Ray Hespen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Property Meld, the nation's largest software Property Management Maintenance platform.

Originally born in Gillette, WY and attended the South Dakota School of Mines to become a degreed Mining Engineer. His early professional career started in manufacturing and operations, but quickly evolved when he joined David Kingman to start Property Meld, a software company, in 2014.

In 2024, the platform boasts 675,000+ rental units that are being maintained with the assistance of Property Meld and significantly improving the experience and efficiency of millions of repair requests - 2 million repairs in 2023 alone. The company has raised over $22 Million and is growing aggressively.

When not working on Property Meld, Ray is passionate about creating more great careers in Rapid City through entrepreneurial programs and business advocacy.

Carrie has over 15 years of experience helping clients with various tax issues and uses her experience to guide clients and provide expert tax answers. She specializes in tax preparation and consulting for clients in the real estate, hospitality, and medical industries. Additionally, Carrie leads KT's team that specializes in assisting clients in resolving IRS issues.

Carrie enjoys the complexities that her work brings and stays up to date on tax law changes so she can implement her role in disseminating information to staff and clients. She enjoys writing professionally for the firm, including newsletter articles, blogs, and other firm communications. You may have even seen her on the local news a time or two talking about taxes!

Todd Gagne is a seasoned software technology executive with over 30 years of experience in the startup and software industries. During his 19-year tenure at Concur, a leading travel and expense management company, Todd was instrumental in growing the company's revenue from $10 million to over $1.7 billion. His contributions in various senior leadership roles were pivotal in Concur's success, culminating in its acquisition by SAP for $8.3 billion in 2014.

In 2022, Todd co-founded WildFire Labs, a software accelerator based in Rapid City. WildFire Labs is dedicated to helping software entrepreneurs swiftly transition from concept to their first paying customer, providing essential resources and capital along the way. Todd's vision for WildFire Labs is to foster a thriving software ecosystem in western South Dakota, ultimately creating more technology jobs in the region.

Ladd McCluskey has an engineering degree from St. Cloud State University and comes from diverse background in management, engineering, consulting, training and entrepreneurship. Ladd feels fortunate to be a native of South Dakota and to have parents that were always teaching and providing a wide range of experiences from which he learned at an early age to problem solve.

Ladd is currently the President of Primary Mfg, an additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping company located in Humboldt, South Dakota as well as a founding partner of Latitude-Ag, LLC, a South Dakota based startup.

Latitude-Ag was formed in 2021 as a joint venture between DRT Corp and Primary Manufacturing. In partnership with Primary Manufacturing, DRT Corp produced the SRV2 Valve (Section Recirculation Valve) using the latest additive manufacturing technology. The Merlin IC System is an innovative product that addresses the recirculation and chemical injection needs of the sprayer industry.

Ladd is now focusing 100% of his time on Latitude-Ag with a goal of commercialization in 2025.