Management Manager

Resume Stephen M. Aadland

Address *: 605-***-**** Address 2: 406-***-****

**** *. ***** ***** ***** 21 Nye Road

Sioux Falls, SD 57108 P Box 762

.O.

Email: ********@***.*****.*** Absarokee, MT 59001

Website: http www.aadlandconsulting.com

Education

Undergraduate Study

Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD, 1965-69; BA 1969.

Graduate / Professional Study

University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, summers 1970-71, National Science Foundation Scholar

University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, 1992-93, NRECA Management Internship Program

Personal Overview

Raised in rural South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota, the fourth of 10 children. Son of a Lutheran minister. Left home after 8th

grade year (summers) to work on Montana ranches, then on telephone line construction in Iowa and Minnesota. Graduated from

Storden (MN) High School in 1965. Married in 1966; worked through college (1965-69) while supporting a young, growing family.

Married 37 years to Jan, homemaker and teacher. Four grown daughters and seven grandchildren.

Has traveled widely and worked throughout the USA. Lived in Montana, Minnesota, New York, Florida, Colorado, and both Dakotas.

Founder of several successful companies and business ventures. Active in community and church organizations, holding offices and

serving on various church boards, committees and choirs. Served as Chamber of Commerce board member. Founding board mem-

ber of Touchstone Energy and of Cooperative ConNEXTions, LLC. Fellow of Augustana College, Augustana Alumni Association.

Interests include outdoor sports (hunting, fishing, boating, hiking, skiing), classical music, writing, drama and woodworking.

Professional Chronology

Aadland Consulting, LLC, (management consulting firm) Sioux Falls, SD

2002 Present

President and founder, Principal consultant

Affiliated Consultant, NISC, St. Peters, MO

Basin Electric Power Cooperative, (power generating & transmission system) Bismarck, ND

1998 2002

Vice President, Strategic Support

Chief Operating Officer, Basin Telecommunications (BTI)

1991 1998

Manager, Strategic Support Group, Denver Office

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), (Nat l Assn.) Washington, DC

1987 1990

Principal, Business Development, Management Services, Orlando, FL & Denver, CO Offices

AHP Systems, Inc., (utility management consulting firm) Minneapolis, MN & Orlando, FL

1978 - 1987

President and founder

Resume Stephen M. Aadland (page 2)

Early Career History

Energy Efficiency Systems, Inc, (utility program support firm) Minneapolis, MN

1976 1978

Vice President, Training and Business Development

MCI Telecommunications, Inc. (telecommunications company) Minneapolis, MN

1976

Commercial Representative

Field Enterprises Educational Corp., (educational publishing company) Chicago, IL

1972 1975

District Manager / Division Manager, Sales & Marketing, Huron, SD & Albany, NY

Renberg School and Sioux Falls School Systems, (public school systems merged 1971), Sioux Falls, SD

1969 1972

Principal, School District Administrator and Teacher, Renberg School

Science Teacher, Sioux Falls Schools

Beginning Jobs

John Morrell & Co., (meat processing and packing company), Sioux Falls, SD

1966 1968

Mainframe Computer Operator, Data Processing Dept.

A.F. Scheppmann Construction Co. (telephone line construction company), Okabena, MN

1963 1965 (summers)

Equipment Operator, Line construction Crew

Morris Blakely (hay stacking contractor), Absarokee, MT

1961 1963 (summers)

Ranch hand and hay stacker

Other Business Activities

1980 2002

-Co-owner & landlord, crop farm (soybeans/corn), Southwestern Minnesota (divested 2002)

-Partner & director, Ameripak, industrial packaging firm, St. Paul, MN (sold, 1986)

-Partner, founder, director, The Goodprinter, commercial printing and graphics firm, Minneapolis, MN (sold, 1986)

-Partner, Nichols & Associates, mechanical engineering firm, Austin, TX (sold, 1983)

Professional Books and Publications

Author MAPS (Marketing and Planning Strategically), NRECA, 1988

Co-author Utility Marketing Strategies, AHP Systems, Inc., 1985

Co-author Selling, AHP Systems, 1985

Author The Age of the Heat Pump, AHP Energy Associates, 1983

Co-author Heat Pump Fundamentals, AHP Energy Associates, 1983

Author Manucomp, AHP Energy Associates, 1981

Co-author Alternative Energy for the 80 s, AHP Energy Associates, 1980

Co-author Dwelling with Conservation, AHP Energy Associates, 1980

Co-author Descriptive Energy Management for Today s Home, 1979

Summary

With 40+ years of work history, Steve Aadland has been placed in a wide variety of settings and experiences. As a student of lead-

ership and organizational dynamics, Steve has worked with and observed hundreds of organizations. His advice, however, is not

only from formal study of management theory, or from consultant experience. His is also from practicing entrepreneurship and from

his personal executive experience.

