NewsMay 2011

Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring

Business Development DirectorChuck Fleming

Marketing SpecialistsSara KelschDana PritschetStephanie SinnerKatie Meier

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

Redhawks Game

Williston Showcase

Pride of Dakota at the Fair

Wholesale Show

Harvest Showcase

Featured Companies:Eco Your SensesDakota Cactus

Pride of Dakota Day

North Dakota Now

In This Issue

Pride of Dakota News

Pride of Dakota and Local Foods is goin’ out to the ball game. On May 25th Pride of Dakota and Local Foods is sponsoring the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks game. Mark your calendars for a night of America’s favorite pastime and the opportunity to support Pride of Dakota, The North Dakota Hunger Free Garden Project and the Great Plains Food Bank. Come to enjoy the game and receive your own vegetable seeds to get you started on your garden.

The Hunger Free North Dakota Garden Project is part of the ND Dept of Ag-riculture’s commitment to address hunger in the state. The project encourages growers to plant an extra plot, acre or just a couple extra fruit or vegetable plants to be donated a charitable feeding program in your community. This year’s goal is to collect 500,000 pounds of produce and it all starts with you!

For more information on the Hunger Free Garden Project, contact Dana Pritschet at 701-328-4763 or email pritschet@nd.gov.

Home Run for Hunger -Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks Game

Pride of Dakota will be in Williston this weekend! The first Pride of Dakota Spring Showcase will take place this Saturday, May 7 at the Raymond Family Community Center. Showcase hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

More than 50 companies from across the state will be selling their products at this show. Admission is $1 per person with children under 12 free.

If you are in the Williston area this weekend come out and support your fellow Pride of Dakota members!

For more information call Sara at (701) 328-4766 or email sakelsch@nd.gov.

Pride of Dakota is heading to Williston!

The Pride of Dakota Harvest Showcase will be held, Sept. 18-19, at the Dickinson Recreation Center. Times are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Last year, shoppers from across western North Dakota were eager to shop from 95 Pride of Dakota vendors. We had a great turn-out with more than 3,000 people. This year, we are anticipating even more.

The Pride of Dakota staff is working hard to promote the show-case using local media advertising and our social networking sites.

Registration forms for the Dickinson Harvest Showcase will be sent out in the next few weeks. For more information, contact Sara at 701-328-4766 or sakelsch@nd.gov.

Dickinson Harvest Showcase

Pride of Dakota Events at the North Dakota State FairPride of Dakota Day: The 23rd annual Pride of Dakota Day at the North Dakota State Fair is Monday, July 25, 2011, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Last year, our Pride of Dakota lunch attracted more than 1,200 hungry fairgoers. A bargain at just one dollar, the lunch included a Cloverdale hotdog, a bag of potato chips from Northern Plains Potato Growers and milk from Land O’Lakes. The lunch this year will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For the third year, we will host a Kuchen Contest at 3 p.m. We’re anticipating a large turn-out due to the over-whelming support we received the last few years, and because you can’t call yourself a North Dakotan if you’ve never tasted “German Pie.” Pride of Dakota Food & Wine Experience: Pride of Dakota food and wine vendors will be invited to sample and sell their products at the second annual Pride of Dakota Food and Wine Experience on Wednesday, July 27, at the North Dakota State Fair in Minot.

The event will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. at Pioneer Village, located on the west side of the fairgrounds.

Fairgoers attending the event will receive drink tickets and a souvenir wine glass. The drink tickets can be used to receive one-ounce samples of wine from vendors of their choice. Food companies will provide samples of products to complement the wine.

Registration forms for both events will be sent out soon. For more information, contact Sara at 701-328-4766 or sakelsch@nd.gov.

Pride of Dakota members found new customers, added to existing accounts and spent time with their peers at this year’s Pride of Dakota Wholesale Show.

Many of the 45 companies that attended were pleased with the turnout and im-pressed by the gift shops and stores that came to build up their inventories.

