Knife River veteran Hildestad sets retirement from helm of parent MDU

Sources: MDU Resources Group, Bismarck, N.D.; CP staff

Terry D. Hildestad will retire in early January as MDU Resources president and chief executive officer—a post he has held since 2006—and cap a 38-year career that began with the company’s Knife River Corp. subsidiary. Following his 1991 appointment as president, he oversaw Knife River’s expansion in aggregates, ready mixed concrete and road-building businesses, from the Dakotas to the West Coast and to Iowa and Texas. Construction materials emerged as a complimentary business to parent company MDU’s core utility and energy operations.

“The value of the company’s assets has grown nearly 50 percent since [Terry Hildestad] became president and chief executive officer. Equally important, he has kept us financially strong as the nation’s economy struggled,” says MDU Chairman Harry Pearce. “Under Terry’s leadership we have maintained a strong balance sheet, good liquidity and healthy cash flows that allowed us to both withstand the recession and invest in internal growth that has positioned us to be very competitive as the economy recovers.”

The MDU board of directors unanimously elected David L. Goodin, 50, to succeed Hildestad January 4, 2013. He will become a member of the corporation’s board of directors at the same time. Goodin currently is president and chief executive officer of MDU Resources’ four utility businesses—Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Great Plains Natural Gas Co., Cascade Natural Gas Corp. and Intermountain Gas Co.—that collectively serve nearly 1 million customers.