Chapter News
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2022 HR Professional of the Year Award: Julie Plunkett
Julie is pictured above (to the right) with our 2022 NESD SHRM President Jessica DeYoung.
Julie was selected as our 2022 HR Professional of the Year at our Holiday Social on Tuesday, 12/27/2022. Julie is a Leadership Coach and Human Resource Consultant. She also serves the 2023 NESD SHRM Board of Directors as its President.
Julie was nominated by one of her clients. See below:
Congratulations, Julie!
2021 HR Professional of the Year Award: Laurie Gates
Laurie is pictured above (to the right) with our NESD SHRM President Heidi Schooley.
Laurie was selected as our 2021 HR Professional of the Year at our Holiday Social on Tuesday, 12/14/2021. Laurie works as the Administration Manager for ESCO Manufacturing in Watertown, SD. She also serves the NESD SHRM Board of Directors as its Co- Programs Coordinator. Over the years, Laurie has held various positions both at the local and state SHRM levels.
Laurie was nominated by her very own employer. See below:
"In the simplest of terms, Laurie is a leader. She is engaged within the HR field by actively participating in a number of events and volunteering of her time for leadership roles. In addition, she actively serves on boards with Lake Area Technical College, NE SHRM, SODAK SHRM, and the Watertown Development Company. Employee engagement is a critical component to our company’s success. Laurie has revamped our entire onboarding process to ensure each team member is setup for success on Day 1. In 2020, our turnover was a record low for our 100+ employee company at 10% compared to the local manufacturing average of 20%. Growth of our existing team member is critical to our long term success. As a result, Laurie has established a Leadership Academy to develop the next generation of leaders. ESCO is currently in our second year of this program with the curriculum developed exclusively by Laurie. The establishment of the first ever Welding Apprenticeship within Watertown, partnering with Lake Area Technical College, was another notable highlight. ESCO was successful in achieving a grant to help fund this program as well. Laurie’s contributions to ESCO also include Safety Director and Employee Club President. Her leadership and engagement to drive a safe workplace environment for ESCO has received notable recognition as our company was recently SHARP Certified—a distinction only 2 other manufacturing companies could claim at the time it was awarded. Lastly, Laurie was most recently recognized as one of the “Top 25 Women in Business” by Prairie Business Magazine out of Fargo, ND. This prestigious award selected the best of the best within our 3-state region. Laurie is a leader and her hard work has paid dividends for our company and the many HR professionals in which she interacts with on a regular basis." - Stuart Stein, ESCO Manufacturing President
Congratulations and fantastic job, Laurie!
2021 December Holiday Social
Our annual Holiday Social was held Tuesday, 12/14/2021, at 2nd Street Station. Fun was had by all with lunch and a wreath making workshop. See the below pics. Happy Holidays!
2021 NESD SHRM Compensation & Benefit Survey is now available!
You can purchase the survey by completing this order form
and sending it along with payment to the Watertown Chamber of Commerce (WCoC). Please make sure check payments are addressed to WCoC for processing, or WCoC willl accept a credit card payment. Once payment is received, the survey will be released to you via email.
Also, please note that you do not have to be a survey participant to purchase a copy.
Check out today our local labor market trends with tons of benchmarking data!
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2021: NESD SHRM Chapter has been awarded the 2020 Platinum Excel Award by National SHRM
On behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management, our chapter has been awarded the 2020 Platinum Excel Award. This award recognizes outstanding achievements in chapter operations and a commitment to providing meaningful programs and services to our members. It also is recognition of our continued growth and development as business leaders, capable of developing strategies that lead to business success! SHRM is very proud of our leadership and thanks us for our continued partnership with SHRM.
CONGRATS to our NESD SHRM Board and our Chapter Members!
NESD SHRM's New Banner - April 2020
Thank you to Tech Ord (Clear Lake, SD) for sponsoring the purchase of our new NESD SHRM pull-up banner. See picture below. This new resource will be very useful when we host conferences, hold monthly programs, attend job fairs and so much more. This banner will add more flair to our professional look, which will make us shine even more. Thanks again to Tech Ord!
W-4 Information Presented at January Meeting
2019 HR Professional of the Year Award: Melanie Schroeder
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Melanie is pictured above (to the left) with our NESD SHRM President Laurie Gates.
Melanie was selected as our 2019 HR Professional of the Year at our Holiday Social on Tuesday, 12/3/2019. Melanie works as the HR Benefits & Compensation Representative for Wurth Electronics Midcom (WEM) in Watertown, SD. She also serves the NESD SHRM Board of Directors as its Treasurer and has done so for many years.
For her award, Melanie was nominated by Tammy Davis, HR Manager for WEM. Tammy had very kind words to say about Melanie such as Melanie "does a great job taking into consideration the needs our employees" while using "employee feedback to improve our Company offerings." Melanie participates in various HR acitivities such as the NESD SHRM Board and its numerous events, the Planning Committee for the State SHRM Conference and the Mentorship Program with LATI Human Resources Students. She also stays very busy with internal and external training opportunities.
