a good business without your employees. Having a business background gives you a better grasp on how to create a work environment that employees really want to be a part of.”

Bissen began working at Hormel 10 years ago, at first in accounting. She switched to HR at Hormel’s corporate headquarters because of her desire to work with people and not just numbers. “I like waking up every day knowing that the work I’m doing is making a difference in our employees’ lives.”

In her position, Bissen oversees affirmative action and hiring policies; directs relocation programs; administers policies and communicates those policies; and provides coaching opportunities to employees looking to improve their performance. She also helps managers work through performance issues and oversees internal job postings called career connection.

In varying aspects of her position, Bissen said she frequently refers back to what she learned in her courses at Saint Mary’s.

“Even to this day, 10 years after graduation, I still reference exercises, experiences, and examples professors used in class. That speaks to the practicality of the content we had at Saint Mary’s,” she said. “My professors had real-world experience, and they were able to apply their knowledge of the business world to what they were teaching in the textbook—making the information interesting and relevant.”

She’s also thankful for the experiences that group activities provided. “We were forced to think critically and examine all sides of an issue,” she said. “Having that ability helps in ethical decision making. You’re not looking at it from your perspective only, but you learn to think about what’s best for the greater good.”

Bissen said one of the most valuable business classroom experiences was her strategies class, in which she and her team had to apply interdisciplinary skills, as well as accounting, management, and operations skills to a case study that they then presented to business leaders and professors. “It was pretty high-stress and intense, but it was very much like the real world,” she said.

Beyond business, Bissen said her overall liberal arts degree helped prepare her for life after college. “Having an understanding of a variety of academic disciplines gives you a deeper level of understanding to every problem you are presented with,” she said. “It gives you a solid foundation for decision making.”

Bissen is also thankful for internship opportunities she had at Hormel for two summers, as well as an independent study through which she prepared taxes with senior citizens in Winona, both of which provided valuable learning experiences.

She advises students to take advantage of every growth opportunity, including extracurricular activities. “As I look back, it is surprising how much they helped me develop leadership skills and build relationships,” she said. “I served on the Student Senate, as the head of finance. We went through budgets and decided what groups got what money, so it was a very real-world practical experience in a safe environment. The leadership skills it taught me gave me a leg up in the real world.”

As a test engineer with Medtronic, Nick Nagel ’14 is saving lives by testing medical devices before they ever come in contact with patients.

For Nagel, every test, every data point, is crucial. “Testing helps us better understand why something performs as it was intended to, or may fail or stop working,” he said. “My job has a direct effect on patients, so the device needs to work the way it’s supposed to work every time.”

For example, the Andover, Minn., native is currently testing ablation catheters, which doctors use on patients to interrupt unwanted electrical pathways in the heart.

“My primary role is to design test methods on requirements for our products,” he said. “Most of the tests I design are used in a laboratory setting so that requirements can be accurately measured.”

Although his work now can affect therapies for patients, Nagel finds a direct correlation between his current work and the tests he originally ran as a physics—life sciences major at Saint Mary’s.

“My professors, Dr. Damien Cho and Dr. Robyn Wangberg, would ask me to conduct a test by writing a method and showing the results,” he said. “I do that now on a weekly basis in a lab at Medtronic. My undergraduate work absolutely prepared me well for my career.”

Nagel minored in math and chemistry. In one of his favorite classes, analytical chemistry, Dr. Nathan Lien, his professor, taught him methods of titration, which is also very useful in his current line of work. “Most of my math classes also really paid off,” he said. “And the teachers were amazing; it helps when you can talk to them at any point.

“The classes I took for physics, math and chemistry prepared me very well. That’s the simple answer,” he reiterated. “But it was the curriculum itself that shaped how I think. Medtronic is looking for new and bold ideas that lead to innovative solutions for patients. The curriculum at Saint Mary’s stimulated my thinking process.”

Now working in a team environment, Nagel also knows the benefits of working together from his days on the Cardinal hockey team from 2010-2014.

Nagel is currently enrolled in part-time classes in the M.S. in Mechanical Engineering program at the University of St. Thomas and will earn his graduate degree in January 2018.

