August 18th Meeting - Speaker Greg Sund - District Governor

Greg Sund Bio

Greg Sund was born in Elgin, Illinois and raised in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  He attended college at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.  He initially studied wildlife management and biology at Stevens Point.  As a wildlife management major, he had the opportunity to spend time in Germany’s Black Forest to study forestry.  At some point, Greg changed his major to Art where he had the opportunity to learn gold and silversmithing.  During his time in Stevens Point, he met a friend who owned a placer gold claim in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota. He vacationed in the Black Hills a few times after that and learned how to pan for gold before moving to Deadwood, South Dakota in 1979.  He later bought into the placer gold claim.

Greg met Elizabeth in Deadwood.  They were married by her father, Ronald Hennies, an Episcopal Priest in 1981.  All three of their children were born in Deadwood.  While living in Deadwood, Greg worked for the Homestake Gold Mine which at the time was the largest underground gold mine in the western hemisphere.  Greg and Elizabeth also owned and operated a bookstore in Deadwood and Greg did sign painting and jewelry work.

Greg’s first introduction to local government came in 1983 when he was elected as a city council member and later as a city commissioner for Deadwood.  As he became more interested in city government, he returned to college and earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of South Dakota.  Greg started his career in local government management in January 1992 when he was hired as the City Finance Officer for Platte, South Dakota.  After Platte, he worked for a year as a regional director of the South Dakota Small Business Development Center in Pierre, South Dakota which ended when the Governor vetoed their budget.   Greg accepted the new position of city administrator for Dickinson, North Dakota in early 1996.

It was in Dickinson that Greg first joined Rotary.  He served as the President of the Dickinson Club in 2004-05.  As President, Greg attended his first District events including District Conferences in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

Greg and Elizabeth moved to Spearfish, South Dakota in October 2008 when Greg was hired to serve as their first city administrator. They moved to Hays, Kansas in 2010 when Greg was hired as the Ellis County Administrator.  After moving to Hays, Greg immediately approached and joined the Hays Rotary Club.  He served as the President of the Hays Rotary Club while there.  He later joined the Hays Sunrise Rotary Club.  While in Hays, Greg took a course in Denver to become a facilitator for the Rotary Leadership Institute and attended two Zone meetings.  He also served District 5670 as District Trainer and Membership Chair.

Greg and Elizabeth moved to Trinidad, Colorado in June 2017 when Greg was hired as City Manager.  Greg had the opportunity to serve as the President of the Trinidad Club during its 100th Anniversary year.  After serving as the President of the Trinidad Club, Greg became involved in District 5470 activities by serving an Assistant Governor position and as a member on the District Membership Committee.    As Assistant Governor, he works with clubs in Pueblo, Pueblo West, and Trinidad.  Greg served as a facilitator for PETS in 2019 and 2020.

Greg is excited by the recent collaboration of Rotary and Toastmasters because he has been a Toastmaster since January 1987 and has earned to level of Distinguished Toastmaster.

Greg was selected to serve in the Governor line starting in December 2020 and very much looks forward to the opportunities and education that will come with this responsibility.