pro-PHI-le:  Ryon Boen - Phi ‘95

Brother Boen grew up in Minot, North Dakota, and graduated from Minot High School.  He was a good student but didn’t get involved in too much because he worked 25 hours per week.  He left Minot to attend NDSU and study electrical engineering.  During the winter quarter of his Freshman year, he and a few friends from Reed-Johnson Hall decided to check out the fraternity scene at rush.  They decided to join Theta Chi because “he felt most comfortable there.”

Ryon immediately became active in the chapter and eventually became chapter president in 1994.  He joined the chapter with Mike Tobias (Phi ’95) and followed him in his presidency.  Anyone involved at the time credits Brothers Tobias and Boen will helping the chapter grow to over 100 active undergraduates.  Ryon remembers, “We initiated over 35 guys that Fall to put us over the century mark.”

Ryon was also involved in Campus Attractions as the technical coordinator.  “I set up equipment for musical and other entertainment acts,” he recalls.  He became involved in CA thanks to Doug Johnson (Phi ’94).  “The fraternity taught me how to network not only with other Theta Chis, but also with other students on campus. That was a valuable lesson that has contributed significantly to my success in business today.”

After graduation, Ryon moved to Bismarck and then to Peoria, Illinois, to work for Caterpillar.  A couple years later he moved to Fargo to work for Phoenix International who was subsequently purchased by John Deere.  He wrote thousands of lines of code for Bobcat and John Deere machinery and sees equipment everyday that probably has code he wrote.

Brother Boen earned an MBA at MSU-Moorhead in 1999 and then moved to the Twin Cities to work for TestQuest, a company that provides testing solutions for mobile devices and applications.  As the VP of Product, Ryon traveled all over the globe visiting developers and customers.  He enjoyed the opportunity to travel and see the world, but that wears on a person eventually.  He also missed his family back home in Minneapolis. 

The Boens toyed with moving to the San Francisco area to further develop his software career before ultimately moving back to Minot.

Ryon joined his family’s insurance agency, Western Agency (http://www.westernagencyinc.com).  He is currently working as an agent but also manages the company’s IT, HR, and operations.  He plans to take over the business when his father retires.  Western is one of the largest independent insurance agencies in North Dakota with offices in 9 cities throughout the state.  They specialize in farm, crop, and commercial insurance, although they do offer personal insurance products.

Not only did he move his family 500 miles, he also made a major career change.  “Moving from IT to insurance was a big change, but I don’t regret it for a minute,” Ryon stated.  There was some minor hesitation at first but Ryon decided having a career he could enjoy and provide balance with his family were more important to him.

One of the best things he stated about Minot was having more time to get together with friends and do more things.  “We had friends in Minneapolis but they lived all over the city and it was hard to get together.  We’ve caught up with old friends and made so many new friends in our short time in Minot.”  He has also used those old contacts from Theta Chi and NDSU to help grow the business.  His leadership experiences also taught him how to use this networking just to get things done.  “Those are things you can only learn through experience and the fraternity gave it to me whether or not I realized it at the time.”

Ryon is married to fellow NDSU grad and Kappa Delta alumna, Kristi Rice.  They have 3 children – Becca (7), Josh (5), and Matthew (2).

Ryon’s move back to Minot is a great example of a program developed by state Department of Commerce called the North Dakota Ambassador program.  The mission of the program is “building a global business network for North Dakota's future.”  Three key components of the program are building the state image, growing the economy, and networking.  “We are looking for people who want to relocate back to North Dakota, expand their businesses to North Dakota, and help those who are already in the state,” stated Shane Goettle (NDSU FarmHouse ’92), North Dakota Director of Commerce.  Although Ryon isn’t involved with the Ambassador program, his move is exactly the kind of activity they are trying to promote.  For more information about the North Dakota Ambassador program, visit http://www.luvnd.com.

Thanks to Brian Fedje for contributing the ProPHIle feature!

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