*for more information on Steve, see bio

Biographical Sketch Stephen M. (Steve) Aadland

How does a professional management consultant, like Steve, come to exist? Was it a goal from his youth? Was it inspired by a

business professor or mentor? None of these is true in this case. Steve grew into the title, piece by piece.

Steve Aadland was raised in rural South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota, the fourth of 10 children, the son of a Lutheran minister.

He left home after his 8th grade year, during the summers, to work on Montana ranches, then on telephone line construction in

Iowa and Minnesota. In 1966 he married his high school sweetheart. Working his way through college, Steve was a computer

operator on the old 1400 series of mainframe IBM computer systems.

He graduated from Augustana College with plans to attend medical school. With a growing family, he decided instead to accept a

position as South Dakota s youngest school administrator, at the Renberg School District where he was Principal, District

Administrator and one of a dozen teachers. The school received top recognition for excellence by the State Education Department

at the end of his first year. In 1971, he led the small district into a merger with the Sioux Falls School System.

In 1972, Steve was attracted to the business world in Sales and Marketing with a publishing firm. In his first year, his district

achieved top results in the United States. He accepted a promotion in the company and moved to Albany, NY. In 1976, he moved to

Minneapolis and accepted a Commercial Representative position with a new telecommunication venture called MCI. Within three

months he was their top representative in Minneapolis. As MCI staggered financially in those days, Steve decided to join Energy

Efficiency System, a new firm providing consumer energy conservation services for electric and gas utilities. Within one year he was

Vice President of the firm.

In 1978, Steve plunged into a new venture of his own, Aadland Hoffman & Pieri Energy Associates, later known as AHP Systems.

Steve applied his knowledge of physics, education, marketing and communication to develop systems and techniques in residential

energy audits. His textbooks, seminars and processes became popular with utilities throughout the United States. Thousands of

utility employees used Steve s approach in assisting their customers. In 1979, NRECA contracted with AHP to provide all of its train-

ing and support in this area.

In the period of 1980 through 1984, he helped found and develop two other successful companies: The Goodprinter, a commercial

printing and graphics firm and Ameripak, an industrial packaging firm. AHP also acquired Nichols and Associates, a Texas-based

mechanical engineering firm. In addition, Steve secured an agreement with Hein and Associates, to become the opinion research

arm of AHP (and NRECA). Steve s fascination with leadership, organizational dynamics, entrepreneurship and business strategy

caused him to focus on helping clients with strategy development. During the same period, AHP continued to broaden and grow.

Several new books were authored by Steve and his popularity as a platform speaker and management consultant grew dramatically.

In 1985 he moved his company to Orlando, Florida.

In, 1986, NRECA worked out an agreement to acquire AHP Systems and the Hein Research group. As a senior management con-

sultant for NRECA, Steve focused on the theory and practice of strategic planning and board-management dynamics. Working with

his colleague, Martin Lowery, they created a process that became the standard for the electric cooperative industry. Steve authored

the book, Marketing and Planning Strategically (MAPS) in 1988. He emphasized the critical role that rank and file employees play in

customer satisfaction, loyalty and patronage. The employees are Where the Rubber Meets the Road .

In 1991, Steve accepted an offer from a large, long-term client, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, to become their full-time strategic

planner. Through 1996, Steve worked with Basin and its 120 member cooperatives on strategy development. He also helped over

30 Rural Electric Systems navigate through successful mergers and consolidations. In the many board / management planning ses-

sions he facilitated, several recurring themes emerged: changing people, changing technology and changing regulations. The natu-

ral member loyalty that was a given in the past could not be assumed in the generation X . This was becoming evident just as reg-

ulators, politicians and competitors were advancing the concept of customer choice . Deliberate attention to brand loyalty needed

to be included in strategy work for co-ops. A major push resulted in the birth of the Touchstone Energy Brand in 1998. Steve was a

major factor in its creation and served on its founding board.

In 1997, Steve was promoted to senior staff at Basin and became Vice President, Strategic Support. He was also named Chief

Operating Officer of Basin Telecommunications, their technology subsidiary. These are positions he held until he decided to leave

the cooperative to return to his first love, management consulting. In March of 2002 he finished his commitments to Basin and

immediately founded Aadland Consulting. He also became an affiliated consultant with NISC. Now, Steve is back with boards and

managers, helping rural electric and telephone systems with their planning needs.

These are the pieces that created this management consultant. As Ken Keylor of Ohio put it: For cooperatives needing strategic

consulting services there is good news. Steve Aadland is back on the circuit and none too soon .

Steve and Jan have been married for 37 years and make their home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They have four grown daughters

and seven grandchildren.

*for additional information on Steve, see resume

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