GRAND FORKS – Seven professionals from the Grand Forks region have been named to the Prairie Business magazine’s 2025 list of “40 Under 40.” Honorees must be 40 or younger by the end of the year.

They are: Dustin Fanfulik, civil engineer and vice president at Widseth in East Grand Forks, Minnesota; Travor Fredrickson, senior project manager and senior electrical engineer with CMTA in Grand Forks; Kelby Laxdal, principal civil engineer at Houston Engineering, Inc. in Grand Forks; Courtney McNamee, director of Revenue Cycle and Reimbursement at Altru Health System in Grand Forks; Maggie Melvin, director of Admissions at University of Minnesota Crookston in Crookston, Minnesota; Geoff Slick, Rural Water practice leader at AE2S in Grand Forks; and Sean Sorteberg, MultiMarket Semiconductor director at Digikey in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

They will be honored at an event in the fall, along with Prairie Business magazine’s other honorees for “Top 25 Women in Business” and “Leaders and Legacies.”

The 40 Under 40 list highlights exceptional professionals, including industry executives, administrators, community leaders, entrepreneurs and more.

As a civil engineer and vice president at Widseth, Fanfulik, 36, is known for his professionalism and sound engineering judgment. He prioritizes client needs and consistently delivers high-quality results.

He serves as consulting city engineer for Pembina, North Dakota, and several northwest Minnesota communities. His work includes master planning for development, feasibility studies, assessments, design, inspections, and comprehensive project management. His experience spans infrastructure and extends to schools, campground expansions, and commercial and industrial developments across both states. He has also collaborated with the Minnesota and North Dakota Departments of Transportation on major infrastructure projects.

As a shareholder, Fanfulik brings vision, integrity, and a collaborative spirit to his work. His dedication to mentorship, community involvement and engineering excellence makes him a vital contributor to Widseth’s success and a standout young professional in the field.

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Fredrickson, 37, is a senior project manager and senior electrical engineer with CMTA’s paper Midwest office in Grand Forks.

Fredrickson began his career at Ulteig Engineers in Fargo as a substation engineer, designing substations and windfarm grounding systems. He joined CMTA in 2013 to help grow the Grand Forks office and has since designed electrical systems for hospitals, wellness centers, schools and commercial buildings. He focuses on delivering innovative, sustainable solutions that reduce carbon footprints by combining proven design principles with the latest green technologies.

Passionate about mentoring the next generation, Fredrickson regularly shares his expertise with engineering students, emphasizing that much of real-world engineering is learned on the job. His outreach has helped recruit several local engineers from UND and NDSU. He’s also active in the Grand Forks–East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce, supporting both business development and broader community initiatives.

Laxdal, 37, is a principal civil engineer with Houston Engineering, Inc. (HEI) in Grand Forks, bringing nearly two decades of experience in transportation and municipal design across North Dakota and Minnesota. Specializing in urban, multimodal transportation corridors, Laxdal is known for his leadership in shaping infrastructure that supports vibrant, connected communities.

He began his career with CPS in Grand Forks, contributing to major urban reconstruction projects including Columbia Road, 42nd Street, and 48th Street, along with a variety of municipal utility and transportation initiatives.

Joining HEI in 2018, Laxdal quickly advanced from project engineer to principal, managing key projects for the North Dakota Department of Transportation and the City of Grand Forks. His portfolio includes I-94 reconstruction near Beach, North Dakota, highway improvements, and numerous city infrastructure upgrades. Currently, he leads several transformative efforts such as the U.S. Highway 81 reconstruction, southwest Grand Forks master planning, and the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project in Minot.

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McNamee, 34, is the director of Revenue Cycle and Reimbursement at Altru Health System. Since joining Altru in March 2024, she has combined a patient-first mindset with strong financial leadership, introducing programs that reduce costs for patients and advancing e-payment technology through MyChart. Her ability to balance patient needs with organizational goals has quickly set her apart as a leader who drives both innovation and results.

McNamee is committed to developing people. Her team demonstrates strong engagement, and under her leadership, more staff across multiple departments have earned professional finance certifications.

Her influence extends beyond Altru. As the former president and active member of the Minnesota Healthcare Finance Management Association, she is recognized across the industry as a thought leader. She is frequently invited to speak on critical issues, such as price transparency, patient engagement, the No Surprises Act and reimbursement enhancement, representing both Altru and the broader healthcare community.

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Melvin, 29, director of Admissions at the University of Minnesota Crookston, brings energy, vision and a genuine commitment to helping students find their path.

Melvin began her career at the University of North Dakota School of Law, serving as director of Admissions and Records. There, she gained valuable experience working with diverse students and faculty, learning how thoughtful admissions practices can shape a university’s culture. At UMN Crookston, she leads the admissions team with a focus on making the process welcoming and accessible for all.

