Highwood Hills Recreation Center Re-opens
After being closed for more than 10 years, the Highwood Hills Recreation Center has finally re-opened its doors. In 2008, St. Paul, MN mayor, Chris Coleman, closed the doors to 8 rec centers due to budget cuts. Our residents at Afton View and Shamrock Court have been asking for a gathering space for years. A resident of Afton View, Amin Omar, worked hard to get the doors back open. He worked with Councilmember Jane Prince, The Police Athletic League and now Mayor Melvin Carter to make this dream a reality. On April 1st, 2019, the Highwood Hills Recreation Center re-opened its doors to the community. The community’s youth can now participate in many activities that are ongoing at the rec center including, cooking classes, dodge ball, arts & crafts, karaoke and many others. We hope to use the space with other organizations in the future to provide services to our residents and community members.
Annual Sioux Falls Wreath Donation
For the last 15 years, Helen Ganske, Regional Property Manager in Sioux Falls, SD, has been visiting the local VA hospital to give away holiday wreaths. On December 13, 2018, Santa Claus and the staff at our Sioux Falls properties joined her in handing out the wreaths. They received donations from their vendors to give away 225 wreaths to the local veterans. The wreaths were decorated by the residents at Canterbury Apartments in Sioux Falls, SD with some help from the staff members. Thank you to our residents and staff who took the time to decorate these beautiful wreaths! Helen says, “I feel like it is so important to give back to our Veterans in any way possible. Believe me, it is very rewarding for us just to see the joy in their faces when we give them the wreath.” We would like to thank our Sioux Falls team for their hard work, dedication and giving hearts to their community. Also, thank you to our amazing vendors who made this event possible. Thank you to: PPG Paint, Best Choice Cleaning, S&B Painting, Thornton Flooring, Servicemaster, Advanced Pest Solutions and J&S Concrete. [
Stefani Dobbelaire – Compliance Manager
At Thies & Talle Management, we have a philosophy of hiring strong candidates and allowing them to grow within our company. Stefani Dobbelaire is a great example of this philosophy. In July of 2013, Stefani started at Thies & Talle Management as a Property Manager. Prior to this, Stefani held management positions at a local theater, restaurant, & big box retail store. During her tenure as Property Manager at Abbey Field Apartments, Stefani learned and understood the importance of organization, communication, and good business etiquette. Stefani used those skills to complete tasks quickly, efficiently, and proactively. Stefani revealed that she had the ability to prioritize and schedule herself additional time to stay ahead of whatever was thrown her way. Stefani also continually worked to grow her property management education level by attending COS Training Classes where she passed with over a 90% score on her COS Certification test & also obtained her STAR Certification with Rural Development. As Stefani continued to exhibit her ability and understanding of affordable property management, she was asked to assist with file inspections at Afton View, Elk Ridge Manor, Woodview Apartments, Cedar Terrace, North Mora Estates and Woodcrest Manor. Stefani also helped during file audits at the Thies & Talle Corporate Office in Chanhassen, MN. Stefani has helped with Document Management training and compliance training at past events and classes. Additionally, Stefani was asked to help train new Property Managers with the hope that she would instill in them not only her vast knowledge of company policies & procedures, but also to give them the head start of having a great skill base of organization, communication, & efficiency. She enjoyed what she was doing, but yearned for more of a challenge and ultimately, more responsibility. In March of 2018, a compliance position became available at Thies & Talle Management. Because of the…
Turn & Learn 2018
On November 13th & 14th, Thies & Talle Management gathered for our annual Turn & Learn Conference and Holiday Party. During the conference, we enjoyed some great speakers, team building activities and educational sessions. On Tuesday evening, Service Anniversaries were announced. Our five-year anniversaries included: Andrea Harmon (Golden Creek), Barbara Cassibo (Hampton Court), Connie Haverkamp (Birch Court), Dale Page (Golden Creek), Daniel Pillar (Maple Ridge), Jeromy Gednalske (Prairie Tree), Karen Kniefel (Raintree West), Kristina Clement (Southview Terrace), Marcia Heath (Carriage House), Marilyn Vosberg (Garden Court), Sharon Brady (Almanor) and Stefani Dobbelaire (Compliance Manager). Our 10-year anniversaries included: Elizabeth Dioszegi (Riva Ridge), Marja Nelson (Regional Manager) and Mark Swennes (Cutters Grove). Our 15-year anniversaries included: Diane Marquardt (Heritage Place), Lucinda Samsa (Lincoln Center), Mary Johnson (Senior Regional Manager), Pamela McDeid (Somerset Oaks) and Richard Haefner (IT Administrator). Constance Bussey (Southview Terrace) and Helen Ganske (Regional Manager) celebrated 25 years with Thies & Talle. Kimberly Nerhaugen (Munger Terrace) celebrated 30 years of service with Thies & Talle. The nominees for Property of the Year for categories of Affordable and Market Rate were also announced. This year, our Affordable nominees were: Abbey Field, Canda Manor, Centennial Plaza, Circle Pines and York Manor. The Market Rate Property of the Year Nominees were: Cutters Grove, Lakewood Hills, Oak Street, Parkwood Heights & Rustic Lodge. Congratulations to the Canda Manor team, led by Property Manager Lynn Williams, for being awarded Affordable Property of the Year, and the Lakewood Hills team, led by Property Manager John Nielsen, for being awarded Market Rate Property of the Year! The next day, it was on to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre for our holiday party and the amazing production of Irving Berlin’s…
Riva Ridge – High School Apartment Tour
On Wednesday, January 31st, 2018, a group of students and staff from SouthWest Metro High School stopped by Riva Ridge (properties/riva-ridge-shakopee.html) , located in Shakopee, MN. This wasn’t any ordinary apartment tour, Rose O’Shaughnessy, the Property Manager at Riva Ridge (properties/riva-ridge-shakopee.html) , gave the students a lesson on finding an apartment! Rose first took them around the property, showing the students the common areas, amenities, and then they also toured both a one and two bedroom apartment. After the tour, Rose sat down with the students to go over all of the typical paperwork needed to rent an apartment. She also went over typical requirements that management companies have when renting apartments. The students had lots of great questions for Rose. A big thank you to the students and staff members at SouthWest Metro High School for coming out to tour Riva Ridge. Also, a big thank you to Rose for making this experience happen!