“Soon I will have four years of professional experience and a master’s degree, so that will open doors,” he said. But Nagel doesn’t plan to change employers any time soon. “I absolutely love it here and plan on sticking with it for a long time. I may someday make a move into a new position with Medtronic and I’m confident I’m on the right path so far.”

More than 4,600 students are enrolled in Saint Mary’s Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs. As different as each of their background stories is, every student chose Saint Mary’s because of a desire to improve themselves personally and professionally, as well as for its accessibility. To call their experiences transformational is an understatement. At Saint Mary’s, they learn brighter futures are within reach. Here is just one of their stories.

To Trhas Berhane ’13, C’14, M’17 earning her degrees from Saint Mary’s means just a little more.

Berhane, a native of Ethiopia, completed her bachelor’s degree—and now her master’s degree—all while working full-time, raising a family (including having two babies), dealing with a difficult pregnancy, and helping her mother overcome cancer.

Berhane said that, through it all, she was determined to complete her studies, and to create a brighter future for her family.

“When you have kids, you think, ‘I want a better future for them,’” she said. “They were my inspiration to keep going.”

Berhane’s family came to the U.S. when she was 2 years old. Unable to speak English, Berhane said they immigrated without a penny to their name.

“But they raised us well and tried to get us a better life—the American Dream,” she said.

Her parents continue to be two of her staunchest supporters, and cheered her on this fall as she earned her M.S. in Geographic Information Science.

“My family is very proud,” she said. “I’m the first in my family to go to college. It’s a big deal.”

Despite all of the difficulties she faced, Berhane said the hardest part was simply re-starting.

Although she had begun her studies toward a bachelor’s degree, she began working in marketing at General Mills, and “got comfortable.” Plans to continue her education were put on the back burner. But when opportunities to advance her career arose, Berhane found often couldn’t apply because she didn’t have her bachelor’s degree.

After hearing about Saint Mary’s from a friend, she met with Dr. Paul Christenson, assistant dean for the Graduate School of Business and Technology, who helped her put together an education plan that she knew was obtainable.

In June 2013, she earned her B.A. in Marketing, but she didn’t stop there. Through one of her classes, she was introduced to geographic information science and was inspired to continue for her master’s degree.

Through it all, there were more than a few bumps in the road.

“It was one thing after another. I asked God if he was trying to test me,” she said. “Sometimes you want to give up, but you can’t do it. I thought, ‘I don’t have the time to do school work; I’m working and taking care of a baby.’ But you need to take it one day at a time and just know that it can be done.”

Berhane continued working full-time at General Mills for most of her studies. She gave birth to two babies, now 2 ½ and 4 months. Her mother was also diagnosed with lung cancer, and Berhane became one of her caregivers. On top of all that, one of her pregnancies had complications.

“You need to surround yourself with the right people,” she said. “It takes a team of people to help you. But anything is possible.”

Berhane said she is grateful for her family support and the support of her Saint Mary’s community.

“I was able to talk to my teachers and tell them what was happening in my life. They were understanding and used Blackboard to share reading materials and videos, so I could keep up on my studies and use all the tools around me to help me succeed,” she said. “I worked hard, but I had a team of supporters including my husband and my teachers and classmates at Saint Mary’s.”

Berhane especially thanks GIS associate professor Greta Poser. “Without her, I don’t know if I would have been able to finish the degree,” she said. “She would make time to come out, even on her days off, to help us with homework or answer our questions. She went above and beyond.”

Berhane’s mother is now cancer-free, and Berhane has a new job she enjoys with the Department of Transportation. As a research analyst, she uses her GIS skills to help the DOT update their road maps, using her GIS skills.

“Plus my boss is an alum of Saint Mary’s,” she said. “And I work with maybe four other alumni.”

Berhane recommends Saint Mary’s to others. “I tell them, ‘You’ve got to go there; they’re so great.’ ”

WINONA, Minn. — With new leadership, visionary ideas, and innovative community collaborations, the Kabara Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at Saint Mary’s University is announcing its fall schedule of events. The public is invited to watch as students pitch their passions and participate in important community discussions about the social and economic impacts of entrepreneurship. Above all, the public is invited to celebrate and support entrepreneurship at the regional and student level.