Melvin is pursuing an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership with a specialization in Higher Education, expecting to graduate in 2026. Her commitment reflects both personal development and a desire to advance the field for others. Through her leadership and dedication, Melvin is shaping admissions today while paving the way for future generations of students and educators.

Slick, 39, began his career at AE2S as an intern and during the past 16 years has risen to Rural Water practice leader. In this role, he leads a team of engineers and technical staff providing specialized expertise to rural water districts across the Midwest. Slick’s experience spans management, mentorship, project leadership, hydraulics and strategic planning, with a focus on concept planning, funding development, project coordination, regional system planning, mergers and construction management.

He has worked with over 20 rural and regional water clients, often acting as an extension of their staff. Notable projects include the Red River Valley Water Supply Project, the Western Area Water Supply Project, and the development of Minnesota’s first new rural water district in over 40 years — the West Central Regional Water District serving Clay, Norman and Polk counties.

Slick serves on the North Dakota Water Users Board and volunteers as a youth hockey coach. He is committed to continuous professional growth and is active in the National Rural Water Association, the National Society of Professional Engineers, the North Dakota Rural Water Association and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.

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Sorteberg, 36, is an accomplished leader in the supply chain and semiconductor industries, currently serving as director of Multi-Market Semiconductor at DigiKey. In his role, he directs global product segment strategy, leads a comprehensive semiconductor portfolio designed to outperform market growth expectations and oversees all product management and asset management functions. He manages aggressive business performance metrics across cross-functional teams, while building trusted relationships with supplier executives and key partners.

With more than 13 years of progressive experience in supply chain management, Sorteberg has demonstrated expertise across distribution, manufacturing and procurement. Before his current director role, he served as the manager of the technology business at DigiKey, overseeing all procurement activity in the semiconductor business unit.

Sorteberg is a strong leader on DigiKey’s supplier management team. He excels at helping his team members grow and collaborating with other departments to achieve mutual goals. He also excels at developing strong relationships with executive-level connections at many of DigiKey’s supplier organizations, building engagement and collaboration across companies.

BISMARCK, N.D. (Valley News Live) North Dakota communities will receive more than $30 million to upgrade aging water systems and expand infrastructure to meet growing demand.

The $30.4 million in cost-share funding will support municipal and rural water supply improvements, flood protection, and data collection initiatives. The State Water Commission approved these projects on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

“State investment in projects like these ensures our communities will have the reliable water supplies, flood protection, and other critical infrastructure needed to support existing users and accommodate future growth, all while reducing the local cost burden,” Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden said.

The East Central Rural Water District received the largest share of funding with two projects totaling more than $25 million. The district will use $15.9 million to expand its Hillsboro Area Water Treatment Plant and $9.5 million for supply, transmission and distribution improvements. The treatment plant expansion also leverages more than $12 million in federal loan forgiveness.

Valley City will receive $2.5 million to replace its Northwest Standpipe.

Other projects include water system expansions in Ramsey and Cass County, a regionalization project connecting Parshall to White Shield, and improvements to low-head dams in Ward County.

The commission also approved $550,000 for the Department of Water Resources to launch Phase 1 of a 3D Hydrography Program for North Dakota.

The funding comes from North Dakota’s Resources Trust Fund, which receives 20.5% of the state’s oil extraction tax revenue.

Copyright 2025 KVLY. All rights reserved.

BISMARCK — As an energy exporter blessed with abundant supply, North Dakota consistently ranks among the cheapest states in the country when it comes to residential, commercial and industrial electricity rates.

Exploding costs of transmission, the build out and replacement of transmission infrastructure and the increase in energy load have helped push residential electricity prices modestly higher in recent years, however.

Average residential per kilowatt-hour of power increased by nearly 30% in the state between 2020 and 2024.

A recent study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory showed North Dakota actually had the largest decrease in average retail industrial and commercial electricity prices in the country over that span, with flat or slightly lower rates for residential users, when adjusted for inflation.

Most of the real cost rise is due to the increased expense of transmission as well as materials, build outs, generation and transportation needed to keep up with energy demand and to replace aging systems.

Take transformers for example: they cost 70-100% more now than five years ago, according to International Energy Agency data. Aluminum and copper wiring is up to 50% more costly. Labor costs have also increased by around 20-40%.

“Four or five years ago, it was $400,000 a mile to build a transmission line. Now it’s $2 million a mile,” said Josh Kramer, executive vice president and general manager at North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives. “Generation used to cost about $800 a kilowatt. Now it’s $2,700 a kilowatt.”

The cost of nearly every input into the energy transmission and maintenance system rose, on average, as much as 50%, he said.

State Sen. Dale Patten, R-Watford City, said replacement and upgrade costs of infrastructure are also one key component, particularly to improve resilience against severe weather events in rural areas.

