The Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce, a finalist for the 2020 Chamber of the Year award, recently announced the 2020-2021 Board of Directors. While there are a lot of the same great faces helping to lead the way in our business community, we get a chance to say goodbye to a couple of tremendous members, Steve Swiontek (Gate City Bank) and Jeffry Volk (Moore Engineering), while welcoming two fantastic additions, Kara Jorvig (Allegro Group) and Tami Norgard (Vogel Law Firm).
Additionally, Sandi Piaztz (Microsoft) has been named Chair. Shawn Dobberstein (Hector International Airport) has been named Chair Elect. Peter Stenehjem (First International Bank & Trust) has been named Treasurer. Jodi Duncan (Flint Group) will be the Member-At-Large and Tom Dawson (Dawson Insurance, a Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC company) will be the Immediate Past Chair, having served as chair in 2019-2020.
New Board Members
• 2017 SBA Emerging Leaders Program
• 2017 Prairie Business Magazine “Top 25 Women in Business”
• 2011 Prairie Business Magazine “40 Under 40”
• Certified Personnel Consultant, National Association of Personnel Services
• Concordia College, BA
Kara Jorvig is the founder and CEO of Allegro Group, a premier consulting, organizational development and talent acquisition firm. For nearly 20 years, she has partnered with CEOs and executive teams to help them assemble, activate and accelerate their A-Teams. Allegro means to play at a pace, and Kara and her team lead and live with that definition at their core. She delivers high-energy workshops, keynotes and consulting sessions that challenge and inspire leaders to reach for new levels of success. Kara is a human capital expert who can unlock an organization’s potential to scale. In her consulting and performance coaching work, she delivers changes of pace and perspective that results in growth.
Hobbies: Cooking, wake surfing and running
Family: Husband, Brian; Daughters, Kiah, 10, and Anika, 7
The reason Kara is most excited about being on the board:
“I’m excited to be a part of a high-impact team that is committed to advancing and advocating for our business community.”
Kara’s favorite chamber events:
• ChamberChoice Awards
• Voices of Vision
• Women Connect
Q&A
How do you believe the Chamber makes our community better?
The Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce is a dynamic organization that successfully champions the metro area. It has a tremendous track-record of supporting the development of our business community, advocating for workforce development and providing valuable training opportunities.
If you could impact one thing in our community, what would it be?
As a parent of two young girls, I’d love to see the continued expansion of leadership and entrepreneurship programs that empower our next generation of leaders.
What has your experience been like with the Chamber in the past?
The Chamber is a terrific way to plug into the pulse of the business community. I’ve enjoyed being involved with a number of Chamber committees and programs, including the Young Professional Network and Women Connect
- Managing Partner of the largest ND law firm, located in downtown Fargo
- Many years of experience lobbying in Bismarck, drafting legislation and pursuing funding for important municipal water supply projects.
- Appointed by Governor Burgum as a ND representative on the FM Diversion Task Force
- “The Best Lawyers in America” in Environmental Law, Woodward/White, 2008-2020
- Great Plains Super Lawyers®, Thomson/Reuters, 2011-2020
- Leading North Dakota General Commercial Litigation attorney, Chambers USA, 2012-2019
- Leading North Dakota Energy and Natural Resources attorney, Chambers USA, 2018-2019
- Prairie Business Top 25 Women in Business 2018
- Law Degree from Vermont Law School
- Masters Degree in Environmental Policy
- B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Dakota
Tami Norgard has practiced law at the Vogel Law Firm for 21 years and is currently one of the firm’s managing partners. Tami’s law practice focuses on counseling clients and litigation in the areas of energy and natural resource development, including water supply and drainage issues, oil and gas, wind projects, electric cooperative, and land use. Her experience includes serving as legal counsel to many boards, including Garrison Diversion Conservancy District, Western Area Water Supply Authority, Cass County Electric Cooperative, as well as water resource districts, rural water districts and watershed districts. In addition to being board counsel, her experience includes numerous jury trials, court trials and appeals to the Supreme Courts in North Dakota, Minnesota and federal courts.
Tami joined the Vogel Law Firm in 1999 after practicing with the Gray Plant Mooty firm in Minneapolis and after working for the federal government in Washington, D.C. Tami graduated from the University of North Dakota summa cum laude with a B.A. in Political Science. She received her law degree cum laude and a Masters of Studies in Environmental Law and Policy magna cum laude in 1995 from Vermont Law School.
Tami has been teaching law school, graduate school and undergraduate courses regularly since 1997. She taught Environmental Law & Policy in a graduate program at NDSU and at UND Law School, as well as Energy Law at Bismarck State University and Civil Rights and Environmental Moot Court classes at the University of Minnesota Law School. She also frequently guest lectures at Concordia College.
