| Summary: | 2003 Lowell Swenson, entrepreneur and founder of Arctic Enterprises, today known as Arctic Cat. Swenson was born and raised in Lancaster, Minn., and attended the University of North Dakota before enlisting in the Army in 1941. Upon his return from World War II, Swenson completed his degree and worked as an accountant for several companies before purchasing Arctic Enterprises in 1965. Arctic Enterprises manufactured snowmobiles in Thief River Falls, Minn., and under Swenson's leadership, Arctic Enterprises became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ, with a market capitalization of $350 million and over 1,500 employees. Swenson sold controlling interest in the company in 1981 and has been involved in ownership of two Minnesota banks, and helped two of his sons establish Mesaba Airlines. n 2003 Norman C. Skalicky, president and CEO of Stearns Bank, purchased Stearns County Bank in Albany, Minn., in 1965. Skalicky then added five rural banks in Minnesota and one in Arizona. He is also president of Stearns Financial, a nationwide leasing company, Stearns Agency, National Dispatch Insurance, S & D Incorporated and Skal-Kin, Inc., all located in the St. Cloud, Minn., area. Skalicky is recognized as an innovator in the banking industry, and his company has been recognized as one of the top-performing independent banks in the nation. Norm was born on a farm near Brockett, N.D., and graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1955. 2004 Peter Nygard is the founder and chairman ofNygard International. The 1964 UND graduate gathered in 1967 his life savings and borrowed capital to purchase 20 percent of a ladies garment manufacturer, which within a few years he owned outright. Today he operates a women's ready-to-wear business with| annual sales in excess of $500 million, employing over 12,000 people worldwide. The company began in Manitoba, and has grown to include divisions around the globe. Nygard continues to "raise the bar" in the standard of excellence for North America's women's fashion industry and is recognized as a world leader in technology supply-chain management. "Where Fashion Meets Technology" is the company's official corporate slogan. In 2003, Nygard International celebrated 35 years of success. *4 \ 2004 John Miller is president of Turtle Mountain Corporation, providing comprehensive contract electronics manufacturing solutions. He founded the corporation in 1974, and Turtle Mountain Corporation has grown to ship over $1 million each week in products, and employs over 300 people, two-thirds who are members of the Turtle Mountain Tribe. Turtle Mountain Corporation became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pemstar, Inc., in 2000. He graduated from NDSU in 1957 in mechanical engineering and received its Alumni Achievement Award in 1996. A Chapter One - Progressive North Dakota in the 21st Century 63
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