Every credit union member is eligible and encouraged to vote in the Board of Directors election. The election will open on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at 12:00 a.m. and close on Friday, March 21, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
This year, there are four seats up for election – one Kenmare seat, one Minot seat and two At-Large seats. The member elected to fill the Kenmare seat will serve a one-year term, while the members elected to the other seats will serve a three-year term.
The Kenmare seat must be filled by someone living within 50 miles of Kenmare, the Minot seat must be filled by someone living within 75 miles of Minot, and the At-Large seats may be filled by anyone living within our field of membership.
There will not be any nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting. Any member interested in running as a nominee by petition must submit to the Board Secretary, Curtis Smith, a statement of qualifications and biographical data along with a petition signed by 100 members before Friday, February 14, 2024. Qualifications and biographical data will only be included on the mail ballot and the voting website.
Election results will be shared at the 86th Annual Meeting held on Thursday, March 27 at 12 p.m. CST.
Voting Instructions:
Members can vote one of three ways:
- By phone at 1-888-304-1693
- paper ballot or
- online at http://townandcountry.cuballot.com
To vote by phone or to request a paper ballot, call 1-888-304-1693. If a paper ballot is requested, it will be sent with a prepaid postage return envelope. Completed paper ballots must be received by 12:01 a.m. on Friday, March 21, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Ballots will not be accepted at any branch location.
When voting by phone, your ID will be your account number, your password is your birthday (Ex: January 12, 1960 would be 01121960), and your business account password will be the last four digits of your tax ID number.
You can find your account number on your checks, by checking your eStatements, or by stopping into the nearest Town & Country location.
- From a check: The line of numbers on the bottom of your check includes your routing number, account number and check number. To find your account number, look at the middle section of numbers. Take off the first three digits and the last one digit and that middle section remaining is your account number. For accounts opened after February 28, 2021 you will only disregard the first six digits and include the last digit as part of your account number.
- Check example for accounts opened before February 28, 2021:
- From eStatements: Select eStatements within TCCU Online or the mobile app. It will take you to a landing page with links to all of your statements. The left column of that list is your Account Number. The Account Number is XXX for security on your actual eStatement, so make sure to check the list before you click on a link.
- Find your nearest location here.
Members may not vote by proxy, but a business or organization may vote through an agent designated in writing. A trustee, or other person acting in a representative capacity, may not vote.
Questions or concerns? Please contact us at 1-800-872-6358.
CANDIDATE
INFORMATION
The candidates below have been submitted by the Nominating Committee for election in 2025. Members can vote for 1 candidate for each seat. The top vote getter for each seat will earn the Board position. The two At-Large candidates with the most votes will earn those two seats.
KENMARE SEAT – 1 Candidate
Lars Christensen (Incumbent) is a native of Kenmare and current farmer in the Kenmare area. He holds a bachelor’s degree in History from North Dakota State University. He moved to Colorado for a few years after college, before returning to his home state. Lars ran a small construction company before switching to farming full-time in 2000. He has many years of board experience including serving 20 years on the Kenmare School Board and 12 years on the Farmer’s Union Lumber Board. He has two children, Annika and Andrew. Lars is a big believer in giving back to his community through board service and is enjoying leveraging the governance experience he’s gained over the years to give back in a new way as a member of the Town & Country Board of Directors. Lars was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2024.
MINOT SEAT – 2 Candidates
Tom Rafferty (Incumbent) is a Minot native who has been a member of Town & Country Credit Union since 2001. He is the Member Services Manager for Verendrye Electric Cooperative, overseeing member programs, engagement, public relations, and communications. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Minot State University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of North Dakota. He brings over 20 years of experience to this role.
He is a past chairman of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce and currently serves as chairman of the chamber’s Military Affairs Committee. He is a member of the Minot Noon Rotary Club, serves on the Souris Valley United Way Board, Minot State University Board of Regents and Souris Basin Planning Council. Tom is married to Jessa, and they have a son, Spencer, and a daughter, Jovie. In his spare time, he likes to hang out with his family, ride motorcycle and play trombone in the Minot Community Band. Since his appointment to the Board, Tom has leveraged his professional skills and experience working at a cooperative to become an effective and dedicated Board member. He believes in putting the member first and is looking forward to continuing to do that if elected for a full three-year term.
Jan Repnow grew up in Ray, ND and graduated from Ray
High School. She holds an undergraduate degree in Business Education from
Minot State University and a graduate degree in Career and Technical Education
– Business. Jan has taught business education for the last 40 years, spending
23 years teaching at the high school level before joining the team at Minot
State University 17 years ago. She currently teaches business communications
courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. She also serves as program
coordinator for business teacher education, advisor to the the Minot State
FBLA-Collegiate chapter, and leads a Looyenga Leadership project team.
