Doug Burgum

Doug was raised in a tiny town in North Dakota. As a freshman in high school, his life changed forever. Doug was pulled off the team bus and told his dad was dying. The community rallied around the family, and his mother went back to work. Doug learned the importance of grit and determination from his parents and still cherishes the small-town values that shaped his childhood. Doug worked his way through college, including as a chimney sweep. It was dangerous, but it paid $40 per chimney, which was a lot more than minimum wage. He lived the values of hard work and taking initiative – and still does. Doug “bet the farm” to help grow a small start-up business in North Dakota into a worldwide, billion-dollar company. He ignored the naysayers who said you couldn’t build a tech company in North Dakota and created over 2,000 high-paying jobs with employees from over 220 towns in North Dakota. Under Doug’s leadership, North Dakota is a leader in innovation, creating a boom across the energy, agriculture, and technology sectors. In Burgum’s first year as governor, he inherited a $1.7 billion budget shortfall. Doug balanced the budget by cutting spending. He helped pass term limits and enacted the largest tax cut in North Dakota history. It’s no wonder that Forbes named Doug the country’s “Best Entrepreneurial Governor.”