Volunteering gives CDS employee sense of purpose

by Vicki Ikeogu

news@thenewsleaders.com

Ryan Holter vowed never to become a personal tax accountant again.

Growing up in Willmar, Holter, now 37, had got his start in the field at the Conway, Deuth & Schmiesing location in his hometown right out of college. Soon after, he began his career by doing accounting work for several companies in the Twin Cities.

“I worked at Patterson Cos., which is a dental supply company, for seven years in their corporate tax department,” Holter said. “And then before that I was with Regis Corp., the hair-care supply company, for two years in their tax department.”

Holter said while the work was rewarding, it was rather repetitive. And living in the Twin Cities metro was not the most ideal situation either.

“I think the biggest thing for me, when I lived in the (Twin) Cities was we lived in Burnsville, we were in the Apple Valley School District, my wife taught in Richfield, I worked in Edina or Mendota Heights,” Holter said, “so, you kind of lose that sense of community.”

About three-and-a-half years ago, Holter and his family made the decision to relocate to Sartell. It was a decision Holter has not regretted.

“We are now all in the same town,” he said. “(My wife now) works in the school district that my kids go to. And (it’s nice) to have that sense of community where you are invested in the town where you are at.”

During the day, Holter works as a senior accountant with CDS. The rest of his time is spent with his family and volunteering in the community he calls home.

“I just try to get involved and try to meet people in the community,” Holter said. “And that’s what I did with the Chamber.”

Using his accounting skills, Holter has thrust himself into helping the Sartell Chamber of Commerce develop a healthier financial status with his position as treasurer. In addition, he helps the Chamber with the annual golf tournament. He spends an average of 10 hours per month volunteering in Sartell on behalf of CDS. And during the summer months, he helps coach his son’s baseball team.

His commitment to helping Sartell organizations has earned Holter one of the city’s top honors: The 2017 Sartell Citizen of the Year.

“It’s a neat honor, it really is,” Holter said. “If you look back at some of the other people who have won, it’s a pretty neat thing.”

Early on in his tenure at the Sartell CDS office, Holter said his main focus was not only to do quality work, but to help CDS get involved in the City of Sartell.

“They stress at CDS for you to get involved and get out in the community as much as you can and make those connections,” Holter said. “And it just so happened within my first couple of weeks here I went to a Chamber meeting and have just kept going ever since.”

The majority of Holter’s volunteer work is Chamber-related. He said his work through the Chamber on behalf of CDS has helped build brand recognition for the Sartell accounting firm.

“I kind of tried to get out there as much as I can and get the CDS name out there,” Holter said. “There aren’t many accounting firms in Sartell, so we kind of want to try to be a big name in Sartell.”

But more importantly, volunteering for Holter is just the right thing to do.

“For me, I’m proud of where I’m from and I want to make sure it’s the best place it can be,” Holter said. “And whatever I can do to get out there and make the community just a little bit better, that’s kind of what I hope to do. When you see the end result of where your little bit of time got you, or where it got your organization or your event or whatever it is, that’s a neat thing. You played a part in that. Little by little, if we just keep getting people out there, helping out and giving back as much as we can, it will improve everything.”