2 AT-LARGE SEATS – 7 Candidates
Wade Haugeberg is a native of Max, ND and a resident
of West Fargo, ND. He holds a degree in Construction Management from North
Dakota State University. Wade established his first company in 2004 – Magnum
Contracting, Inc., a commercial and industrial heavy structural steel erector,
precast concrete erector and crane service operating throughout the upper
Midwest. In 2017, he started his second company, Magnum Custom Homes, LLC,
which offers design/build services for custom homes and light commercial construction,
primarily in the Fargo market. In addition to managing his companies, Wade is a
fourth generation farmer who took over all operations for his family’s nearly
100-year-old small grain farm north of Max, ND, in 2015.
Wade currently serves on the boards of several real estate/development entities. He previously served on the Harwood Baseball program board and various committees at Lutheran Church of the Cross in West Fargo. Wade and his wife, Cristy, have four children: Bryce, Jake, Rylie and Tessa. In his spare time, Wade and his family enjoy auto racing. They are involved in the ownership and operations of the Buffalo River Speedway near Glyndon, MN and operate a family racing team that competes regionally in Sprint cars and nationally in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series and ARCA Menards series. A credit union member for over 35 years, Wade wants to put his financial management experience in the commercial and agricultural sectors across the state to use as a Board member and help Town & Country continue to grow.
Stephanie Lauritsen grew up in Detroit Lakes,
Minnesota and attended Minnesota State University Moorhead where she earned her
bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications. After getting married to her husband
Jake, they settled in his hometown of West Fargo, ND where they also co-own
their business, Retirement Planners. Stephanie continued on to get her Master’s
of Management degree as well as additional securities licensing and her
designation as a Certified Financial Planner. She is also owner of All Things
Finance, a business she started to provide education around personal finance. Along
with creating social media content, she leads workshops for teens and adults to
educate and inspire how to enjoy their money today, while also planning for
their future.
She loves to volunteer and is currently President of the
Packer Backers Booster Club. Her and Jake have been business partners for more
than 18 years and together have three kids ages 19, 16 and 10. In her
free time, Stephanie enjoys attending events in her community, watching her
kids participate in activities and of course, reading a good book. As a small
business owner, mother of teens and community volunteer, she utilizes the
services of Town & Country Credit Union in a variety of ways. She is excited
to learn from the current Board of Directors, work to support existing service
operations, and connect with members to understand what they need from their
credit union moving forward. She believes her energy and unique perspective
would be a great addition to the Board of Directors and therefore the future of
Town & Country Credit Union.
D
Devon has been a member of TCCU since 2019 and wants to serve on the board because he believes that TCCU does an excellent job for their members, and he feels his experience as a CPA and attorney could be a valuable resource on the board. Devon is recently married to his wonderful wife, Emily. They enjoy going to the lake and doing projects on the 100+ year old house they own.
R
Roseann is running for the Board because Town & Country is important to her, and she wants to make a difference for the members and communities our credit union serves. She believes a Board member should be active in promoting Town & Country in the community and is looking forward to leveraging her experience in leadership, strategic planning, and the financial industry to help the Board of Directors continue to lead the credit union in the right direction.
D
Shannon Schenfisch grew up in Makoti, N.D. and is a
current resident of Minot, ND. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Management from
Minot State University and over 25 years of experience in financial services.
He started his career at Town & Country Credit Union in Kenmare as the
Assistant Manager and then Branch Manager before moving into an Ag Loan Officer
position at our Minot branch. After that, he joined Farm Credit Services of
ND as a Senior Credit Analyst and ultimately Director of Internal Audit. As the
Director of Internal Audit, Shannon reported directly to the Board of
Directors, which offered him immeasurable insight into the responsibility and
governance of the Board, including auditing of the Board functions.
In addition to these roles, Shannon also farmed alongside his family for the past 24+ years. In his spare time, he makes custom boulders and signage through his company, Boulder Designs. Shannon currently serves as a member of the Ward County Special Assessment Committee. He and his wife, Shawna, have two sons, Gage and Cason. Shannon has been looking for an opportunity to give back since retiring from his previous employment and believes his experience working at Town & Country Credit Union and Farm Credit Services of ND could make him a valuable addition to the Board.
Curtis Smith (Incumbent) is a US Air Force officer
currently serving as a B-52 pilot at Minot Air Force Base. Following his
graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Curtis was chosen to attend
Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training in Texas before being selected to fly the
B-52 Stratofortress here in Minot. Curtis is an Eagle Scout native to Plymouth,
Indiana, and has greatly enjoyed his first year of work on Town & Country
Credit Union's board.
As a director, he prides himself on bringing a strong work
ethic and the perspective of North Dakota's military members and veterans to
Town & Country Credit Union. Should
he be re-elected, Curtis looks forward to maintaining his focus on serving the
needs of our members and continuing to build upon Town & Country Credit
Union's success in all the communities it represents.
