SD Corn adds new staff members

The South Dakota Corn Growers Association and South Dakota Corn Utilization Council recently added two new staff members to the organizations’ team. Kelly Dunkelberger will serve as Program Director on staff; and Chris Jefferies was hired as the Rural Economic & Market Development Director.

Kelly Dunkelberger, Program Director for SD Corn, joins the staff after having worked in tandem with the organizations for the past few years in her previous role as the Centerville FFA Advisor. Dunkelberger is very familiar with many of the projects she will now direct, as she and her former FFA students assisted SD Corn at various functions.

Dunkelberger graduated from SDSU in Dec. 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Agricultural Education. She started her ag education career at the Centerville School District in August of 2001.

Dunkelberger and her husband, Dean, have two children: Geoffrey is 5 and Vanessa is 2. They live near Chancellor, S.D.

In addition to being the Program Director, Dunkelberger will also be working with the SDCGA membership program.

Chris Jefferies will serve as the Rural Economic and Market Development Director for SD Corn. Jefferies’ strong background in business development activities will allow him to research and help develop new opportunities for South Dakota producers.

Jefferies holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of South Dakota. He has held business consultant positions with The Gabriel Group, Inc., and the Small Business Development Center, where he also served as the State Training Director.

Throughout his career, Jefferies has been instrumental in providing consultation and management services including evaluating business practices, assisting in mergers and acquisitions, conducting industry research and analyses and assisting in strategic planning to help developing businesses identify and resolve problem areas.

Jefferies is originally from Parker, S.D. and he and his wife, Mary, have one daughter, Katarina, who is 8 months old.