July 18, 2025
Golden West Telecommunications Cooperative, Inc.
73rd Annual Meeting
Saturday, September 27, 2025
Wall Community Center
501 Main Street, Wall, SD
Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. | Meeting Called to Order: 10 a.m.
Lunch Provided After Annual Meeting
Door prizes will be drawn during the meeting; must be present to win.
Below you will find the following:
- Press Release on Golden West's 73rd Annual Meeting
- How to vote in the 2025 elections
- Electing 5 directors to the board
July 18, 2025
Golden West's 73rd Annual Meeting Includes Updates, Voting, Prizes & Meal
WALL, SD – Golden West Telecommunications Cooperative’s 73rd annual meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 27 at the Community Center in Wall. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.
Cooperative members who attend the annual meeting on Sept. 27 will hear updates about the cooperative and will vote to elect five board members. Following the meeting, attendees can enjoy lunch compliments of Golden West at one of four local restaurants.
Elect Five Directors
Five of Golden West’s 15 board seats are up for election this year; four directors will be elected to full four-year terms, and one director will be elected to conclude the last year of the four-year term. Unopposed incumbents from District I and District VI seek re-election. One candidate is up for election in District II, filling the vacancy after the passing of John Knutson. Two candidates are running for one open seat in District IV. One unopposed candidate seeks election in District VII. Candidates are as follows:
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District I: Jade Hlavka, Unopposed Incumbent
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District II: Lincoln Smith, Unopposed Candidate (one year of 4-year term remains)
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District IV:
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Dave Assman, Incumbent
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Craig Lafferty, Candidate
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District VI: Murdock Arthur, Unopposed Incumbent
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District VII: Jason Birkeland, Unopposed Candidate
See below for director bios and information on how to vote.
How to vote in 2025 elections
For the second year, Golden West members may vote for Board of Director
candidates online or by mail ahead of time or in person at the annual meeting. The cooperative’s 73rd annual meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, in Wall. Voting options depend on whether the member is a residential member or non-individual entity.
The Golden West Board of Directors voted to allow additional voting options for the 2025 directors election. The change was made possible by amendments to the organization's articles and bylaws that members approved in recent years.
As a result, this year residential members can vote in advance of the meeting online or by mail. Non-individual entity members have the option to vote before the meeting by mail. Residential members who do not vote in advance may vote in person at the annual meeting. Non-individual entity members may also vote at the annual meeting if they have followed the process detailed below and did not vote in advance.
Residential members
Residential members include both single and joint memberships.
Here’s how to vote starting mid-August:
- Online. A letter will be mailed to you the week of Aug. 11 with instructions for voting. To vote electronically, members will be authenticated by entering the last four digits of the primary account
holder’s social security number. The primary account holder is the person whose name appears first in the member name. The social security number must be already on file with Golden West to vote online. - By Mail. Contact Golden West between Aug. 11 and Sept. 9, 2025, to have a paper ballot mailed to you. Complete the ballot and return it in the postage paid envelope provided early enough to be received by Sept. 23.
- In Person. Any residential member who has not voted in advance may cast a ballot at the annual meeting. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the community center in Wall.
All ballots cast in advance either electronically or by mail must be received by Tuesday, Sept. 23, to be counted.
Non-individual entity voting
Non-individual entities include businesses, churches, school districts, towns, etc.
Non-individual members may vote in advance by mail or online, or in person at the annual meeting. The methods available to you depend on what information Golden West has on file for your organization. Golden West will mail a letter to each entity the week of Aug. 11 with further voting instructions.
Non-individual entity members who vote must also complete and return an affidavit designating a voting representative. This is also known as an Authorization to Vote form. The voting representative must be an officer, an LLC member, or other senior official with the organization. To vote in person, the representative must bring a photo ID to the annual meeting.
Handling advanced voting
Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) is again managing voting ahead of this year’s meeting. SBS provides dependable and secure voting systems for many types of organizations, including cooperatives.
Electing 5 directors to the board
Members of the Golden West Cooperative will elect five members the Board of Directors. Directors elected for Districts I, IV, VI, and VII will serve four-year terms. Just one year of the term remains in District II, which was left
vacant by John Knutson’s passing.