“A lot of the existing infrastructure is old, 50-, 60-, 70-years-old in some cases, and the cost of replacing it is not cheap,” said Patten, who chairs the Legislature’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Population growth and shifts in that growth toward the main cities in the state are also a driver, he said.

“You have to build the infrastructure to support that population growth and that corresponding economic growth,” Patten said.

Another major driver is transmission costs.

“As we look at the regulated utilities when they come in for rate cases, it seems like one of the areas where their costs are exploding the most is transmission,” said Public Service Commission commissioner Randy Christmann. “Transmission costs are exploding.”

Christmann said some of the blame goes to build out of remote renewables projects in the wider region, as well as the closure of coal fired power plants around the county leading to increased load on North Dakota power providers as regional transmission organizations spread costs around.

In 2024, North Dakota exported around 32% of generated electricity and exported 85% of natural gas extracted, according to the Department of Commerce.

Adding large loads onto the grid across the country at the same time as all of these other cost increases has spiked energy prices in most other locations.

So far, North Dakota has dodged that for the most part, even as its lower electricity rates are attractive to industrial operations looking to add large loads in the system.

Large loads can include everything from operations like data centers, to oil refineries, to agricultural processing facilities and even the capital complex in Bismarck. Currently, there are 23 larger data centers in North Dakota.

When it comes to data centers, North Dakota has managed to add those large loads without jacking up electricity prices for consumers.

There are concerns about whether that can continue to be the case.

“I have seen them have very adverse impacts and very positive impacts,” said Christmann. “It depends on the details of the specific data center.”

Managing that going forward will be a challenge for the commission and legislators.

State Rep. Anna Novak, R-Hazen, is currently leading the Legislature’s interim Energy Development and Transmission Committee to study large loads such as data centers and try to find a way to balance attracting those projects without overburdening other electricity consumers.

“We need to strike a balance of making sure that we’re open for business, but that we have a strong vetting process,” Novak said. “I think that the vetting process is getting better.”

Besides cheaper electricity prices and available power, the policy and regulatory climate in the state is also attractive for tech companies looking to site a data center.

Chris Flynn / The Forum

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Data centers are also attracted to North Dakota’s readily available water supply and cooler temperatures, which cut operating costs.

Novak said cost savings for data centers choosing to locate here can amount to the billions.

“We are certainly a desirable place to put a data center,” Novak said.

The most well-known data center in the state, Applied Digital’s facilities near Ellendale, has become a case study for how to add a large load while keeping the local impact minimal and also providing benefits across the state.

By tapping into stranded power that was not being adequately used and making the capital investments on that instead of passing it to the utilities, the project has been able to actually decrease electricity rates for Montana-Dakota Utilities consumers across the state.

“We had involvement in that, in making sure that this big additional load was not only going to just not be detrimental to customers, but actually be very beneficial.” Christmann. “Every single MDU customer in North Dakota is benefiting because of that facility on their electric rate.”

Contributed / North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives

Darcy Neigum, vice president of electric supply for Montana-Dakota Utilities, said that customers saved around $70 last year because of the facility, and once it is fully built out, savings could come out to around $250 per year per customer.

“We’re very aware of the rates we’re charging to our customers and the rate impacts,” Neigum said. “The approach that we took (with the Ellendale facility) was to try to find some way to create value instead of just putting costs on customers.”

Investor-owned utilities like MDU as well as electric cooperatives like Basin Electric Power and Minnkota are all trying to figure out how to manage large loads going forward.

Basin Electric adopted a large load program in June as a way to minimize rate impacts for cooperative members and reduce the risk of stranded assets that come with single projects looking for 50, 100 or more megawatts of power in the future. Minnkota Power Cooperative has also adopted a similar policy.

“So, when we have those inquiries coming in, whether it’s a large tech company or a large industrial load, we’re saying we want to serve you, but to do that you’re going to have to bear the costs associated with it,” Kramer said. “That goes for if they need to add more infrastructure or generation or engineering studies.”

MDU’s Neigum said the company doesn’t have a formal policy yet, but the uptick in interest in adding large loads may necessitate one.

“We do have a process we go through, and we’re kind of formalizing some of that, because there are just so many requests,” Neigum said.

One delicate aspect in all of this is putting into place policies that protect consumers or co-op members from additional costs without scaring quality projects away from the state.

Kramer said that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“It’s probably helped separate the wheat from the chaff a bit,” Kramer said.

The North Dakota News Cooperative is a non-profit news organization providing reliable and independent reporting on issues and events that impact the lives of North Dakotans. The organization increases the public’s access to quality journalism and advances news literacy across the state. For more information about NDNC or to make a charitable contribution, please visit newscoopnd.org.