Kegel, Braaten win governor's awards

Two Havre people are among five honored by Gov. Steve Bullock with the Montana Ambassador Award.

Renelle Braaten, the founder of Enell Inc., will receive the Montana Ambassadors Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Greg Kegel, interim chancellor of Montana State University-Northern, will be the recipient of the Montana Ambassadors Educator of the Year.

Kegel, Braaten and three others will be saluted in ceremonies in Helena March 19.

Bullock praised Braaten for going from “owning a barbershop, to owning the most successful sports bra on the planet.”

“Renelle has been a problem solver, innovator and an encore entrepreneur.” he said.

Braaten credits her success to three values she holds true in everything she does: creativity, surrounding herself with quality people and always providing the best customer service, Montana Ambassadors said in announcing the award.

Braaten said she was honored and excited to win the award.

“It’s shocking actually,” she said.

“They are going overboard a bit,” she added, when she heard the accolades the Montana Ambassadors organization heaped on her.

The Ambassadors said that her “passion for service has carried over into issues related to women’s health, animal rights and getting young women involved in sports.”

She is a diehard fan of the Northern Lights and Skylights.

She is a member of the Hill County Parks Board. One of the issues that prompted her to seek the appointment is her opposition to trapping at Beaver Creek Park.

A Williston, North Dakota native, she moved to Havre in fourth grade when Burlington Northern Railway transferred her father.

“I left once and thought I would never come back,” she said, laughing.

Now she’s back and can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“Thank God for the Internet,” she said. “I can do the business I have to do and still live where I want.”

Her business began, she said, years ago when she was playing a lot of racquetball and was dissatisfied with her bra. She tried several brands, and decided she would have to make her own.

Before she knew it, she was making them for other people.

Today her product is available in 500 retail outlets in the United States, Canada and 11 other countries.

“We are a real niche market,” she said.

While other companies make bras for large women, her sports bras are made for all sizes of women.

“We go from petite to large women,” she said.

Kegel was named interim chancellor of Montana State University-Northern in September, but was honored mostly for his work when he was dean of the college of technical sciences for a dozen years before his elevation to his current post.

In the post, he succeeded in raising money for the new Applied Technology Center, and he was largely responsible for the Biognergy Innovation Testing Center.

The creation of the testing center was made possible because Kegel acquired a large grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to construct the building.

Recently, Kegel, Montana State University President Waded Cruzado and several corporate partners announced raising $3.15 million for a new automotive and diesel technology facility which will allow the school to nearly double the enrollment of that program.

Kegel wasn’t available to comment on the award. He was in Helena with Cruzado, lobbying for Northern causes, including the state’s annual grant to the biodiesel research center.

The awards are presented to five people annually by Montana Ambassadors, a nonprofit group that promotes Montana as a great place to live and start a business.

Bullock said he had three principles that be believes will make the state a better place to live: better jobs, better education and a more effective government.

The awards fit hand-in-hand with these principles, he said.