Peter Hauck is an entrepreneur, husband, and father of three. After beginning his career in marketing and economic development, Peter took the leap and started Rink Rabbit in 2021 alongside his wife, Alicen. Together, they have grown the brand to be one of the most recognizable names in figure skating with customers in all 50 states and 32 countries around the world. When he’s not working, Peter is busy keeping up with his growing family, reading, listening to podcasts, golfing, or spending time with friends.

Elizabeth Tweedale is the Founder and CEO of Coco Coders, an education technology company helping children build future-ready skills through live online coding and AI literacy programs. With a background spanning architecture, artificial intelligence, computer science, and entrepreneurship, Elizabeth has spent her career building at the intersection of technology, education, and human-centered design.

Before founding Coco Coders, Elizabeth authored six children’s coding books, published in eight languages, and became a recognized voice in technology education. She has been named one of Deloitte’s Top 10 Female Tech Founders and one of the Financial Times’ Top 30 Females in Tech.

At Coco Coders, Elizabeth is focused on preparing the next generation not just to use technology, but to understand, question, and create with it. Her work centers on making coding and AI literacy accessible, engaging, and relevant for children before they reach high school, helping build the talent pipeline needed for an AI-powered future.

John Goodhue is a co-founder of Goodhue, Coleman & Owens, P.C., an intellectual property boutique, and a U.S. registered patent attorney who has spent over 25 years helping inventors, startups, and established companies protect and grow the value of their innovations. A computer engineer by training (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) before earning his law degree from Drake, John was a principal in two technology start-ups prior to practicing law — experience that shapes how he counsels entrepreneurs today. He is recognized as an IAM Patent 1000 individual and writes widely for inventors and entrepreneurs, including the patent and trademark guides Protecting Innovation and Mark It Up and, on AI specifically, Law Prompts: Large Language Models for Lawyers and the more recent AI and the Human Algorithm: How Our Machines Reflect Who We Are. He doesn't just write about the technology — he builds with it, developing AI assistants at his firm, publishing research on the use of AI in patent and trademark practice, and earning podium finishes at Chipp AI Hackathons. That hands-on work gives John a candid, practical view of where AI genuinely helps a business, where it creates risk, and where do-it-yourself approaches tend to go wrong.

Tommy owns and operates his law and advisory practice in Sioux Falls. He launched it in 2023 with a clear objective: to deliver high-impact legal counsel paired with genuine business insight. Tommy represents companies, investors, and families across corporate/business law, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and wealth and business succession planning. We help clients anticipate risk, structure sound transactions, and make informed decisions aligned with their long-term goals. We are committed to building lasting relationships, providing clear guidance, and producing work product that positions my clients for sustainable success.

Growing up on his family's farm in northwestern Iowa, Sander learned the value of hard work. He applied that work ethic in law school, graduating at the top of his class. Since arriving in 2005, Sander has worked just as hard for the firm’s clients.

Sander's practice is devoted almost entirely to complex, high-risk commercial litigation about a variety of matters including internal entity disputes (partnerships, corporations, and limited liability companies); contract, warranty, product liability, and commercial disparagement claims; defamation claims; lender liability claims; and collections, foreclosures, and complex Chapter 11 and 12 bankruptcy matters. He is one of the most experienced intellectual property litigators in the regions and has plaintiffed and defended multiple patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, and non-compete cases on behalf of area businesses in courts in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Texas. He also has experience with trademark opposition and cancellation matters before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark office.

This wide variety of experience has taught Sander that any complex litigation matter requires more than hard work. There is also a need for strategy and balancing of rewards and risks. Sander communicates with his clients to develop a litigation strategy that meets their needs. He then pursues it by zealously and tirelessly advocating. This maximizes his clients’ litigation position if a judge or jury has to resolve the case. But he is also sensitive to the financial and other risks inherent in litigation. Each client has a different tolerance for those risks. So Sander also helps clients in resolving cases through practical business decisions, using his strong litigation advocacy to provide an equally strong negotiating position.

Sander serves on the South Dakota State Bar’s Practice Rules Revision Committee and is the chair of the South Dakota State Bar’s Ethics Committee. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law for the Spring 2021 semester, teaching a course on Secured Transactions. He and his wife Wendie live in Tea, South Dakota, where they raised their five children, and spend time with their three grandchildren

Jael Thorpe is the founder and CEO of Gameday Social Apparel, a Sioux Falls based certified women-owned company elevating the fan experience through licensed collaborations with universities and professional sports teams nationwide.

Under Jael’s leadership, Gameday Social has grown from a humble basement office in 2021, to a nationally known brand position with verticalized production and robust international supply chain, a team of 50 and distribution in more than 2000 retailers nationwide.

Passionate about maintaining her South Dakota roots as the company scales, Jael and her husband Brian have three boys who can frequently be found at her side managing relationships across the globe.

