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Grand Forks – Two business leaders in eastern North Dakota say the state’s new lieutenant governor is a good fit for businesses statewide.
Longtime businessman-turned-state employee Tammy Miller took over as lieutenant governor after former lieutenant governor Brent Sanford resigned on January 2nd. Miller has served as Gov. Doug Bulgham’s chief operating officer since April 2020.
Prior to working in the governor’s office, he had a long career in the private sector, including nearly 14 years as CEO of Border States, a Fargo-based wholesale electricity supplier.
Brian Johnson, CEO of Choice Bank and Co-Chair of the Valley Prosperity Partnership, is a member of the VPP, a group of business and community leaders whose goal is to pursue economic opportunities that benefit the Red River Valley. members said they were excited about: Miller appointment.
“We appreciate the former lieutenant governor’s service to the state and Tammy believes that, given her credentials and being here in the Burgum administration for the last few years, she is well prepared to have a firm grasp on state affairs. I’m sure, all of North Dakota,” he said.
Miller began his career in public accounting before joining Border States in 1991. She served the company for nearly 30 years and served as its CEO during her last 14 years at Border States. Under her leadership, the company has grown from her $485 million company to her $2.5 billion company. Border States now has over 100 locations in her 24 states.
“I started working for this company when it was very small. It was like working for a startup,” says Miller. “My focus was primarily accounting, but I have worked in many areas of the business.”
Miller also served on many volunteer committees, including co-chairing the VPP, before becoming COO of the Governor’s Office.
So far, Miller says her diverse experience in business has translated well into the public sector. As her COO of the Governor’s Office, she worked to standardize her websites for state government agencies to make them easier for North Dakota residents to navigate. This is similar to Border States’ work to simplify the customer experience through mergers and acquisitions across the United States. While leading the company, she learned that diversifying the economy within the company helped her navigate an economic downturn.
“It’s a really important thing in the state and an important part of the governor’s Main Street Initiative,” she said. is.”
Miller says her experience in the private sector will help businesses in North Dakota.
“We believe strongly in innovation over regulation and, having been in business, we fully understand how important it is for the state to make it easy to do business,” said Miller. increase. “If we can make it easier to do business with new business, have less regulation, and encourage more innovation to solve more problems, it will certainly help us attract and retain new business.”
Miller has lived and worked in eastern North Dakota for most of his life. A native of Brockett, near Devils Lake, North Dakota, she attended Minnesota State University at Moorhead and spent most of her career in Fargo. She currently lives in Mandan.
Johnson hopes Miller’s experience in eastern North Dakota will carry over to her state leadership.
Steve Brian, co-chair of the VPP with Miller and CEO of Brian & Associates, said that when Miller was in business, he always approached North Dakota as one big entity. She has many ties to eastern North Dakota.
“I think she can bring some perspective to eastern North Dakota in a very appropriate way.
Johnson and Brian agree that Miller’s leadership is good news for business, not just in eastern North Dakota, but across the state. He said he knew what it was like to be
“Doug and Tammy are totally aligned with that because it was important to the community when they were running the business,” he said. .”
Miller says he has good relationships and connections with eastern North Dakota and is familiar with the needs of western North Dakota.
“Over the years, a lot of the profitability has come from the western part of the state with the various oil booms that have happened over the years, so I’m also very much aware of what’s going on in the western part of the state. I know it well and I have a passion for it,” she said.
Building connections with leaders and voters in western North Dakota is Miller’s priority in her new role. Since the lieutenant governor presides over the Senate, getting to know your senators is a top priority because the legislature is open.
“I hope that when we’re done with the session, as I often say, we’ll go out on the field and start meeting a lot of voters across the state. We probably need to focus more on the western part of the state to hear firsthand how we can help,” she said.
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