Company Presidents
Larry M. Owen
Larry M. Owen became president and chief executive officer of Black Hills Power and Light Company on September 15, 1980. In 1986 the Company changed its name to Black Hills Corporation, operating its investor-owned electric utility operations under the assumed name of Black Hills Power and Light Company. In addition, the Company had diversified into coal mining through Wyodak Resources Development Corp. and oil and gas production through Western Production Company. Mr. Owen was then elected Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Black Hills Corporation. In that position, he became Chief Executive Officer of all three companies.
Owen came to Black Hills Power and Light Company in 1970 as Vice President, Marketing and was later elected Vice President, Administration.
Larry Owen was born on January 1, 1928, and was raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. He and his wife, Marilyn, have a son, David, and a daughter, Sue Ellen.
He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in Economics and a minor in Political Science. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in December 1984. He is a veteran of World War II where he was a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy.
He was employed for two years as a management trainee with J.C. Penney Company and spent the next 17 years in the Chamber of Commerce management field serving Chambers in Nebraska City and Columbus, Nebraska; Rapid City, South Dakota; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He was a student and instructor in the Institute for Organizational Management at the University of Montana, University of Colorado, and Michigan State University. He was one of the first Chamber executives to achieve the designation Certified Chamber Executive. He is a past president of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce Executives and Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Managers.
Past Civic Activities
- Chairman of the Board, Rapid City Chamber of Commerce
- Board of Trustees, National College of Business
- Member of the Pennington County Air Quality Advisory Board
- Director and Annual Fund Drive Chairman, Rapid City United Way
- Member of the National Board of Regents, Institute for Organization Management
- Graduate of the Academy of Organization Management, Michigan State University
- President of Nebraska and South Dakota Chamber of Commerce Managers
- Director of the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce
- Chairman, Board of Trustees and Board Member Rushmore National Health Systems
- Board of Directors of the Edison Electric Institute
- President of Rocky Mountain Electrical League
- President of North Central Electric Association
- President of Rapid City Economic Development Foundation
- President of the Investor Owned Electric Companies in South Dakota
- Member of Governor's Advisory Commission on Taxation
- Director of Rocky Mountain Electrical League
Current Civic Activities
- Chairman of Ellsworth Air Force Base Action Committee
- Director of West Hills Retirement Village
- Board of Directors, North Central Electrical Association
- Chairman, Industry and Commerce Association of South Dakota
- Board of Directors, South Dakota Community Foundation
- Member of Rotary Club
- Member of Sierra Club
- Elder in the First Presbyterian Church
- Member of the Air Force Association
- Director of Rapid City Economic Development Foundation
- Director of Salvation Army
- Governor of the American Mining Congress Western Division
- Member of State Campaign Committee for Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society