Most districts have just one candidate running. The only contested election this year is in District IV, where two candidates are running, including the incumbent.
Jade Hlavka – District I, Unopposed Incumbent
Jade Hlavka is a business owner and helps operate the family ranch near Howes. He has served on the Golden West Board of Directors since 2013. Jade graduated from Faith High School and received his degree in diesel technology from Western Dakota Tech in Rapid City.
Jade and his wife, Annie, own and operate H & H Repair. They have three boys who keep them on their toes. Jade is also a volunteer firefighter for the Enning Fire Department. He enjoys fishing, hunting, and spending time with his family.
Lincoln Smith – District II, Candidate
I grew up on a ranch between Philip and Wall. I graduated from Philip High School in 2008 and attended Northern State University in Aberdeen, where I played
four years of football and earned two bachelor’s degrees in business management and marketing in 2012.
I returned to the Philip area with my wife, Ella, where I have ranched and farmed for the last 13 years. Over that period, I have held a position on several boards including the local Farm Bureau Board, Haakon County Weed and Pest Board, and Haakon County Board of Commissioners. Ella and I love raising three beautiful children in our rural community. I enjoy spending time with family
and friends, working on the ranch, and golfing.
I am running for the Golden West District II Director position. John Knutson introduced me to the importance of Golden West and their board. Through phone, internet, and television, it is hard to imagine families and businesses without Golden West's services. Golden West has been a key factor in keeping my family and everyone I know connected in our area. I would be honored to be elected to join the Board of Directors and serve the members of this great cooperative. I am excited to see what the future of Golden West brings to our community.
Dave Assman – District IV, Incumbent
I am from Mission. My family is involved in ranching, organic crop production, and we own Assman Implement. My lovely bride, Diana, and I are greatly blessed in the family department with four kids we raised to become the parents of 15 grandkids so far.
South Dakota is a great place to raise families, because people stay involved in its operations. To keep anything in good shape, people have to be involved to help do the work or help guide things in the right direction.
As board members for Golden West, it is our job to ask questions, get answers, and direct management in the direction our members/owners want their co-op to go.
If re-elected I will continue to be a strong voice for us, the co-op members that make up Golden West.
There are so many big things happening in the technology and communication world. We will need a strong, focused, dependable, and trustworthy team going ahead.
Craig Lafferty – District IV, Candidate
Craig Lafferty is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, a business owner, and resident of Golden West District IV. Craig graduated from Todd County High School and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in radiologic technology to later become the director of radiology at Rosebud IHS Hospital. Currently, Craig is the chairman of Dakota Plains Legal Services and works for Native American Development Corporation (NADC) as a procurement specialist.
Murdock Arthur – District VI, Unopposed Incumbent
Murdock Arthur grew up on a ranch in Milesville. He graduated from Philip High
School and received his degree in telecommunications from Mitchell Technical College. After graduating, he moved to Wyoming and began a career with RT Communications. Murdock moved to South Dakota in 2013 and worked for Golden West as a plant technician and eventually as a supervisor before exploring other opportunities.
Murdock and his wife, Brittany, live at Cactus Flat, where he is pursuing his love for ranching. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with his family.
Jason Birkeland – District VII, Unopposed Candidate
I grew up in Dewey County on the Cheyenne River Reservation. I graduated from Timber Lake High School in 1992, then went on to Western Dakota Vo-Tech to study automotive technology.
I moved to Gregory in 1994, where I pursued my profession and met my wife, Michelle. We were married in August 1999. We eventually started our own NAPA AutoCare Center in July of 2005, which is Dakota Auto Care. We have one daughter, Jaelyn.
I am a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Gregory. I am an avid golfer and served on the local golf course board for seven years and ran the men's golf league for 14 years.
In the automotive world, technology is the key, and obtaining that information is the biggest struggle. I have committed to my community by building an 11,520-square-foot shop in Gregory, and I want to see this area prosper. Golden West will play a major role in that happening, as in all the communities the cooperative serves.