Business briefs 01-26-21

Posted

Bollin gets SDSU employee honor

BROOKINGS – Audrey Bollin of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences has been named the January Civil Service Employee of the Month for her contributions to South Dakota State University.

Bollin has served as an accountant for the CAFES’ ag finance department, primarily for SDSU Extension, since 2017 when she moved here with Dan, her husband, to be closer to their daughters, Natalie and Hope, who were attending SDSU. Before the move, Bollin had lived in Iowa and worked at a public school for 18 years.

“Audrey has a great personality, is kind and compassionate, and a great person to work with,” said Billie Jo Pirlet, the January 2018 Civil Service Employee of the Month. “I can’t imagine anyone else fitting in our department as well as she does. She is a great asset to SDSU, and I am sure that everyone who knows and works with her will agree that she is very deserving of the award.”

Nominating co-workers mentioned these key attributes:

• Is always prompt and timely with her work;

• Has a positive attitude that makes her a pleasure to work with;

• Has a smile on her face and never complains when a person asks for help;

• Is willing to go the extra mile to help one complete a task, no matter the time frame or difficult of the task;

• Is very knowledgeable and detail oriented; and

• Strives for excellence when performing her duties.

CPA firm announces staff additions

WATERTOWN – The local CPA firm of VRS has announced that Sherry Kleinsasser, John Dahl, and Chad Vilhauer are now shareholders in the firm.

Kleinsasser is a Kranzburg native and received her bachelor of science in business administration and master of professional accountancy degree from the University of South Dakota in 1999. Kleinsasser is a member of the South Dakota CPA Society and the Watertown Optimist Club. She joined VRS in September of 1999, has been a licensed CPA since 2002 and became a shareholder in January 2021.  Kleinsasser’s primary focuses are overseeing accounting services, reviews and compilations, advisory services and income tax preparation. She lives in Watertown with her husband Lonnie, an engineer draftsman for Terex Utilities, and their son Brayden.  

Dahl is a Watertown native and graduate of Mount Marty College. He originally joined the firm in 2005 and became a shareholder of VRS in January 2021. John is a member of the South Dakota CPA Society. His primary focuses are income tax preparation, advisory services and accounting services. Dahl and his wife Stephanie reside in Watertown with their two children, Madeline and Andrew.  

Vilhauer is a Watertown native and received his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2007 and finished his accounting courses at Mount Marty College in 2010. Vilhauer worked for two years with Northwestern Mutual Financial Services in Lincoln, Nebraska, as a financial adviser before making the transition to public accounting. He joined VRS in September 2009 and became a shareholder in January of 2021.  Vilhauer is a CPA who manages the Brookings location and focuses on income tax preparation and advisory services. Vilhauer and his wife Ellie reside in Brookings with their children, Shayla, Desmond and Kai.

VRS is a full-service CPA firm that traces its origins in Watertown back to the late 1950s. It currently has a total staff of 35 including nine CPAs. VRS added a second office in Brookings in 2017 and just recently opened a third office in Miller. Find them online at www.vrscpa.com or on their Facebook Page www.facebook.com/vrscpa and https://www.facebook.com/vrsbrookings.

Judge orders company to take 3M’s trademarks off N95 masks

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A federal judge has ordered a Florida company accused of selling counterfeit N95 face masks with 3M’s name on them to stop using the Minnesota company’s trademarks and representing itself as a distributor or authorized retailer for 3M.

3M sued Nationwide Source Inc. in late December, accusing the company of selling more than 10,000 of the counterfeit respirators to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. The hospital allegedly paid more than six times above 3M’s standard price for the mask used by medical workers and others to help protect against the coronavirus.

U. S. District Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright on Friday granted 3M’s request for a preliminary injunction. Officials with Nationwide Source, located in Delray Beach, Florida, declined to comment, the Star Tribune reported.

3M, based in Maplewood, has tripled production of its N95 respirators since the start of the pandemic. It also has investigated over 10,000 cases of fraudulent N95 sales, leading to 29 lawsuits and numerous injunctions and restraining orders.

3M is among the largest global producers of the N95 mask, which has been approved by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and is considered the gold standard in protection against the coronavirus.