The evening closed with a business social featuring Pride of Dakota food and beverages. It was a time to network with local businesses and encourage corporate gift giving in local businesses. It was a great day for Pride of Dakota members and businesses from around the state. Thank you to all who participated.

Wholesale Show a Success

Pride of Dakota Featured Company: Eco Your Senses

Some may say that “going green” is a fad, but for Blair Poitra- Duchesne and Summer Walters, it is a lifestyle and now a career choice.

Walters had four years in the corporate world but felt it was time for a change of scenery after Duchesne called her up and said “let’s start a business.” The two friends, both Air Force veterans, one a vegetarian and the other a self-proclaimed hip-pie, wanted to create a quality product that reflected a healthy lifestyle choice.

Their business, Eco Your Senses, is an all-natural candle company. Each candle is hand-poured, 100 percent food grade soy wax and hand-wicked with hemp. This en-vironmentally responsible company is striving to make a difference through their products. They use all-natural ingredients and soy wax to support American farmers. Their candles have no dyes or additives that make them a healthy alternative to other types of candles. They also have a recycling program encouraging their customers to send the empty jar back to be refilled for a fraction of the cost.

Eco Your Senses is excited to offer a quality and fresh product that hold true to their priority of environmental and moral responsibility

For more information visit www.ecoyoursenses.com.

What do cactus flower, heirloom tomato, honey ale beer and choco-late have in common? They are all soap varieties offered at Dakota Cactus! Dakota Cactus specializes in the production of unique cold-pressed and glycerin soap products. You won’t find these scents anywhere else!

Dakota Cactus doesn’t just create soap, they create experiences. The company specializes in crafting products that celebrate the smells, colors, and textures of the American West. “The smells of leather, fresh mown grass, juniper berries, and chokecherries… this is home for me, and I hope to bring that experience to all of our customers,” says owner, Dani Stuckle.

Dakota Cactus’s handcrafted soups will nourish and heal your skin. They are gentle enough to use daily, even if you have allergies or sensitive skin. All products are made in small batches using fresh and natural ingredients.

The strongest sense tied to memory is our sense of smell. Let the smells of the American West remind you of your North Dakotan heritage. Visit dakotacactus.com to view Dakota Cactus’s expanding product line, includ-ing limited edition and seasonal soaps.

For more informatiion visit www.dakotacactus.com.

Pride of Dakota Featured Company: Dakota Cactus

May 25 Pride of Dakota Night Redhawks Fargo

July 25 Pride of Dakota Day ND State Fair State Fairgrounds - Minot

July 27 Pride of Dakota Food & Wine Experience State Fairgrounds - Minot

September 15 Pride of Dakota Day State Capitol

September 17-18 Pride of Dakota Harvest Showcase Dickinson

Upcoming EventsTune 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 and more. 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.

North Dakota Now

Social NetworkingPride of Dakota has a Facebook© page, Twitter™ account, WordPress blog, and YouTube account. Our Face-book fan page reachesover 4,600 people daily with feature stories about our members, status updates and fea-ture 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.

Email Sara at sakelsch@nd.gov. with qusetions.

Pride of Dakota Day The fifth Annual Pride of Dakota Day at the Capitol sponsored by the Council of State Employees (COSE) will be held September 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event is always a highlight during State Employees Recogni-tion Week because state employees, as well as people from surrounding communities, are able to shop from over 50 Pride of Dakota vendors throughout the day.

As in the past, the event will be held in the Legislative Hall, Memorial Hall and ground floor of the Capitol building.

For Pride of Dakota members, this is an opportunity to attend a free showcase that receives a lot of traffic; state employees are loyal Pride of Dakota shoppers.

Pride of Dakota staff is working to coordinate a Pride of Dakota lunch in conjunction with the event. In the past, the Pride of Dakota lunch has been a huge success in driving people to eat Pride of Dakota food in the State Capitol Cafeteria and then shop from Pride of Dakota vendors.

This event fills up quickly because it is free of charge. Registration forms will be sent out soon. If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Sara at 701-328-4766 or sakelsch@nd.gov.