South Dakota Multi Family Housing - Michelle Wagner
Each year, the South Dakota Multi-Housing Association (https://sdmha.com/index.php?bypassCookie=1) holds its annual Walk of Stars event. The Walk of Stars event recognizes award winners from six different award categories. Those categories are; Associate Member/Service Professional, Independent Rental Owner, Large Property Owner or Management Firm, Property Management Professional, Maintenance Personnel, and Resident. Nominations are made by other staff members and then nomination letters are written to hide the identity of the nominee so that there is no bias during judging. This year Mary Russell (Springbrook Estates (properties/springbrook-sioux-falls.html) ) and Michelle Wagner (Canterbury (properties/canterbury-sioux-falls.html) & Baha Apartments (properties/baha-sioux-falls.html) ) were nominated for the Property Management Professional award. Congratulations to Michelle Wagner who was this year’s Property Management Professional Award winner! Michelle said that she was “beyond shocked” that she won this award. Michelle would like to thank her husband Dan and her kids for loving her career and her residents as much as she does. Michelle would also like to thank Helen Ganske (Sioux Falls Regional Manager (about/our-people/helen-ganske.html) ) for the nomination and for making sure Michelle was surprised for her award win! Congratulations Michelle!
Sioux Falls VA Wreath Donation
On December 14th, 2017, our team in Sioux Falls, SD took holiday wreaths to the Sioux Falls VA Medical Center. The team members distributed wreaths to Veterans that were around the VA Medical Center for a doctor’s visit and delivered wreaths to the some of the patients. In total, the Sioux Falls team distributed and handed out 200 wreaths. The 200 wreaths were decorated by the residents at Canterbury Apartments (properties/canterbury-sioux-falls.html) , located in Sioux Falls, SD. In total, it took the Canterbury residents around 40 hours over a couple of months to decorate the wreaths. Thank you to all of the residents who helped decorate the wreaths! Thank you to all of the Thies & Talle staff members who helped decorate, transport, and handout the wreaths! The VA wreath donation event was setup by our very own Helen Ganske (about/our-people/helen-ganske.html) , Sioux Falls Regional Manager, who has been coordinating this event for the past 15 years. For the past 30 years, Helen has been very involved in the Sioux Falls community, she also helps out at The Banquet (https://thebanquetsf.org/) , The Mission (https://www.ugmsf.org/programs_meals.htm) , & St. Francis House (https://stfrancishouse.com/) . Helen started the wreath donation event as a way to give back to Veterans, but to also honor her husband, father, brothers, & nephew who are all Veterans. A special thank you goes out to all of our amazing vendors who made this event possible. Thank you to: Advanced Pest Control (https://pestsolutionssd.com/index.html) , Kut N Kill (https://kutandkill.com/) , Pivot Companies (https://pivotsd.com/painting) , S&D Johnston Painting, Karl's TV (https://www.karlsonline.com/) , Thornton Carpets (https://www.thorntoncarpets.com/) , Best Choice Carpet Cleaning (https://www.siouxfallsbestchoice.com/) , J & S Concrete (https://jandsconcreteinc.com/) , PPG Paints…
Laquon Treadwell Homework Club visit
(https://strib.mn/2B7Wrz5) Kimberly Meadows (properties/kimberly-meadows-plymouth.html) Homework Club site at Gleason Lake Elementary! He came bearing gifts and positive messages. We had a Q&A session and Laquon lead the kids in stretches and a game of catch. He even bought us pizza! He capped off the visit by making a generous donation to the Interfaith Outreach Neighborhood Program. The kids were beside themselves with excitement.
Montana Board of Housing awards The Meadows Senior Apartments
Thies & Talle Management is proud to announce that The Meadows Senior Apartments (properties/meadows.html) in Lewiston, Montana was awarded, by the Montana Board of Housing, Federal Credits to be allocated towards apartment renovation and property improvements. “These Housing Credits will create more affordable and accessible homes for Montana families, seniors and people with disabilities,” said Commerce Director Pam Haxby-Cote. “The Housing Credits allocation process is a valuable financing tool that will allow the development of affordable housing in communities with great need.” The Montana Board of Housing (MBOH) allocated more than $27.6 million in federal Housing Credits that will help finance new construction and rehabilitation of rental housing that is affordable for families and individuals across Montana. Click link here for more details (https://housing.mt.gov/News/commerces-board-of-housing-awards-276-million-to-build-affordable-homes-create-jobs-for-montana-communities) .