Metzger honored for contributions to power industry

Blair Metzger, president of DGR Engineering of Rock Rapids, Iowa, received the Wayne E. Knabach Excellence in Power Award at the Center for Power Systems Studies banquet Oct. 3 at McCrory Gardens Education and Visitor Center.

The annual award is presented to an engineer whose lifetime contributions have advanced the power industry in the Upper Midwest.

Metzger, a Rock Rapids native, graduated from the electrical engineering program at South Dakota State University in 1986 and joined DGR Engineering as a design engineer. He rose through the ranks and served as DGR’s electrical power group department head from 2002 to 2010, when he was appointed company president.

Metzger was nominated for the Knabach Award by Chad Rasmussen, assistant electrical power group department head at DGR.

He wrote, “Over the course of his career, Blair’s focus has been on providing services to municipal utilities … Blair’s commitment to municipal electrical engineering was instrumental in expanding DGR’s service territory to include many Minnesota municipal utility clients. He is an expert in power supply and rate making issues in the Upper Midwest, assisting many clients with his rate development expertise.”

Through his 36-year career at DGR, Metzger has worked with scores of communities, mostly smaller ones, in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska.

DGR, founded in 1952, has 150 employees with offices in Sioux Falls, Rock Rapids, Iowa, and Sioux City, Iowa, and specializes in aviation, civil, electrical power, survey, wastewater and water engineering. Since 2014, it has received the Circle of Excellence for overall engineering performance by PSMJ Resources, a leading management consulting firm for architecture and engineering firms.

The Center for Power Systems Studies is housed within the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering at South Dakota State and has been an advocate for the power industry and a supporter of future power engineers since its formation in 1968.

Scholarship honorees

Two future power systems engineers were honored with Center for Power Systems Studies Scholarships at the banquet.

Receiving the $6,000 award were Kade Griesse, of Rock Rapids, Iowa, and Tyler Fogelson, of Fairmont, Minnesota. Both are senior electrical engineering majors.

Griesse is the son of Dave and Amie Griesse and a 2019 graduate of Central Lyon High School. At SDSU, he maintains a 4.0 GPA, is president of Tau Beta Pi (all engineering professions) honor society and vice president of Eta Kappa Nu (electrical engineering) honor society. Griesse also is a past officer for the Robotics Club and the Joint Engineering Council.

He has been a summer intern with DGR Engineering in Rock Rapids, Iowa, for the past three years. Upon graduation, he will join DGR Engineering full time as an engineer in training.

Fogelson is the son of Mike and Jen Fogelson. At SDSU, while maintaining a 4.0 GPA, he has been involved with many different clubs and organizations including the student chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Joint Engineering Council, Robotics Club, Investment Club, and Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi honor societies. Within these clubs Fogelson has served as chair, vice president and treasurer.

During the last two years, Fogelson has worked in the generation division at Missouri River Energy Services.