Prairie Business enjoys 10th anniversary

FARGO -- Prairie Business, a monthly magazine covering business happenings across the northern Plains, will be 10 years old in September.

As of January, the free subscription magazine distributed in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota has a new look but the same mission.

"We're still trying to be a catalyst for growth in this area and a positive voice for business," said Rick Killion, former editor and now an account manager who helped launch Prairie Business in 2000.

Since its inception, the magazine has been published by the Herald, which is owned by Fargo-based Forum Communications Co.

Prairie Business features stories on tri-state communities and businesses of all sizes, profiles companies and business leaders and covers the pulse of economic development across the region.

"It's amazing how successful the businesses in our region are," said Sales Manager Scott Deutsch, who operates the magazine's sales office in Fargo. "There's a lot more going on in the smaller communities than I was ever aware of."

Sales offices are also in Bismarck and Madison, S.D.

The magazine's five-person staff includes Ryan Schuster, the magazine's editor since November 2008, Deutsch, Killion and two other sales staff.

The magazine's goal is to be the best resource it can be for business leaders, Schuster said.

Schuster said his primary focus has been upgrading the magazine's editorial content and completing the yearlong redesign.

Prairie Business also

redesigned its Web site www.

prairiebizmag.com about six months ago, he said.

Schuster is on social media sites Twitter and Facebook and does interactive blogging and videos.

Printed at Forum Communications Printing in Fargo, 19,000 copies are distributed the first Friday of each month, with 15,000 mailed to subscribers.

Killion said he was "blown away" by the business activity occurring on the northern Plains when he first started writing for Prairie Business in 2000.

"I was astounded to see how much was going on," he said.

Stories often focus on the strong work ethic and quality of life that exists in the three-state region, Killion said.

"I wanted people that were in this region to appreciate what they had," he said. "It's not a frozen tundra."

Tom Simmons, senior vice president of public policy for Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Midcontinent Communications, said the magazine has been helpful to him and his company.

"In a lot of cases, our service area kind of matches that of Prairie Business magazine," Simmons said.

Initially, Simmons read the magazine sporadically but became intrigued by its concentration on economic and business development in the region, he said.

Jim Stai, district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration's North Dakota district, said the magazine's content has also reflected what's happening in the state's rural sectors.

"I think it's very positive for small business," he said. "It's kept me up to date with some things I don't get to attend. I think there's always been a positive message of possibility thinking."

Finding subjects to highlight in the magazine is not a challenge.

"There's more and more to write about all the time," ranging from the explosion in oil production in western North Dakota to wind energy development in the region, Deutsch said.

"We've diversified our economy with technology and a very, very educated work force," Killion said, while retaining a strong manufacturing base.

To contact Prairie Business magazine, call (701) 232-8893 (sales); (701) 780-1107 (editor) or go online to www.prairiebizmag.com .

The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.