NewsFebruary 2011

Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring

Business Development DirectorChuck Fleming

Marketing SpecialistsSara KelschDana PritschetStephanie SinnerKatie MeierKrista Harju

For more information on any programs, visit:www.prideofdakota.com

Annual Meeting

Pride of Dakota Social

Local Foods Conference

Wholesale Show Planned

ND Agriculture Departmentnow on the air

Featured Company: Brenarsky’s

Featured Store:Pioneer Museum Store

In This Issue

Pride of Dakota News

Plan to Attend the Pride of Dakota Annual Meeting!Mark your calendars! Pride of Dakota Day at the Capitol will be held March 29. There will also be a Pride of Dakota Social following the POD Day at the Capitol at the Doublewood Inn. This is a great time to socialize with your fel-low Pride of Dakota members as well as Legislators from around the state. The annual meeting will be held the next day, March 30.

There is an exciting and exceptionally knowledgeable group of speakers at this year’s annual meeting. Their sessions will provide many opportunities for you and your business to grow. In the breakouts you will have the opportunity to hear Kathy Coyle of the USDA Rural development teach how to receive grants, Eric Gilner will tell session goers how to further develop your business, and a panel of experts will also give creative marketing ideas. During breakouts there will also be an option to record videos and radio interviews for the URL radio show.

As a group Pride of Dakota members will hear from the President of the Medo-ra Foundation, Randy Hatzenbuhler and get expert advice for social networking from Scott Wild.

This lineup of speakers has the potential to give you the knowledge to make your business exactly what you envision it to be. Don’t miss this opportunity! Watch the mail for more information.

Join us at 8:30 a.m., Friday, and 7:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 18-19 at the Doublewood Inn, Bismarck for “Dakota Grown, a local foods conference.”

The local foods movement is gaining momentum across the nation and right here, as people reconnect with their food sources. If you are a well-established grower, a new gardener or if you simply have an interest in supporting going local, please join us at the Dakota Grown Local Foods Conference.

To learn more, send your contact information to info@farrms.org or contact the Department of Agriculture - local foods at 701-328-4763

Local Foods Conference

Wholesale Show

February 18-19 Dakota Grown Local Foods Conference Doublewood Inn, Bismarck

March 29 Pride of Dakota Day State Capitol

March 29 Pride of Dakota Social Doublewood Inn, Bismarck

March 30 Pride of Dakota Annual Meeting Doublewood Inn, Bismarck

April 20 Pride of Dakota Wholesale Show Ramkota Inn, Bismarck

May 7 Pride of Dakota Spring Show Williston - details to come!

May 25 Pride of Dakota Night at the Redhawks Fargo - details to come!

Upcoming Events

We are excited to announce the Pride of Dakota Wholesale Show on April 20, 2011!

This show will target wholesale buyers from gift, food and other retail shops as well as tourist attractions in the state. We will send invitations to over 500 buyers throughout North Dakota.

The Wholesale Show will take place at the Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck. This is a great opportunity for compa-nies looking to place their products into new stores and for those considering the wholesale market.

The show will run from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. In addition, from 5- 7 p.m. there will be a business social. We will be inviting business leaders, corporate buyers, restaurant owners, chefs and more to attend and view your products and provide you the opportunity to network with them. The cost to participate in this event is $50.

For more information on this event, please contact Sara at 701-328-4766 or email sakelsch@nd.gov.

Tune in to North Dakota Now, our new weekly Internet radio show on your computer! It airs every Wednesday at 11 a.m. on the locally-owned Internet station, URL Radio.

The program’s website address is http://northdakotanow.podbean.com. The station’s website is www.urlradio.net. You can also listen through a link on the Pride of Dakota website – www.prideofdakota.com.

The weekly program includes a newscast, feature stories on Pride of Dakota member companies, updates on department activities and other information.

North Dakota Now is produced in-house by NDDA’s Business Development Division. If you are interested in being a Pride of Dakota featured member, contact Katie Meier at mktg@nd.gov.

Social NetworkingPride of Dakota has a Facebook© page, Twit-ter™ account, WordPress blog, and YouTube account. Our Facebook fan page reaches nearly 4200 people daily with feature stories about our members, status updates and feature videos.

If you want your company to be featured on Facebook, please take the following steps:1. Call or email us to be the featured company

of the week. 2. Fill out the “Tell us about you” form and

email, fax or mail it back to us.3. Let us know if your company has been in

the news.

If you have questions email Sara at sakelsch@nd.gov.

North Dakota Now

Pride of Dakota Featured Company: Brenarksys

Pride of Dakota Featured Store: Pioneer Museum Store

When just the right ingredients are mixed a master-piece is often soon followed. In the case of Dave Bren & Scott Karsky, even the combination of their names makes something great: Brenarsky’s LLC. Brenarsky’s is a combination of seasonings and citrus that adds flavor to breakfast, lunch, dinner and your favorite 5 O’clock beverages.

Bren and Karsky were tired of carry-ing around a bunch of spice contain-ers so they started premixing their favorites. Many different combina-tions were tried over the years before the final one was perfected at a cabin that sits on Lot 42.

The guys were receiving so many requests for the deli-cious “concoction” they decided everyone deserves the ultimate Caesar, Bloody Mary, Clamdigger or Red Beer (ND Martini). So they bottled it up and now it is available for everyone to enjoy! Brenarsky’s makes not only the perfect drinks but can be added to almost any-

thing for just the right amount of flavor. Brenarsky’s provides recipes on their website but be creative and add a dash or splash to all your favorite foods. Once you find your favorite you can share your recipes with other Brenarsky lovers on their website. They are even

currently working on a hotter version for those who like a little extra spice.

From originating in Dickinson to bottling in Hillsboro Brenarsky’s is North Dakota made and new member of Pride of Dakota. This North Da-kota brand is spicing it up all over our great state by expanding to Bismarck, Minot and Williston. And don’t worry

if you live out of ND they will soon have products in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana and other states to come.

Brenarsky’s would love to hear from you. Check them out on Facebook or for recipes, orders and more infor-mation check out www.brenarskys.com.

North Dakota has a rich history and heritage of sur-vival, agriculture and strong family ties. The Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County in Watford City is doing their part to share that history with North Dakotans and people from around the world.

The Pioneer Museum displays the history and devel-opment of McKenzie County from the time it was settle by early North Dakota pioneers. A portion of the Pioneer Museum is dedicated to the women of the prairie. This section of the museum features the jobs the pioneer women did on a daily basis. This includes baking, canning, reading, crocheting and taking care of their families. Through this exhibit the Pioneer Museum showcases Pride of Dakota items similar to what those women were making. These items include jams, jellies, bread, soup, candy, bison meat and more. Aside from the food items the museum also showcases other Pride of Dakota items such as books, jewelry and crocheted doilies. Most of the Pride of Dakota items have been made in the western part of the state nearest to where the museum is located.

The Pioneer Museum actively promotes North Dakota all year long. From book signings of ND authors to Pride of Dakota sampling there is always something for visitors to look forward to. Along with the visi-tors from 45 states and 8 countries the museum has many local shoppers. Family members of former North Dakotans go to the gift store to get North Dakota items to send a little piece of home to those who have moved away. They also see many of the oil field workers from out of state who are sending Pride of Dakota products to their families to help them relate to where they are working. Even those who are here for a short time are taking pride in what North Dakota has to offer. Our history is exciting and just waiting to be discovered by the ancestors of those who made it.

Next time you find yourself in western North Dakota stop into the Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County for a little taste of North Dakota history. They are located at 100 2nd Ave SW, Watford City. Call 800-701-2804 for more information.