The Advisory Council of the Center for Small Towns (CST) exists to support the CST staff and programs by serving as advocates, identifying resources, and participating in discussions designed to improve the organization’s structure, services and external relationships. Please take a moment and get to know our talented Advisory Council which provides insight, guidance, and support for our work.
Cindy Bigger
Bigger Associates
Cindy M. Bigger is Owner, Educator and Consultant for Bigger Associates. She is a retired Extension Educator and Associate Professor for the University of Minnesota Extension. During her 27-year career, she worked in three Minnesota counties working primarily in 4-H Youth Development and Leadership Education. She has had her consulting business, Bigger Associates, for 10 years and resides in Alexandria MN. Her work focuses on leadership programs for adults and organizations and civic engagment in the region. She is also a faciliator that has worked for numerous non-profit and local governments across the state.
Pat Conroy
Pat Conroy is a local area grant writer raised in Hancock. He helps small communities with grant writing and applications to finance a variety of local and regional needs. These include public water and wastewater infrastructure, community buildings, housing, economic development, fire department grants, educational and community development programs, and poverty programs. He has carried out this work from the public, nonprofit, and private sectors during his 35-year career, securing almost $200 million for communities and organizations across the region.
Conroy is currently employed with Widseth Smith Nolting, an engineering, architecture, and land survey firm serving Minnesota and North Dakota. He is a graduate of St. Johns University (1972), with additional coursework from the University of Minnesota, Morris; North Dakota State University; and the University of St. Thomas.
Bart Finzel
University of Minnesota, Morris
Bart D. Finzel is currently the Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean at the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM). Finzel is also a Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Economics and Management. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Cornell University and was the long term coordinator of the economics and management program at UMM and former Director of its Honors Program. He is a member of The Association for Evolutionary Economics, The International Association for the Economics of Participation, and the Industrial Relations Research Association, among other professional organizations. His research has been published in the Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, the Global Economy Journal, the Journal of Cooperatives, the Journal of Economic Issues, and by The Industrial Relations Research Association.
Les Heen
Les Heen is President and General Manger of Pioneer Public Television in Appleton, Minnesota. Before joining Pioneer in 2007, Les served as Communications and Public Affairs Director for Minnesota Farmers Union in St. Paul. His experience in media and government relations also includes four years as director of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s Legislative Network, and six years as a Committee Administrator for the Minnesota State Senate. He began his broadcast career in journalism more than 20 years ago as a writer and reporter for KARE Television in the Twin Cities. Les lives near Maynard with his wife, Barbara, and two sons, Christopher and Erik.
Dawn Hegland
Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission
Ms. Hegland has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology, Environmental Science, and Secondary Education from Concordia College in Moorhead. She has been with the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission since 1994 and has worked with many program areas including community development, economic development, natural resources, transportation and tourism development. She continues to work on new initiatives throughout the region as requested by the RDC’s governing board who is made up of city, township and county elected officials. Some of the recent projects include renewable energy, local food development, bike trails, parks, entrepreneurship, interpretation, and community revitalization.
Dawn lives along the Minnesota River in beautiful Lac qui Parle County on the family farm with her husband Ed and three small children; Grace (8), Evan (6), and Elias (3). They love to travel, hike, garden, cook, golf, play music and camp.
Blaine Hill
Blaine Hill took over as the City Manager of Morris in September of 2007. Prior to that he was the City Clerk Treasurer in Breckenridge, Minnesota from 1990 to 2007. Hill grew up in Morris, Minnesota and graduated from High School in 1977. He attended Willmar Vocational School and graduated with an associate’s degree in accounting. He then went to work for the City of Morris as an accountant. Hill began attending classes at the University of Minnesota Morris and graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in political science with a major concentration in local and state government. Hill has served as a member of the Minnesota National Guard and Army Reserves and currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and teaches military leadership and operations at the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Snelling. He has served as the President of the League of Minnesota Cities and the UMM Alumni Association. He is married and has two daughters.
Paul Kittelson
Paul Kittelson was elected to his seventh term as mayor of the City of Benson in November 2007. He was first elected in 1995 and has been re-elected every two years since. Kittelson graduated from Glenwood High School and then served three years in the U.S. Army. He attended Moorhead State University where he received a bachelor of arts in speech and English. Kittelson taught school for three years in Bird Island and 39 years in Benson before retiring.
Muriel Krusemark
Hoffman Economic Development Authority
Muriel Krusemark is currently the coordinator of Hoffman Economic Development Authority. Prior to this position, she has been a deli manager of a major food chain, owner and operator of a bridal shop, a clothing store, and grocery store. She has also functioned as secretary and bookkeeper for Hoffman Public Schools, youth director at a local church and as a Horizons local organizer. In addition to her current position, Muriel is active in Hoffman Lions, Commerce and Ag, her local church, and is the local coordinator of Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC). During her remaining time, Muriel works in her small business in Hoffman’s Main Street Galleria.
Melissa Persing
4-H Program Director, Minnesota Extension Service
Melissa Persing is the University of Minnesota Extension 4-H Program Director in Traverse County. She has worked in the youth and community development for 24 years in west central and southwest Minnesota. Melissa graduated from the University of Minnesota Morris with a BA Liberal Arts for the Human Services and an MA in Education with a concentration in Youth and Family Studies. She has enjoyed living in Wheaton with her husband and four children for the past 18 years.
Roger Rose
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota, Morris
Roger Rose received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. He is a 2007–2008 American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, where he worked for former Rep. Jim Oberstar. Besides Congress, his primary research centers on student interest in public service and volunteering, volunteering in the public sector, congressional involvement in human rights, and Supreme Court decision making. He has published in the American Review of Public Administration, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and the Journal of Social Psychology. Roger teaches courses in American politics, state and local politics, research methods, environmental policy and international human rights.
Dale Umlauf
Dale Umlauf is the Vice President of Business Development for West Central Initiative (WCI) a hybrid community foundation that serves nine counties of west central Minnesota. Dale joined WCI in 2007. He previously worked as the EDA director in Crookston and as the director of the NW Small Business Development Center. He had twenty years of experience in the banking industry. Dale holds a bachelors degree in business and economics from Bemidji Sate University. He was born and grew up in the Fergus Falls area.
Holly Witt
Holly Witt graduated from the University of Minnesota, Morris in the 80's with a BA Degree in Liberal Arts for the Human Services and a minor in Communications. Since her graduation from UMM, she has served in a number of nonprofit organizations most notably as Executive Director of the Morris Area Chamber of Commerce for 6 years. She also has experience in the business arena as a mortgage lender and as a real estate agent. Holly is currently a Nonprofit Resource Specialist with Bremer Bank serving the Alexandria, Fergus Falls, Breckenridge and Morris areas. She is currently chair of the Morris Community Development Committee, VP of Finance for the Central MN Area Team with Aglow International, and is VP of the Common Cup Board of Directors.