Congratulations and awesome job, Melanie!
2019 NESD SHRM Compensation & Benefit Survey is now available!
You can purchase the survey by completing this order form and sending it along with payment to the Watertown Chamber of Commerce (WCoC). Please make sure check payments are addressed to WCoC for processing, or WCoC willl accept a credit card payment. Once payment is received, the survey will be released to you via email.
Also, please note that you do not have to be a survey participant to purchase a copy.
Check out today our local labor market trends with tons of benchmarking data!
2019: NESD SHRM Chapter has been awarded the 2018 Platinum Excel Award by National SHRM
On behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management, our chapter has been awarded the 2018 Platinum Excel Award. This award recognizes outstanding achievements in chapter operations and a commitment to providing meaningful programs and services to our members. It also is recognition of our continued growth and development as business leaders, capable of developing strategies that lead to business success! SHRM is very proud of our leadership and thanks us for our continued partnership with SHRM.
CONGRATS to our NESD SHRM Board and our Chapter Members!
2019: NESD SHRM Chapter qualified to be a 2018 SHRM Foundation Chapter Champion - congratulations!
Our chapter received this honor because we completed all three SHRM Foundation activities outlined in the 2018 SHAPE workbook: (1) made a donation to the SHRM Foundation from chapter funds; (2) hosted a fundraising event to benefit the SHRM Foundation; and (3) conducted a leadership campaign.
Every gift received, including donations from our chapter and others, was used to deliver 300+ scholarships in 2018 and to continue work on engaging and integrating military veterans in the workplace. Additionally, our contributions supported the launch of the Foundation's Veterans at Work Certificate, a program developed for HR professionals to help them better understand the value veterans bring to the workplace and how to integrate veterans in their organization.
Last, THANK YOU for making a difference in the lives of HR Professionals!
2018: NESD SHRM Chapter, S.D. SHRM State Council and all S.D. SHRM Local Chapters were made official members of the 100% Giving Club.
CONGRATS!
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The 100% Giving Club annually recognizes the states with 100% giving from its SHRM State Council and all local chapters within the state. This Club signifies the collective dedication states have to advancing the mission of the SHRM Foundation.
Also, the SHRM Foundation will be recognizing and celebrating South Dakota and the other states in the 100% Giving Club at its Volunteer Leaders' Summit taking place November 15-17, 2018.
Congratulations again to our NESD SHRM Chapter! Our hard work and support of the SHRM Foundation makes so much happen for the SHRM Foundation.
2018: NESD SHRM Chapter was awarded the
2017 Platinum Excel Award by National SHRM
Again, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has awarded our Chapter with the Plantinum Excel Award designation. This award recognizes outstanding achievements in our chapter operations and a commitment to providing meaningful programs and services to our members. It also is recognition of our continued growth and development as a business leader, capable of developing strategies that lead to business success!
As Hank Jackson, President and CEO of SHRM, states in the Excel Award press release, “Advancing the human resources profession is a daily mission at SHRM and your chapter’s outstanding work this year contributed significantly to that goal.”
Congratulations to all our members for their hard work and commitment to HR!
2018 LATI Scholarship Winner: Cameron Bohls
Cameron received her award at the LATI Scholarship Luncheon on Thursday, 10/26/2017.
Congrats, Cameron!
2017 HR Professional of the Year Award: Sheila Mennenga
Sheila Mennenga was selected as our 2017 HR Professional of the Year at our Holiday Social on Tuesday, 12/12/2017. Sheila is SHRM-SCP/SPHR certified and works as the HR and Risk Coordinator for the Watertown Municipal Utilities. Great job, Sheila!
2017 LATI Scholarship Winner: Cameron Bohls
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2016 NESD SHRM Receives Distinguished Award
For all the NESD SHRM Chapter's hard work and dedictation, we received the Plantinum Excel Award designation. Our pride and development in our Chapter was recognized, and we conitnue to work towards advancing the HR professon for our members and our community.
Fantastic job by all those involved; your efforts are truly appreciated!
2016 NESD SHRM Award Winner Announced
Paige Sullivan was awarded the 2016 HR Professional of the Year. Congrats, Paige!
2015 NESD SHRM Award Winner Announced
Leigh Kuecker was awarded the 2015 HR Professional of the Year Award by Matt Sawyer, 2015 NESD SHRM President.
NESD SHRM Receives Distinguished Award
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in Alexandria, VA has awarded the Gold Excel SHAPE Chapter designation to the Northeast South Dakota SHRM chapter for its scope of work in perpetuating and supporting the mission of the organization in 2014.
“This recognition demonstrates both the leadership and the successful partnership the chapter has with SHRM to serve the networking and professional development needs of human resource professionals and to the advancement of the human resources profession” noted Pamela J. Green, SPHR, Chief Membership Officer for SHRM.
NESD Chapter receives a Certificate of Recognition, a specialized banner to display at its meetings and events, and is being recognized in SHRM’s publications and at its conferences.
Congratulations to the 2014 NESD SHRM Board for being recognized as a 2014 SHRM Foundation Chapter Champion!