Tami has supported the community over the years by sitting on various boards including The FMWF Chamber of Commerce Board, Downtown Community Partnership, The Great North Pole, Hope Blooms, Save the Maah Daah Hey Foundation, the United Blood Services Leadership Council, Dakota Montessori School Board, River Keepers Board, Oak Grove Foundation Board, Moorhead Rotary, Fargo Theatre Board and various state bar committees and sections. Tami has also volunteered as a photographer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.
A native of Arnegard, North Dakota, Tami lives in Fargo.
Hobbies:
I regularly sign up for a few half marathons a year to force myself to keep running. I’m a huge fan of the Sandy’s Donut Run, who wouldn’t love eating a donut halfway through the race? I bike around lake country with friends most weekends throughout the summer and do crazy things like put lights on my bike and leave at 5 a.m. so we can bike in the dark and see the sunrise while biking. I go mountain biking on the Maah Daah Hey Trail in the Badlands a few times each summer, which reinforces that I live in Fargo and am not used to biking on hills. I have a Knitting Group, which is more social than anything, including our annual Las Vegas self-organized “knitting convention.”
Family:
I have a 21-year-old daughter, Avery Zasada, who is a senior at Concordia and planning to go to law school next year. She’ll be a great attorney since she loves to argue, or at least tell me when I’m wrong. I’m a recovering hockey mom with an 18-year-old son, Sebastian Zasada, who I just dropped off at the University of St. Thomas to start his freshman year. I’m not sure what I’ll do with all the free time I have this winter without high school hockey. I also have an engaging, fun 10-year-old daughter, Piper Zasada, who is a ray of sunshine in my life. My significant other, Steve Burian, is an engineer at Burian & Associates who is very community service-oriented, including serving as the Co-Chair of the Valley Prosperity Partnership. In addition, my parents moved to Fargo from Western North Dakota seven years ago, it is amazing to have them close and to have them as a regular fixture in my life
The reason Tami is most excited about being on the board:
Bill Schlossman brought me to some Chamber events when he was the Chamber Board Chair. He has always been an inspirational leader in my law firm and reinforced to me the impact of the Chamber in the community. Because of him, I participated in the Chamber Leadership Program years ago and met great friends and now business colleagues. I continued to participate in Chamber events by speaking at two Women Connect events. Women connect has been an amazing opportunity for so many women seeking networking events to get together, learn from each other and lift others up around them.
Tami’s favorite chamber events:
1. The Corporate Cup is a blast. I love the competition and collaboration with my Vogel teammates and friendly competition with other local businesses.
2. The Rachel Hollis event for Women Connect was an incredibly energetic event, attracting over 4,000 women from across the region to see her speak. It’s great that the Chamber could provide that opportunity.
3. I have to also list the ChamberChoice award events. We’ve won Business of the Year in the past and this year we won the Best Place to Work for Young Professionals, which was an incredibly cool event even though it was during a pandemic. Chamber staff broke into the law firm’s party watch room with a trophy and cake. Very fun!
How do you believe the Chamber makes our community better?
Without someone pushing the envelope for progress, things stay stagnant. I see the Chamber advocating on really important issues at the legislature and locally. They were quick to provide education and support for businesses during the pandemic. They were quick to respond to any perceived needs for education and support after rioting broke out this summer in connection with the death of George Floyd. They provide a great resource for local businesses for business training. And importantly, the Chamber serves as a larger, louder unified voice that can convey a message that may otherwise be lost if presented from individuals.
If you could impact one thing in our community, what would it be?
With a joint Chamber, collaboration between the different stakeholders is key for the best interests of the region. With the fast-paced changes in business and education resulting from the pandemic, we are at the cusp of major change in the near future. This will require true collaboration from our stakeholders in order to position the greater Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo region to be competitive and attractive on a regional and even national scale. I want to be part of the glue that keeps everyone together, moving in the same direction. When I first moved to the area, I lived in Moorhead for 12 years and enjoyed the close-knit Moorhead business community. I moved to the Osgood area eight years ago, within the City of Fargo and West Fargo school district. Vogel has offices in Fargo and Moorhead. My significant involvement with each city and interaction with their political leadership through work or community service provides me with a great background to help foster and direct that collaboration.
What has your experience been like with the Chamber in the past?
I’ve been a regular participant in Chamber programming, attending annual meetings, nominating Business of the Year candidates, participating in the Leadership Program, regularly attending and speaking at Women Connect, and attending Eggs and Issues. I’ve greatly enjoyed the programming and all the great relationships I’ve been lucky enough to find through these programs.
Is there anything you’d like to change?
As a progressive society, we need to constantly recognize challenges arising within our communities, remain resilient and adapt to change. 2020 has been particularly difficult for local businesses and individuals, with the pandemic, drastic changes in school attendance, racial tensions, diminished budgets, canceled events, etc. I’d like to focus on what the next phase will bring and how we can not only be resilient but also seek opportunities to put North Dakota and our region on the map by being proactive in our approach to these issues. The community should not be content to simply survive these challenges but should seek to position itself to thrive in the future by being proactive about addressing the inevitable changes to business in the future as a result of 2020.
Executive Committee
Returning Board Members
