NORTH DAKOTA

Innova ting for the Future

An Interview with The Honorable , of

EDITORS’ NOTE Doug Burgum took What interested you to become What is your approach to state government? offi ce as the 33rd governor of North involved in public service? Everything we do in state government, we Dakota on December 15, 2016. The interest has always been there, do with a shared purpose: to Empower People, Burgum’s small-town upbringing be it in the private sector or the public Improve Lives and Inspire Success. Combined and agricultural roots laid the sector. As Teddy Roosevelt said, the great with our shared values of gratitude, curiosity, foundation for his shared values prize in life is the opportunity to “work humility and courage, we’re working to develop of respect for the past, gratitude for hard at work worth doing.” Maybe it was a positive and innovative state government cul- the present and inspiration for the something my parents instilled in me, but ture in North Dakota. We aspire every day to future. Driven by a strong belief in it was the idea that I was going to put a work as one, maintain a citizen focus, approach North Dakota’s people and a power- lot of hours of work into my career, so I problems with a growth mindset, apply leader- ful dream, he returned to his home should make sure that what I was doing ship everywhere and make a difference. state and helped lead Great Plains had purpose and was fulfi lling. These values are applied every day as we Software from a small startup com- The Hon. Doug Burgum I always thought the private sector make progress on our fi ve strategic initiatives: pany in 1983 into an award-win- and the work we did there was incred- reinventing government, strengthening tribal ning tech fi rm that employed thousands of team ibly fulfi lling in terms of our mission to help people partnerships, addressing behavioral health and members from more than 220 cities across North and organizations realize their full potential and help addiction, transforming education and helping Dakota. Burgum led Great Plains as CEO through customers and partners improve their lives and to build healthy, vibrant communities through its initial public offering in 1997 and acquisi- business success. I felt I was working on things that our Main Street Initiative. tion by Microsoft Corp. in 2001. He remained at were making a difference. In North Dakota, there What were your key priorities when Microsoft as Senior Vice President through August is a long tradition of people going directly from the you took offi ce? 2007, helping the company stake a leading posi- private sector into the governor’s role, so when the It was an interesting time to take offi ce tion in the global business applications software seat opened and timing was right with my young- because, in December of 2016, we were in the industry. In 2006, Burgum reaffi rmed his pas- est graduating from high school, I felt that this was middle of several crises – one was the incred- sion for North Dakota by founding Kilbourne an area where I could have an opportunity to do ible drop in oil prices and a simultaneous drop Group, a real estate development fi rm committed work worth doing and really make a difference for in agriculture commodity prices, so our two pri- to creating smart, healthy cities through vibrant the people of North Dakota in a state I really love. mary industries had collapsed. downtowns. The company’s substantial impact on revitalizing downtown Fargo inspired his Main Street Initiative. In 2008, Burgum co- founded Arthur Ventures, a venture capital fi rm that invests in ambitious, mission-driven software companies. The success of those people and businesses guided by Burgum’s leadership and inspiration has created billions of dollars of shareholder value and thousands of jobs. In 2009, then-Governor awarded Burgum the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, North Dakota’s highest citizen honor. The award recognized Burgum for his business leadership and numerous philanthropic efforts, including the Doug Burgum Family Fund, which focuses its charitable giving on youth, arts and education. Burgum grew up in Arthur, North Dakota and has maintained his commit- ment and connection to his roots through fam- ily farm partnerships, by serving as a member for Arthur Companies, Inc., a diversifi ed agri- business company founded by his grandparents in 1906, and through a ranching partnership in the Badlands of western North Dakota. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in univer- sity studies from North Dakota State University in 1978. He earned an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1980. The Governor with award winners at the Main Street Award Ceremony 108 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2019 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 42, NUMBER 2 Everything we do in state government, we do with a shared purpose: to Empower People, Improve Lives and Inspire Success. Combined with our shared values of gratitude, curiosity, humility and courage, we’re working to develop a positive and innovative state government culture in North Dakota.

