Shon Anderson

B9Creations

CEO

Shon began his career selling multi-million dollar energy & sustainability construction projects to corporate and governmental clients.  Over the course of his career, he has had the opportunity to lead and develop sales organizations from ground zero to national and international levels.   Shon has experience building business relationships through sales in many countries around the world.  Today, he is responsible for the growth and expansion of B9Creations, a global provider of additive manufacturing solutions to companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Hasbro, and US Navy Seal Team 10.

From starting fresh as a new salesperson in a brand new territory to leading large organizations to drive business growth, Shon has seen many of the challenges a salesperson will encounter and truly enjoys sharing what he’s learned.

Dr. Jeff Wehrung

BHSU Chair of the School of Business

Professor in Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management

Prior to returning to academia, Jeff was a sales engineer in the wastewater treatment industry and quality assurance manager over multiple precast concrete and concrete pipe manufacturing plants. In addition to selling commercial wastewater treatment systems, Jeff designed and sold UV treatment systems, drip irrigation dispersal, oil-water separators, precast concrete restrooms, and a variety of other stormwater and wastewater treatment devices.

Jeff currently consults in the areas of precast concrete, lumber and building materials, retail hardware, and custom apparel.

Tom Johnson

Elevate Rapid City

President/CEO

Prior to his role at Elevate Rapid City, Tom Johnson was the Director of Community Engagement and Economic Development at Colorado State University (CSU) with community and economic development responsibilities for all of Colorado.

Johnson also helped employers and organizations use CSU’s online training resources to train and help upskill employees. Additionally, he managed the Family Leadership Training Institute (FLTI), a unique leadership training program that targeted leaders in underserved communities across Colorado.

Todd Gagne

Dakotashine Consulting

President

Experienced sales executive that has worked in both SMB and Enterprise sales environments in the B2B software industry.

Ryan Diehl

Caliber

Senior Regional Sales Manager

Ryan Diehl started as a sales representative in 2012 for Caliber Smart.  Through the past 8 years he has paved the path from Sales Representative all the way up to Senior Regional Sales Manager. 

Through the years of personal production he has the most all time sales for the organization.  He also owns the records for most sales in a month and selling season.  While achieving these accolades he was directly managing offices and has mastered leading from the front.  Today, Ryan focuses his energy on building leaders, recruiting new representatives and training elite individuals in influence all over the nation.

Dr. Priscilla Y. Romkema

BHSU

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Romkema joins us with an extensive background in academic affairs, networking and building strong relationships. She previously was the President of the Monument Health Foundation tasked to support the fundraising efforts for the leading medical provider in the Black Hills and surrounding region.

Cody Welch

Caliber

Senior Regional Sales Manager

Cody Welch is currently a  Senior Regional Manager at Caliber Smart, which focuses primarily on D2C sales for multiple Fortune 200 companies. Cody is currently in Calibers All Time 

Top 10 for sales out of 1000s of sales representatives.  In addition to just sales experience, over the course of the last 10 years he has trained well over 500 sales representatives. 

Ray Hespen

Property Meld

CEO

Ray Hespen is the CEO and co-founder of Property Meld, a maintenance automation software company.  Ray and his co-founder, David Kingman, started Property Meld in 2014 to bring automation to the property management maintenance world.  In the early days of the company, Ray helped the Property Meld sales team to generate over $2.3M in annual recurring revenue, establishing it as a B2B sales leader in the maintenance prop-tech space.

Samantha McGrath

Elevate Rapid City

Workforce Development & Talent Attraction Manager

Samantha McGrath is the Workforce Development & Talent Attraction Manager with Elevate Rapid City. Samantha is the newest member of the Elevate team but has worked in workforce development and training for the past five years for the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation- Workforce Training Division. She received her certification as a Business Engagement Professional from Business U, Los Angeles CA, and utilizes her expertise to build relationships with businesses and individuals in order to; maximize their motivation for success, develop reputable branding, grow networks, and create innovative solutions to life’s major hurdles.

Hans Nelson

BHSU

Director, Center for Hospitality & Business

Hans Nelson is the Director of one of the newest editions to BHSU. BHSU-Rapid City has developed the Center for Hospitality & Business to support work-force driven programs and initiatives. Hans is also spearheading the revamping of BHSU's Tourism & Hospitality program.

Hans will be our program host and administrator. Any questions about the overall program and or other BHSU initiatives, please contact him directly.

Lynzie Montague

Liv Hospitality

Chief Sales and Marketing Officer

Ms. Montague joined Liv Hospitality as the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Hotel Alex Johnson in July 2012. Ms. Montague was then promoted to the General Manager of the Hotel Alex Johnson and began the oversight of what was an extensive 2-year renovation while rapidly learning the operational side of hotel management. She has since worked with numerous large brands such as Hilton, Marriott, Radisson, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. In her current role, she is responsible for all group sales efforts, talent acquisition, increasing market share growth, and developing strategic marketing initiatives across the entire Liv Hospitality portfolio. Ms. Montague has over 13 years of sales expertise and is excited to share her knowledge with the group.