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FARGO, ND — Andrea Hochhalter is the new Workforce Development enrollment coordinator at the University of Mary. Hochhalter is tasked with connecting North Dakota’s industry leaders and entities throughout the state to Mary’s customized education programs to bridge workforce gaps. Hochhalter will link appropriate university resources to meet the identified demand and deliver key performance results.

“The University of Mary is excited to add Andrea Hochhalter to its Workforce Development team,” said Brian Opp, Workforce Development strategist. “Andrea brings a wealth of career experience including in the areas of professional development, facilitation and training. Andrea will engage businesses and organizations in Fargo and the surrounding area to identify opportunities for the University of Mary to serve the education, development, and training needs of the region’s workforce.”

Hochhalter has spent her entire 25-year working career helping large and small organizations advance. Most recently, she provided executive oversight, fundraising and mission strategies, and oversaw all stages of donor engagement as director of Foundation and Mission with CommonSpirit Health, CHI Mercy Health in Valley City, ND. Previously, Hochhalter founded Beyond Facilitation in Fargo, a consulting and services firm where she assisted organizations, teams, and groups in private and public sectors engage, innovate change, plan strategically and solve the problems important to them to solve. She also led a multi-site global team responsible for training content development for Microsoft in Fargo, ND, as a senior Group Training Development manager. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University, Hochhalter earned her master’s degree in Management Information Systems from Westminster College where she also became an Institutional Advancement Database analyst and Computer Support manager in charge of campus-wide technology service.

“Serving communities, developing organizations, and working with great people is what gets me excited about work,” said Hochhalter, a Tower City, ND, native. “At University of Mary, I’m able to unite my experience, values, and passions toward serving the needs of area businesses and their workforce. Pulling from my industry and business development experience my vision for Mary’s Fargo campus is to develop a Workforce Development hub for regional businesses. Leveraging the rich academic and professional resources of Mary’s five schools to serve clients with flexible, customized, and impactful education and training solutions to grow businesses and build community.”

Through a $2 million donation by Energy Transfer, they, along with the University of Mary and state and local leaders, announced in January of 2019, the beginning of the Workforce Development Initiative (WDI) led and operated by the private school in Bismarck, ND. Since that time the WDI has been bridging the communication gap between educational providers and industry leadership, while also developing a curriculum leading to job creation for North Dakotans.

Hochhalter is based at University of Mary’s Fargo location. Businesses interested in partnering with the WDI can contact her at ajhochhalter@umary.edu or (701) 355-3191.