Movers & Shakers features new hires, promotions and awards involving top executives and organizations. For consideration, email [email protected]. Guaranteed placement is provided only to partners of SiouxFalls.Business.

Avera

Leaders of quality improvement projects and individuals who exemplify Avera’s values of hospitality, compassion and stewardship were honored at the annual Avera Quality Congress. Winners from Sioux Falls include:

Avera Caring Spirit – Compassion: Kimmie Mentzer, social worker for Avera Health.

Avera Caring Spirit – Hospitality: Sarah Siemonsma, career development consultant with Avera Health.

Mission Awards: Avera Foundation for the Light the Way campaign that raised $23 million to support the recent addition to the Avera Behavioral Health Hospital; Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center for Dignity Box, a project to keep personal items safe for patients; Avera Medical Group Oncology Service Line for the Avera eRadiation Oncology Program, which leverages telemedicine to expand access to cancer care expertise.

Excellence Awards

• Regional Centers: Clinical category – Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center for the project Quality Patient Safety Rounding. Unit or clinic managers rounded with quality specialists to ensure that all high-volume clinics and nursing units in the hospital were 80 percent Joint Commission ready by January 2023.
• Regional Centers: Non-clinical category – Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center for the project Case Management & Social Services Documentation Improvement. This project created efficiencies by implementing standardized processes and optimizing technology to provide caregivers with more time at the bedside with patients.
• Collaboration category – Avera Health for the project Proper Interpretation and application of the Medicare 2 Midnight Rule. This team gained consensus on best practices and launched an education campaign for following the rule.

Avera Foundation

The Avera Foundation has presented its annual Avera Guardian Awards.

Mike and Cindy Huether received the individual, couple or family award for their leadership in the  Home for Hope Campaign for Kirby Place at Walsh Family Village and the Light the Way Campaign for the Helmsley Behavioral Health Center.

The Scottish Rite Foundation of South Dakota received the business, organization or foundation award for support of Avera St. Luke’s Hospital in Aberdeen and Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell. The group’s financial support provides free speech therapy resources for children who otherwise would not have access to services.

Thomas Otten, assistant vice president of Avera Behavioral Health Services, received the Avera employee award for helping champion the Light the Way Campaign as a member of the campaign cabinet.

Experience Sioux Falls

Experience Sioux Falls has received a Destiny Award from the U.S. Travel Association in the special projects category for its Sioux Falls Sourced campaign. The effort encouraged travelers to register to win a box of local products.

The First National Bank in Sioux Falls

McKeely Merkwan has joined The First National Bank in Sioux Falls as a treasury management specialist.

The First National Bank in Sioux Falls has been nominated as a finalist in the Thought Leadership & Education category of the ThinkAdvisor Luminaries Awards for its financial education podcast, “Common Cents on the Prairie.”™ The podcast was started in 2020 and is hosted by chief wealth management officer Adam Cox.

John Henkhaus of The Everist Company has joined the board of directors at The First National Bank in Sioux Falls.

Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith

Several Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith attorneys have been recognized in the 30th edition of the Best Lawyers in America. The publication recognizes attorneys across multiple practice areas as voted on by peers in the region.

• Melanie Carpenter: employment law – management.
• Brad Grossenburg: corporate law, tax law, and trusts and estates.
• Dan Harmelink: corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law, and real estate law.
• Vincent Jones: corporate law and real estate law.
• Troy Leonard: litigation – intellectual property, and trademark law.
• Beth Lewis: banking and finance law, commercial finance law, commercial transactions/UCC law, corporate law, and real estate law.
• Carey Miler: real estate law.
• James Moore: insurance law.
• Heath Oberloh: corporate law
• Jeff Shultz:employment law – management, labor law – management, and workers’ compensation law – employers.
• Justin Smith: insurance law.
• Ryan Snell: commercial finance law, corporate law, and mergers and acquisitions law.
• Heather Springer: employment law – management, and health care law.
• Greg Starnes: corporate law, and real estate law.
• Jim Wiederrich: administrative/regulatory law, banking and finance law, corporate law, and mergers and acquisitions law.

In addition, Jim Wiederrich was recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2024 Corporate Law Lawyer of the Year in Sioux Falls.

In the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch listing, Morgan Brekke was recognized in the practice area of health care law, Jordan Feist in the practice areas of commercial litigation and bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law and Jordan Veurink in trusts and estates.

Children’s Home Society of South Dakota

Deanna Larson has joined Children’s Home Society of South Dakota as chief operating officer after serving in an interim capacity. Larson has more than 30 years of experience in health care leadership, including work at Mayo Clinic and Avera. She most recently served as president and chief executive of Avera’s eCare platform.

First Premier Bank

First Premier Bank has promoted Tim Mulder to portfolio manager. Mulder has more than 20 years of professional experience and joined the bank in 2020. He also recently received his Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor designation from the American Bankers Association.

Henry Carlson Construction

Henry Carlson Construction has promoted two staff members.

Miranda Bunde to vice president of human resources. She has 15 years of experience in human resources and has worked at Henry Carlson Construction for seven years.

Josh Coyle to director of field operations. Coyle has been with the company for eight years and has held the roles of field engineer and project manager.

SculptureWalk Sioux Falls/Arc of Dreams

SculptureWalk Sioux Falls and the Arc of Dreams have been recognized by TripAdvisor as 2023 Travelers’ Choice award winners for travelers’ favorite attractions worldwide. The award celebrates businesses that consistently have received great traveler reviews over the past 12 months, placing these winners among the top 10 percent of all listings on TripAdvisor globally.

South Dakota Department of Tourism

Travel South Dakota’s “So Much South Dakota, So Little Time” was honored as the nation’s best tourism integrated marketing campaign by the U.S. Travel Association. Travel South Dakota created the winning campaign in partnership with advertising agency Karsh Hagan. “So Much South Dakota, So Little Time” aimed to remind potential visitors that South Dakota has more than Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It built awareness of South Dakota’s diverse offerings, including outdoor adventure, culture, arts and culinary attractions.