Matt Paulson is the founder and CEO of MarketBeat, an Inc. 5000 financial media company that empowers individual investors to make better trading decisions with real-time financial data, in-depth market analysis, and best-in-class stock research tools. MarketBeat has been recognized by Barron’s, Entrepreneur, Financial Times, Inc., and NASDAQ for its rapid growth and success. With more than 5 million subscribers, MarketBeat is the largest digital media company in the Dakotas.

As one of the most active venture capital investors in the Midwest, Matt has invested in more than 80 high-growth technology companies including Beehiiv, Buffer, Bushel, ConvertKit, Density, Dollar Shave Club, Lyft, Prismatic, and Wikia. His venture capital firm, Homegrown Capital, makes early-stage investments in high-growth AgTech, FinTech, and SaaS companies. Matt also invests in commercial real estate as a general partner at Cresten Capital, including ownership interests in more than 30 apartment complexes and retail centers.

Matt cares deeply about the Sioux Falls community and has made significant philanthropic investments to grow the region’s startup ecosystem, enhance community amenities, and support Christian ministries. He has served on a variety of community and non-profit boards, including Enterprise Institute, the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, March of Dimes, Sioux Falls Seminary, and Startup Sioux Falls. His alma mater, Dakota State University, awarded him with an Honorary Doctor in Public Service degree for his philanthropic and civic contributions in 2024.

Matt lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with his wife, Karine, their two children, Micah and Adylin, and their two dogs, Mork and Mindy.

Mindy Kroll is the CEO of Time Management Systems (TMS), a workforce technology company providing time, payroll, HR, security, and managed IT solutions to organizations across the United States. After graduating from South Dakota State University and building her career in sales, she joined the family business in 2007. Mindy and her sister, Jen Vanderloo, purchased the company in 2013 and have since transformed TMS into a growing, multi-division technology provider.

A business leader and passionate community advocate, Mindy serves on the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Live Inspired 365 Board of Directors, and the Go Red for Women Executive Leadership Team. She has been actively involved with Sales & Marketing Executives (SME) of Sioux Falls since 2009, serving as Board President, Women in Business Chair, Leadership Summit Chair, and in numerous other leadership roles. She is also a graduate of Leadership Sioux Falls, Class 32.

Mindy is deeply committed to giving back through mentorship, volunteerism, and community service. Her involvement includes more than a decade with Junior Achievement, serving as a Big Sister mentor, supporting church ministries, and championing local initiatives that strengthen youth, families, and the broader community.

Known for her energy, optimism, and people-first approach, Mindy believes that business success and community impact go hand in hand. Whether mentoring emerging leaders, building strategic partnerships, or creating opportunities for others to thrive, she is dedicated to making a lasting difference in both the business community and the region she proudly calls home.

Trevor Arnold is a senior software developer at FTI Defense, co-founder at Plenty of Hires (hiring platform for construction and the skilled trades), and founder of Arnold Technologies (fractional CTO and technology advisor services). He has been in the software space for over a decade in positions ranging from sales, management, data, and software development. Trevor's focus is on building software that truly provides value to people, deliberate organization, and effective communication. His combination of business and technical experience helps bridge the gap between code and the board room.

Ryan Quam is a Principal Engineer at MarketBeat, an Inc. 5000 financial media company that publishes stock market news, real-time data, and research tools . He's less interested in AI hype than in what actually ships. That means automating manual processes, building systems that monitor MarketBeat's data sources and fix themselves, optimizing databases, and evaluating emerging AI tech to see what earns a place in production. He brings more than 25 years of startup engineering to the panel, having been part of startups acquired by American Express and Silicon Valley's CyberSource. He later worked at BrightPlanet, a deep web pioneer, and co-founded its successor, BrightPlanet II, before joining MarketBeat in 2018. A Brookings native, he studied computer science at South Dakota State University. Outside of work, Ryan and his wife are easing into life as empty nesters, with a son heading to college this fall and a daughter in her junior year of high school.

Josh Broton is a full stack engineer and technical leader with a background in design, software development, and connected hardware systems. He began his career as a designer and later creative director, developing a foundation in user-centered product design before transitioning into software engineering.

Over the past 15 years, he has led engineering teams that have delivered more than 45 products for startups across a range of technical domains. This work has included hardware platforms incorporating embedded sensors, predictive algorithms for logistics and operational systems, security-critical software built to stringent confidentiality and integrity requirements, and high-performance mobile and web applications.

He is currently the Software Engineering Manager at Hazel Health, an innovative juvenile mental health provider that leverages AI to accelerate software development and improve the long-term outcomes of care.

Andy is the founder and host of the AiEdge Summit since 2023, where he’s worked closely with hundreds of business leaders to understand their real-world challenges in adopting AI.

His experience helping organizations onboard and upskill their teams inspired the launch of EdgeTeam, an AI consulting group dedicated to helping companies streamline operations and scale with automation.