Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Vote for board members
Voting for directors in each of Verendrye Electric’s three districts is vital part of the annual meeting. Verendrye has nine board members - three from each district. There is one board member in each district up for election each year. Candidates are nominated at caucus meetings held in April, but nominations can also come from the floor at the annual meeting. Verendrye publishes the dates and locations of the caucus meetings in March in North Dakota Living, on its website and through other digital communications.
The following are our current board members.
Blaine Bruner, Chairman
District: East
First elected: 2001
Blaine and his wife, Kim, farm and ranch near Drake where they raise Angus cattle. They have three sons and a daughter.
Karen Hennessy, vice chair
District: West
First elected: 2010
Karen lives in Des Lacs with her husband Jay and their children: Shelby, 14, Tucker, 12, Fletcher, 8, Aspen, 7, Eli, 5 and Sutton, 2. Jay operates Hennessy Builders and the family raises Simmental and Commercial cattle.
Maxine Rognlien, assistant secretary/treasurer
District: East
First elected: 2011
Maxine (Grieve) Rognlien grew up on a farm near Buffalo, North Dakota. She attended North Dakota State University and graduated with a major in Home Economics Education in 1979 and began her 32-year teaching career in Towner. She retired from teaching in May 2011. She has served as Superintendent of Schools for McHenry County since 1989. Maxine also previously served on Verendrye Electric's Member Advisory Committee. She and her husband, John, live near Towner where they raise cattle. They have four grown children and two grandchildren.
Ken Schild
District: East
First elected: 2003
Ken has served on the VEC board since 2003. He and his wife, Julie, farm south of Harvey. They have four children. Ken is active in the community and has served on the school board, Farmers Union Oil Co-op board, and as the Western Township Assessor. He has also served on Verendrye's Operation Round Up board and Member Advisory Committee.
Bob Wolf
District: Central
First elected: 2008
Bob was elected to the VEC board in 2008. He and his wife Lisa live east of Minot and have three children and two grandchildren. Bob is the Training Director for the Dakotas JATC (Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee) and has worked as a journeyman electrician and apprenticeship instructor.
Jon Hansen
District: West
First elected: 2021
Jon Hansen grew up on the family farm and currently lives with his wife, Debbie, south of Ryder. Together, they raise cattle and for the past 11 years, Jon has worked for RTC.
They have three grown daughters. Erica (Christopher) Brewer, Bridget Klosterman, Karley (Allen) Porter, along with four grandchildren and one on the way.
Jon graduated from Bismarck State College with a degree in farm and ranch management. He has been a volunteer firefighter for the past 39 years with the Ryder/Makoti Fire Department
and is a member of Calvary Church in Ryder and was a past board member.
Shawn Kaylor
District: Central
First elected: 2012
Shawn Kaylor was raised on a farm 6 miles north of Velva and he currently lives on a farm near there. He is a fourth generation farmer who graduated from Velva High School and attended Minot State University and North Daktoa State College of Science, Wahpeton, where he studied farm management.
Shawn is a volunteer firefighter with the Velva Fire Department. He is a past member of the McHenry County Ag Improvement Association and is a member of the Oak Valley Lutheran Church, Velva.
Clint Gjellstad
District: Central
First Elected: 2019
Clint grew up on a family farm just north of Velva. He currently farms with his wife Jamie and two kids Odin, 6 and Isabelle, 3, in the Velva area.
Howard "Bucky" Anderson
District: West
First Elected: 2014
Howard “Bucky” Anderson was born and raised in North Dakota. He graduated from Bishop Ryan High School in Minot. He then graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in biology and minor in chemistry. He then went back to school and obtained a master’s degree from the University of North Dakota in education leadership.
Bucky was an educator for 39 years, the last 24 years at Minot High School’s Central Campus. He also coached wrestling for many years, starting the wrestling program at Des-Lacs Burlington High School.
He has farmed and ranched in Ward and Burke counties since 1980. He has also served on the Des-Lacs Burlington School Board and currently on the Ward County Weed Board.
Bucky and Linda have 3 adult children : Stacie (Wes) Beck, Ellie (Mark) Nickel and Clay (Erin) Anderson along with 6 grandchildren.
