Staff
Jerry Nagel
President
jnagel@ngplains.org
701.364.1349
Jerry Nagel is a fourth generation North Dakotan. He spent his winters attending school in Bismarck, North Dakota and his summers on his grandparent’s farm on the edge of Millarton, ND (pop. 15). Jerry has many fond memories of his time on the farm, such as the time his first bicycle arrived on the train, which came to town two days a week, and some not so wonderful memories, like picking rock all day in the fields or tossing hay with a pitchfork up into the barn hay loft in 90+ degree heat. All in all though, these days played a big role in Jerry’s lifelong commitment to rural advocacy. >p>Jerry attended primary and secondary school in Bismarck. He attended Bismarck High School where he assumed that the team name, the Demons, was also a descriptor for how students should behave. Jerry graduated from high school in 1969 and then began a rather long college career adhering to the perspective that schooling should never interfere with his education. Jerry finally received an MA in economics from the University of North Dakota in 1984.
Along the way to his degree, Jerry worked for several organizations, sometimes even as the director, including the Association for Human Development, North Dakota Rural Development Corporation, the Crookston Enterprise Development Center, the Northwest Regional Development Commission, and the Red River Trade Council. He also served as an economic development advisor to former North Dakota Governor Art Link. Jerry also coauthored Talking Wires, a history of North Dakota's rural telephone cooperatives and authored "Aid to the Poor: Am I My Brothers Keeper", a humanities study guide.
Currently Jerry serves as the President of the Northern Great Plains Inc. a non-profit applied research, demonstration and convening organization. NGP Inc. focuses its work on futures study, creating economic opportunity, and supporting a healthy environment and vital communities. Jerry provides leadership, strategic direction and management to this a five-state collaborative rural development initiative. He works closely with an 18 member Board of Directors representing 5 states and two Canadian provinces and maintains productive communications with local, state and federal officials, rural development organizations and public leaders.
Jerry is coauthor of several NGP publications including “The New Marketplace in European Agriculture: Environmental and Social Values within the Food Chain”, “Private Sector Protocols: Threats and Opportunities for American farmers”, and Towards New Horizons: Trends in Transportation and Trade – Moving the Northern Great Plains Region to a Stronger Economic Future. He was an editor of Renewing the Countryside-North Dakota. Jerry serves on several Boards of Directors and Advisory Committees including the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, the Consensus Council, the National League of Cities International Task Force, and the Canadian-American Border Trade Alliance.
Jerry has also attended the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University as a Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow. He is also a Donella Meadows Leadership Fellow.
Eliot Glassheim
Policy Analyst
glassheim@ngplains.org
701.364.1349
Eliot Glassheim is a policy analyst, writer and editor at Northern Great Plains Inc. He has worked on a number of projects for the NGP including the Transportation and Trade project, Traceability, and Renewing the Countryside North Dakota.
Eliot has managed a community action agency, written grants for the North Dakota Museum of Art, and managed U. S. Sen. Quentin Burdick's office in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
He recently edited Voices from the Flood, a book of interviews with Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota residents driven out of their homes and businesses by the flood of 1997.
Eliot has served on the Grand Forks City Council since 1982 and has been a North Dakota State Representative since 1993.
He received his bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University and his masters and Ph.D. in Literature from the University of New Mexico.
Eliot owns Dr. Eliot’s Twice Sold Tales, a business which appraises both for tax and insurance purposes, and sells used books on the Internet.
Ryan Aasheim
Associate Program Director
ryan@ngplains.org
701-364-1349
Prior to his position with NGP, Ryan was Project Analyst and Development Specialist with Praxis Strategy Group, an economic development consulting firm with offices in Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota.
Ryan has performed economic outreach and casework functions as a staff assistant with the Office of U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan. Through his experiences, Ryan has gained an appreciation for the issues facing the vitality and sustainability of many rural Midwestern communities. His background in business and strategic development, as well experience in economic outreach provides a well rounded approach to creating business strategies and analyzing regional development needs. Ryan understands the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial spirit and the need to harness enterprising and innovative ideas in order to sieze opportunities.
Ryan holds a degree in Business Adminisstration with a minor in accounting from North Dakota State University. As a student, he interned for Byron L. Dorgan, United States Senate, in Washington D.C. Ryan is originally from Bottineau, North Dakota.