The goal of the Kabara Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies is to ignite an entrepreneurial spirit in students across all fields of study at Saint Mary’s. What is an entrepreneurial spirit? It is the drive to innovate or improve what already exists, to create new methods or processes, to be a change-maker, and to not accept the status quo.

To cultivate that spirit, events are designed to connect motivated students with successful business owners who can provide mentorship and a place-based learning experience that will allow students to learn, grow, and identify their passions.

The Kabara Institute helps students:

• explore options for tailored internships while still in school;
• design and develop their business ideas through year-over-year mentorship; and
• connect with entrepreneurial-focused businesses to develop relationships that will support the local community and provide a launch pad for their personal passions.

FALL EVENTS

• ENACTUS: A social entrepreneurship team is forming on campus to design and execute a business idea that will have a positive impact on the Winona community: http://enactus.org.
• Internship Job Fair — Oct. 25, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Toner Student Center. The Kabara Institute partners with the Business Department and Career Services to co-sponsor a fall job fair on campus. Students will meet with prospective employers interested in offering internships as well as job opportunities. The institute seeks to promote place-based learning through internships with employers who wish to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit within our student body.
• Guest Speaker Meredith Speier — Oct. 27, 12:30 p.m., Toner Student Center, Room 9. The Kabara Institute and the PR/Business Club will co-sponsor this dynamic speaker and entrepreneur who started the company InSpeier in the Twin Cities. Her client portfolio includes Best Buy, Graco, and Capella University. Come hear how she leverages market research to improve the customer experience.
• Startup Weekend — Nov. 3-5. In partnership with Collider Core, Saint Mary’s is pleased to offer our students the opportunity to participate in this national program. Students will collaborate with a team of entrepreneurs to design a business plan for an emerging idea over the course of an intense weekend.
• 1 Million Cups — Nov. 8. The Kabara Institute is excited to partner with the City of Winona and other key local organizations to bring this global entrepreneurial program to the Winona area. Based on the notion that entrepreneurs discover solutions and network over a million cups of coffee, the Kauffman Foundation developed 1 Million Cups—a free program designed to educate, engage, and connect entrepreneurs with their communities.
• Arts and Entrepreneurship Panel Discussion — Nov. 9, 7 p.m., Figliulo Recital Hall. Key players in the regional arts industry—including the directors of the Great River Shakespeare Festival, MidWest Music Fest, Minnesota Marine Art Museum, and the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts—will share their experiences in bringing arts-based businesses to Southeastern Minnesota. The public is invited to hear how the arts contribute to our entrepreneurial landscape. A reception will be held 6 to 7 p.m. in the lobby of the Performance Center.
• Elevator Pitch Competition — Nov. 14, 4 p.m., Saint Mary’s Hall, Room 409. Students will pitch their business ideas in 90 seconds or less for cash prizes. A panel of professors from across campus will offer feedback and help students take this initial idea and work toward a more comprehensive business plan to pitch in spring.
• Student Entrepreneurial Showcase — Nov. 16, 6 to 8 p.m., Saint Mary’s Cascade Meadow Wetlands and Environmental Science Center, Rochester. Students will present their projects at a community demo event co-sponsored with Rochester Rising.

SPRING EVENTS

• Guest speaker from the manufacturing industry (January)
• “Science in Business” speaker panel event (February)
• Business plan pitch competition (March)
• Guest speaker on medical business development (April)
• 1 Million Cups sponsorship and engagement with the business community (monthly)

About Christine Beech

Christine Beech is an assistant professor of business and the executive director of the Kabara Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. Christine has extensive teaching, research, and consulting experience in the areas of strategic management, leadership development, contract management, succession planning, social entrepreneurship, and small business management. Prior to joining Saint Mary’s, Christine spent 15 years in the corporate world, where she led the development of a multi-million-dollar business line for a global consulting firm before launching her own consulting business in the Washington, D.C., area. Before transitioning into business, Christine served in the military, enjoying a 20-year career in the intelligence field.

