Our Dakota Awards Team

At Dakota Awards Inc. we have an experienced, dedicated staff. They will assist you in creating outstanding recognition programs tailored to your specific needs.

Our entire staff works together as a team to deliver unique awards. Our original designs and quality recognition products will make your recognition last a lifetime.

Continuing education plays an important role at Dakota Awards Inc. . Advanced training in technology and techniques provides our staff with the skills necessary to deliver the highest quality products and leading edge processes for your recognition programs.

Meet our key staff members...

	Customer Service & Sales
	Alva Townsend 701-222-0827 Ext. 22 Cellular 701-319-0155	Sales & Customer Service, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and the cheerful voice that answers the telephone most of the time. She attends trade shows and markets and helps select our line of products. Alva has completed the continuing education program of the Awards and Recognition Association and earned the designation of Certified Recognition Specialist.

	Valerie Kolberg 701-222-0827 Ext. 28	Our showroom and front counter Sales Associate, window display person and in house production organizer. Val will greet you with a smile and help you with requests from previous orders, selecting new awards or gift ideas.

	Dick Townsend 701-222-0827 Ext. 31 Cellular 701-319-3311	Dick started building trophies in 1982 and has nearly 20 years of awards industry experience. Dick is our Human Resources Director and Manager of Customer Relations for Dakota Awards Inc. .

	Phyllis Kindsvogel 701-222-0827 Ext. 21	Over 15 years of experience at our front counter. Phyllis is now semi-retired. She keeps our facility clean, neat and organized on a daily basis. Phyllis is sill the Flag expert! She can answer all the questions on the proper display and care of flags. She is a past-president of the Bismarck American Legion Auxiliary, National 12^th District council and now serves as President of the Ladies Auxiliary to Veterans of Foreign Wars Western State Conference. She also finds time to volunteer for her church, Buckstop Junction and help care for her elderly neighbors

	Bookkeeping Department
	Susan Epps 701-222-0827 Ext. 22	Susan heads our Bookkeeping Department. She has been in the lead position during our conversion to a new and more robust accounting system, and she handles most of the Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and General Bookkeeping transactions. If you need information about your account, Susan is the staff member who can get the answers for you.

	Engraving and Production
	Bob Townsend, CRS 701-222-0827 Ext. 27 Cellular 701-319-4877	Our production supervisor. Bob has completed the continuing education program of the Awards and Recognition Association and earned the designation of Certified Recognition Specialist. He is also our Crystal Engraving specialist and has completed the Advanced Glass Engraving course-work from The Professional Glass Consultants School in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
	Doug Schmidt 701-222-0827 Ext. 24	Our sports award specialist. Doug handles the design and building of our sports awards and trophies. He has over 10 years of experience in awards and engraving. Trophy building, engraving, name badges, and interior signs are some of the types of engraving Doug handles. He also does some of our deliveries and helps the production department stay on schedule.
	Bill Reynolds 701-222-0827	Our webmaster and network technician. Bill keeps our entire computer network working and up to date. He also interfaces our graphic workstations to all of our computerized engravers, our lasers and all of our full color printing devices. He also handles all of our file backups, software updates and regular computer maintenance and repair. Bill also works in our graphics and production engraving department when he has any free time. His hobby is woodworking and enjoys building projects and furniture building.
	Melissa Burghart 701-222-0827	Melissa is our Art Director, she leads our creative department. After graduating from Bismarck State College she spent 5 years in Minnesota working as a website/systems administrator. We are pleased she chose to return to North Dakota and become an important part of the Dakota Awards Inc. team. Melissa’s hobbies are painting, photography, horseback riding, horse training and spending time with her family.
	Carleigh Hochhalter 701-222-0827	Carliegh is a graduate of Bismarck State College with an Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Art. She works in our production department as a graphic designer and operates a wide variety of our process equipment including lasers, engraving machines and does glass etching. Carleigh is a first time mother of a darling baby girl. She grew up in Bismarck and enjoys spending time on the lake in the summer with her family.
	Casey Burghart 701-222-0827	A recent graduate of Mandan High School, Casey works in our Production Department and is quickly mastering many of our manufacturing and assembly processes. He is a full time student at Bismarck State College and works part time during the school year working around his busy class and study schedule.
	Part-Time Production
	Deloris Klien	Our part-time trophy assembler helps us keep up with production in the sports awards department.

	President
	Bill Townsend, CRM 701-222-0827 Ext. 20 Cellular 701-319-0154	Founder of Dakota Awards Inc. , Bill is a Past-President of the Awards and Recognition Association, the international trade association for the Awards and Recognition Industry. Bill was the first person in the industry to complete the Certified Recognition Master continuing education program. Bill served as a member of the American National Standards Committee helping design standards for signs that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has also been an instructor for the Awards and Recognition Association, The Marking Device Association, and the International Sign Association. At the local level, Bill has served on the Board of Directors at the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce and was Chairman of the Board in 1997. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Bismarck State College Foundation and a member of the Board of Regents at the University of Mary.

	Sales Management
	Larry Larson 701-222-0827 Ext. 30 Cellular 701-319-0153	Wholesale Accounts, Promotional Products and our Rubber Stamp Division are Larry's main areas of responsibility. He is our ad specialty research expert and can help you select promotional products to advertise and promote your business. He attends industry trade shows for Promotional Products, Awards & Recognition products, and Marking Devices. Larry is a street-rod enthusiast and is past-president of the Classtiques Car Club and current treasurer of the ND Street Rod Association.