We had to take a general fund budget from We also convened two statewide innova- We’re always trying to get ideology out of $6 billion down to $4.3 billion. Our legislature tion in K-12 conferences where we have had the room and get the data into the room, and only meets for 80 days every two years, so we great turnouts and tried to take a look at best then look for new solutions. had an enormously challenging time making practices and shining a light on innovative prac- The states really have an opportunity to that happen and making sure we were meet- tices that are happening. collaborate and work together for the benefi t ing the essentials of delivering services from of their citizens, and if we can get the data government. in the room and get the ideology out of the We also had 8,000 people camping ille- room, a lot of progress can be made. gally on federal property in North Dakota Is it critical to engage the private related to the Dakota Access Pipeline pro- sector in these issues and how impor- test, so we had to try to peacefully unwind tant has it been to build a strong public/ those, which took a lot of engagement with private partnership? the tribes in North Dakota. That turned out It’s absolutely critical because the to be successful, but it took us our fi rst 76 engine of the economy and the revenues days in offi ce. From there, we had to work that drive our state all come from the suc- to rebuild and strengthen the tribal relations cess of the private sector. Making sure that with the sovereign governments that share we are supporting it and creating an envi- land within our borders. ronment where the private sector can thrive We had those two things going on and is essential. then had to deal with every aspect taking Having an opportunity to work with place across the country. In every state, North Dakota’s State Capitol complex in Bismarck corporate officers for one of the world’s people are dealing with big challenges in most successful companies, we know what K-12 and higher education because of the tech- At day’s end, we have to empower people goes on in the boardroom in terms of how nological, demographic, economic and cultural on the frontlines because we have teachers who capital and talent get deployed across borders. changes that are affecting how we think about want to fi gure out ways to innovate. We have Working with everyone from the small busi- education, so there are some big, unstoppable to ensure that we are empowering local school nesses and entrepreneurs to the largest busi- forces impacting that. districts and getting rid of obstacles that get in nesses that work in the state and understanding Also, like everyplace else, we have the crisis the way of local leaders and teachers driving how entrepreneurship works is an invaluable around the disease of addiction and trying to raise innovation. background to have. awareness of that critical issue and eliminate the We are excited about what we see from the In North Dakota, the governor can chair shame and stigma associated with it. folks who are on the front end of that, who are a number of different commissions because We also have the workforce issue because, driving that change from within, and we are going our state has a state-owned bank and state- for the fi rst time in the history of the country, to keep supporting them, both with recognition owned mill and elevator, for instance, so we have more jobs available than people seek- and conferences, but also by eliminating obstacles involving the board chairman experience is ing jobs, so we had to prioritize resolving that. and creating policies to accelerate innovation. really valuable. Our approach was understanding that workers What are the keys in such a partisan Are you able to enjoy the process and choose where they want to live fi rst and get time to bring people together and drive take moments to celebrate the wins? their jobs second. Our workforce initiative is change? There have been a number of things built around our Main Street Initiative, which is The states are where change can happen. that are happening that are enormously sat- built around healthy, vibrant communities that We have developed a list of about 50 different isfying. With the work that the First Lady have smart infrastructure and are designed in a areas where one can incubate democratic ideas has courageously undertaken on the disease way that keeps property taxes down. at the state level. of addiction and her progress in working We had plenty of things to pursue and we Coming from the tech sector, I like to think with people overcoming these challenges have spent the past two years making progress about it as 50 platforms for innovation. Each so that they are now years into recovery, it in all of those areas. state has a chance to out-innovate the others. In has been moving to see how that touches What needs to be done to truly trans- North Dakota, we have tried to focus on innova- people. form K-12 education? tion and not regulation because regulation is, by We haven’t done a lot of celebrating, but We issued an executive order to form a nature, backward-looking. If someone has an there have been some quiet moments where task force on innovation in K-12 education. We issue, they try to get a law passed. It takes a few the First Lady and I, along with Lt. Gov. tried to pull together a consensus from frontline years to fi gure out how to implement the rule, , realized this is work worth leaders who represent all the groups – parents, then we have to hire inspectors to make sure doing because we are making a difference in the private sector, school administrators, etc.; we’re complying with the rule. Pretty soon, we people’s lives. It’s easy to go to work every there are many stakeholders, and we need to have gone eight years before the problem can day when we can have that kind of positive have them all at the table. be addressed. impact on people.• VOLUME 42, NUMBER 2 POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2019 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. LEADERS 109