As a geographer and cartographer, Caroline “Siffy” (Erickson) Torkildson M’10 not only creates maps of the world, she is also trekking around the world using maps. And her M.S. in Geographic Information Science from Saint Mary’s is helping her go places.

Most recently she’s been accepted into the Society of Woman Geographers as part of a prestigious group of women explorers, and researchers who “know no boundaries.”

Riding a camel in the Sahara, Morocco

On her website she states, “Even before I could read, I pored over atlases and National Geographic magazines, dreaming of faraway lands. I feel as Annie Peck wrote, ‘My home is where my trunk is.’ ”

Torkildson originally attended Saint Mary’s as an undergraduate for a year before she transferred to study oceanography, but her love of maps led her to geography. A subsequent stint in the Peace Corps took her to Madagascar.

In her 40s, she decided to go back to school to study GIS and become more employable, as computer mapping was in its infancy when she was in college. When she began researching programs, she was happy to return to Saint Mary’s for its strong reputation.

“John Ebert and Dr. Dave McConville were both so supportive and encouraging and patient,” she said. “Because of them I stuck with it, and I was determined.” She jokingly compares getting through the program to her recent climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. “I wasn’t sure I’d make it to the top but I did. Getting through the program, I was also nervous, but I made it,” she said.

Before she completed her capstone project at Saint Mary’s, she was offered a position with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Landscape Ecology Research Lab in Nevada. “I was hired because of my GIS skills, so it really has opened doors for me,” she said.

At the EPA, Torkildson completed her capstone project on finding the best location to grow native grasses for biofuel near the Koda Biomass Facility in Minnesota, which related to the renewable energy program at EPA.

For the EPA she also did sea level rise modeling for regions in North Carolina and California, as well as for the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine as part of a sustainability program to help tribes with environmental and health concerns. She also looked at the proximity-to-green-space in cities and how it affects health and well-being.

After five years at the EPA, she reconnected with an old friend in Germany and ended up getting married. She found a job using open source GIS programs, such as QGIS, for a contracting company in Germany, through which she uses high-resolution satellite imagery for terrain analysis in Germany and Eastern Europe.

“Having learned basics of GIS from Saint Mary’s, I’ve been able to apply those skills to learn new open-source programs,” she said. “Saint Mary’s professors were helpful, the smaller class size was beneficial, and the curriculum was really good. There was a variety of spatial analysis, programming, database management, internet mapping, all the different aspects of GIS. And it was all practical in the real world. There was also a class on grant writing and how to write a proposal which has helped me in my work.”

In her husband, she found her soulmate and exploring partner. In her life, she’s traveled to the Himalayas in Nepal, the Sahara in Morocco, Europe, Alaska, Patagonia, Nepal, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania—remote areas of the globemany have never experienced.

And, together, they publish anthology books through their company, Sacred World Explorations. Last year, they published The Walkabout Chronicles, which contains writings by 35 authors, several of whom are well-known explorers. Their new book, The Pilgrimages Chronicles comes out in November, and Torkildson is also researching the life of Annie Peck—one of the original Society of Woman Geographers members—for another book about traveling in her footsteps.

Torkildson credits her GIS classes for helping her become more technology savvy in the publishing world as well.

When Torkildson discovered she had been nominated and accepted into the Society of Woman Geographers, she wrote to Ebert and Dr. McConville to share in her excitement. “Both of you were important in me receiving this award, as my education and subsequent research for the EPA were part of my application process,” she said.

Torkildson now joins a prestigious society membership that includes noted researchers such as Jane Goodall and Sylvia Earle. There are currently 500 members; some of the historical members include Margaret Mead and Mary Leakey.

“I’m a geographer; it was always my love, and the society was founded in the 1920s by women who were not accepted into the Explorer’s Club, like Amelia Earhart. When I was in geography in the ’80s, there weren’t many women. But I think it’s getting better for women in science overall and also women in geography. Half of my class in GIS at Saint Mary’s were women.”

She tells future women geographers that they need to “live the life you imagine.” “I’ve always been a very curious person, and I think curiosity is very important.”

Top photo: Trekking in the Himalayas, Nepal