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The Question and Answer feature helps readers learn more about prominent people in the business community. This issue’s Q&A profiles Eric Yunag, president and chief executive officer of Dakota Security Systems Inc. He recently was named to the “20 Under 40” list for a national trade publication, Security Systems News.
 Eric Yunag says people are surprised at his age. "I finally have a little bit more credibility now that I'm not in my 20s." (Inertia/for the SFBJ)
Name: Eric Yunag
Occupation: President and chief executive
officer of Dakota Security Systems Inc.
Hometown: Born in Atlantic, Iowa; moved
13 times while growing up; considers Sioux Falls his hometown
Age: 30
Background: Graduated from Dawson-Boyd High School in Minnesota and from South
Dakota State University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technology; worked at
Daktronics in Brookings for five years before
starting at Dakota Security in 1999; became
president and CEO in April
Family: Wife, Lori; daughter, Claire; son, James
Q: Tell me about your interests.
A: “Skiing, backpacking and golf. If I have time, those are the things I try to do. Family and church, too.”
Q: How did you become interested in your field?
A: “I spent my college years working at Daktronics in Brookings. I was looking for an entrepreneurial/technical opportunity to get into when I came to this company in 1999. It was just an interesting, growing field at the time. That was before 9/11; there wasn’t the focus that there is now. It’s a growing, interesting company and also a field that was poised to take off.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about your work?
A: “It’s twofold, the job and the field. In the field, we have an impact on what we feel is our mission of securing the client’s property and person. It’s something we take seriously as a company and fulfill that on a daily basis. Just look at The First National Bank robbery the other day. The equipment works well, people are safe, police respond. That’s a nice fulfillment of what happens there. On the job side, personally, it’s the development of an organization and the people within that organization. My job and role in the company is to grow the company as a whole, involve people in different roles, help them build their own careers and flourish.”
Q: Who are your typical customers?
A: “Most of our customers are financially driven: banks and credit unions, but there are schools, manufacturing, health care, government. Our headquarters are in Sioux Falls. In 1999, we opened an office in Des Moines, in 2001 in New York and in 2006 in Chicago. We have people scattered in other locations supporting key customers. We have 97 employees with 48 of them in Sioux Falls. This has been one of our busiest years of big projects in Sioux Falls. We have Premier Bankcard, Daktronics and Midcontinent Communications. Projects like that are a tribute to the state of the local economy.”
Q: What’s in the future for the security industry?
A: “The thing that will have an impact in coming years is biometrics. It’s changing from ‘James Bond’ technology to an actual realization that’s affordable. Things like retinal scanners and fingerprint readers.”
Q: How do you find time to balance your work and your family?
A: “That’s a difficult question. The answer is very incriminating! It’s a daily struggle for me to do a better job at that all the time. I’m relying on this, that as the organization gets larger, I will be able to rely on key people to let them make decisions without my direct involvement in those things. I’m working toward that goal, hopefully before the ultimatum (from my wife) comes.”
Q: What’s your favorite getaway?
A: “For me every year it is skiing. I spend a week in the mountains, in the cold and the quiet silence. I look forward to that for rejuvenation.”
Q: Do you have a charity or organization that’s especially close to heart?
A: “Central Baptist Church. I’m involved personally with the lives of people in church and in programs and with outreach in programs in the community and in the world.”
Q: What’s something about you that people would be surprised to know?
A: “That I’m 30. That’s always the one that seems to surprise people. I finally have a little bit more credibility now that I’m not in my 20s.”
Q: What kind of music is in your car or what do you listen to on the radio?
A: “I’m a news junkie. I have Sirius, and Fox News and CNBC are on the radio all the time.”
Q: If you could have dinner with two or three people, alive or dead, who would you choose and why?
A: “Teddy Roosevelt, I always admired him. He had an attitude of unbridled optimism and can-do at a time when anything was possible in this country. Warren Buffet, he is the most balanced person when it comes to wealth and philanthropy. He is astronomically successful and still drives the same car and lives in the same house.”
Q: What are the best and worst things about living in Sioux Falls?
A: “The best thing is the quality of life. It’s definitely a great place to raise a family. The local leadership does an excellent job of bringing good economic development to this city, far and beyond what a typical city of our size does. The worst part is the wind, in my opinion. It blows 362 days of the year!”
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