Board of Research & Commercialization Technology

Board Members

John Youngberg - Belgrade
Chairman of the Board
 Vice President of Governmental Affairs
Montana Farm Bureau

John Youngberg has been employed with the Montana Farm Bureau for 12 years, most recently as Vice President of Governmental Affairs. He serves as the chair of the Statewide TMDL Advisory Group, a water quality program, and is active in other statewide advisory committees. Mr. Youngberg has been on the Belgrade City Council for 12 years and the Belgrade City/County Planning Board for 10 years. He has been involved in the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce Economic Board for several years. He attended Montana State University, is married and has three grown children.

Martin R. Connell - Billings
Founder and President
Marty Connell Agricultural and Financial Management, Inc.

Martin R. Connell, DVM, came to Glasgow, Montana in 1965 upon his graduation from the Kansas State University's School of Veterinarian Medicine. He practiced for 19 years on small and large animals, flying statewide doing herd health work. He was in the forefront of ova transplant development and developed a medical welding technique to set a calf's broken leg. He established Glasgow Veterinary Supply in 1966 and operated five locations in Montana and one in Oklahoma. Mr. Connell developed a feedlot in the late 1970's. In 1984 he moved to Billings as general manager for a large ranching operation. In 1985 he founded Marty Connell Agricultural and Financial Management, Inc., a firm that operates as trustee for individuals, farms, and corporations. The business assists in developing estate plans, managing farm and ranch operations, brokering businesses, or liquidating assets. Marty is a well-respected expert witness and is accredited in Business Valuation. He negotiates compromises with the IRS on behalf of clients. Banks, the Small Business Administration, and Bankruptcy Courts hire the firm for liquidation of companies, settlements, and receiverships. Marty owns and is involved in numerous other businesses.

Jim Davison - Anaconda
Executive Director
Anaconda Local Development Corporation

Jim Davison has served as Executive Director of Anaconda Local Development Corporation since 1982. As ALDC's Executive Officer, Davison is responsible for delivering a full range of economic and community development services to Anaconda and the surrounding areas including the encouragement of new and expanding business, loan and grant programs, technical assistance and recruitment programs. Jim is a founding director and past president of several organizations including Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) and Headwaters RC&D Economic Development District and its' related services. Jim has served on numerous job training and education boards including the State Workforce Investment Board and the Montana School Board Association. Davison is a 1975 graduate of Montana State University with a Bachelor of Science in Management and has ongoing training in finance, management and administration.

Michael H. Dolson - Hot Springs
Instructor and Chairperson
Native American Studies Department
Salish Kootenai College

Michael Dolson is an enrolled member of the Salish Kootenai Tribe and is Chairperson of the Native American Studies Department at Salish Kootenai College. He received a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, and a J.D. from the University of Montana Law School. Mr. Dolson has extensive teaching experience as History and Federal Policy Instructor at Salish Kootenai College and Hot Springs High School. Other experience includes work as a legal intern with the Department of Interior Solicitors Office in Washington, D.C., Assistant Football Coach at Hot Springs High School and currently as a self-employed hay harvester.

Todd Graetz - Bozeman
Chief Executive Officer
TransAria, Inc.

Mr. Graetz, a Montana native, is CEO of TransAria, Inc. TransAria is a Montana based technology firm and is the largest provider of all-IP based communication services for medium to large businesses in Montana. TransAria serves more than 400 of Montana's most successful businesses with voice, video and data solutions and also is a significant internet service proider for many Montana telephone companies, web hosting companies and internet service providers. Todd has over 11 years of experience with the deployment and management of broadband technologies and wireless telecommunications systems including broadcast, LMR, wireless local loop and satellite systems. He was founder and Chief Operating Officer of Interlink Corporation of Las Vegas, Nevada, which specialized in encrypted, landline-based data transmission for highly sensitive traffic. Foreseeing the need for "land-line bypass" to move high rates of data on an econmical basis, he co-founded NSN Wireless. Still operating today, NSN was one of the nation's first IP wireless data transmission providers. In recent years, Todd has provided consulting and management services to wireless and fiber-optic companies in the United States and in the Caribbean. He joined TransAria in 2002 serving as Vice President of Network Operations as well as Chief Technology Officer.

Lawrence Hall - Ronan
President/General Manager
S&K Electronics, Inc.

Mr. Hall has been with S&K Electronics, a Tribally Owned firm, for the past 11 years. As the company leader, he has overseen a three-fold growth in the company and the spin-off of an IT company. The company has received four Phase I and two Phase II SBIR grants. Mr. Hall has been involved with businesses and business development on the Flathead Reservation in Montana and in Indian country for over 30 years.

Mr. Hall received his undergraduate degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. He has had further studies in Accounting and Business Management at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Mr. Hall is the current president of the Native American Manufacturer Network, a not for profit business organization. He is a past member of the National Advisory Board for SBA, the past Chairman of the Montana Manufacturers Extension Center advisory board and past member of the Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee for NASA. He currently resides in Ronan with his wife Mary.