When Tom Unterseher and Heather Bohr moved from Pasadena to Mobridge in 1994, they imagined a short stay. It was a cost saving relocation to reduce their overhead while they worked to make their publishing business successful. When the World Wide Web suddenly became popular over the next several years, their business was transformed. They gave up publishing in 1999 to focus on “third party fulfillment,” shipping orders for companies with virtual storefronts. 

Drawn back into the life of his hometown, Unterseher joined a loose coalition of leaders hoping to revive Mobridge’s economy.  Appointed to the City Council in 2000, he led efforts to clean up the city park, redevelop the area close to the river and revive Main Street. All of these projects cost money. Employing two young grantwriters from the East, Mobridge sought help and brought in hundreds of thousand of dollars of grant money over the next several years.  Throughout this period, Unterseher was outspoken, chiding the naysayers and encouraging those who dared to change.

When a team from the South Daktoa Rural Development Council visited Mobridge in 2004, many of the city’s projects were either partially completed or stalled for lack of federal appropriations. Some people remained optimistic. Others were frustrated. Some people felt that Unterseher had pushed too hard for change.  In 2005, he chose not to run for re-election.

Meanwhile, the business that he and his wife had launched, One World Distribution, had become a major employer with more than 30 people on staff by the end of 2003. As the company grew, Unterseher struggled to recruit managers who understood information technology and the flat world in which One World operated. A job posting in 2003 warned potential applicants not to apply if they required a Starbucks as part of their daily life. Even with the warning, some potential recruits didn’t stay long. Once they got a look at the town “the romatic illusions of small town life were overwhelmed by the reality,” says Unterseher.

Even after he left the Council, Unterseher kept pushing. Last year all these community efforts finally seemed to pay off. New grants helped a number of projects move towards completion and raised total grant funding to nearly $3 million. When people flocked home from distant corners of the country for the city’s centennial in July they raved about the improvements to the park, the river area, and Main Street. At least one former resident, decided to launch a new business from Mobridge. That same year, One World received a loan to continue expanding its facilities.

The year of Mobridge’s centennial also brought Unterseher and Bohr to an entrepreneurial and personal crossroads. Seven years of political battles in Mobridge had left scars. After twelve years in the community a part of them still longed for the cosmopolitan and multicultural environment of Los Angeles. With their children entering or nearing grade school, they were concerned about providing them with a rich and rigorous curriculum. Bohr’s father in Pasadena was aging, and they wanted their children to have time with him. Moreover, they had always envisioned One World as a global company. To realize that vision, they had to market the company’s services to businesses in California and around the globe. Pasadena would provide a better base for this sales effort than Mobridge.   

In the fall of 2006, Unterseher and Bohr came full circle. With their children, they moved back to Pasadena. Unterseher told the Mobridge Tribune that they weren’t abandoning the town. One World would remain headquartered in Mobridge, providing employment to 60 people. Unterseher and Bohr kept their house. He spends part of every month in Mobridge, and Bohr is back frequently. 

Some people find it hard to understand their life, Unterseher says. He describes “this sort of old-world thinking that your business is where you are.” To achieve the global vision that he and Bohr have shared from the start, he needs to be where his customers are. “It’s kind of fun,” he says, “having a foot in very different worlds.” Many new pioneers feel the same way.  

The One World story illustrates the challenges that communities can face when they welcome new pioneers. As entrepreneurs and new residents, new pioneers bring new perspectives and personalities that embrace change. Their divided life and allegiances challenge long-held assumptions about the world of work and the nature of our commitments to place. Navigating these tensions requires community leadership, dialogue and vision.

To visit the One World Distribution website, go to: www.owd.com