Noonan Sport Specialists adds new personal coach

Joanna Green will join the Noonan Sport Specialists staff as a coach, starting this month.

Green is originally from Alexandria, and she graduated from Concordia College in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science.

Her responsibilities as a certified personal coach will include conducting semi-private personal training sessions with clients as well as helping create and implement structured training templates and coaching philosophy.

Located at 503 Hawthorne St. Suite 145 in downtown Alexandria, Noonan Sport Specialists is a 7,500 square-foot, year-round training facility with the mission of using fitness as a catalyst to positively impact lives.

Pope County farmer named to state council

Paul Freeman, a longtime agricultural leader in Minnesota, was elected as the District 4 representative for the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council.

Freeman will take the place of Jim Call, who is retiring after more than 20 years on the Council.

Kittson County farmer Kris Folland, Districts 1-3; Rock County farmer Jim Willers, District 7; Brown County farmer Cole Trebesch, District 8; and Dover farmer Benjamin Storm, District 9, were all re-elected.

This year, more than 3,900 farmers across the state received an election ballot from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, which oversees the election. All five directors will serve three-year terms that begin July 1.

Freeman grows corn, soybeans and wheat on his family farm. He’s a director and former president with the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, and he serves on the board of Ag Management Solutions. Freeman is enrolled in the Minnesota Agriculture Water Quality Certification Program and also serves on its advisory board.

The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council is a 15-seat, elected board of soybean producers from Minnesota who direct checkoff investments toward programs designed to increase the profitability for the state’s nearly 28,000 soybean farmers. Later this spring, the council will be unveiling a statewide “Driving Soy” campaign to promote checkoff investments in soy-based tires.