Carla Gatzke is the Vice President of Human Resources for Daktronics, which fosters long-term mutual prosperity for the company’s teams and people. Some responsibilities include organization design and staffing, talent performance and development, compensation and benefits, leader development and employee communications.
During her career at Daktronics, Carla has worked in many areas, giving her a deep understanding of the organization. She began her career with the company as a student employee in inventory, information systems and engineering. After graduating, she moved to a full-time position in system sales engineering where she was responsible for sales and project management for legislative voting systems.
She left the company for two years to work on her master’s degree and in 1990, returned to Daktronics to manage the company’s subsidiary Star Circuits, which manufactured printed circuit boards. She then changed responsibilities to lead the Personnel department and later also assumed responsibility for Information Technology. In 2006, Carla moved to her current role as Vice President of Human Resources. She also serves as Corporate Secretary.
Carla represents Daktronics in several roles in the Brookings community. She is currently on the Brookings (SD) Economic Development Corporation, where she has also served as president. She is president for Vision Brookings and secretary for East Brookings Business and Industry Association.
Her personal volunteer engagement includes chair of the Brookings Behavioral Health and Wellness Board, the local community mental health center. She also serves as secretary for the Brookings Human Rights Commission, a city-sponsored volunteer board that furthers human relations in the community.
Carla is passionate about her work, and spends much of her time reading about business, leadership, and teamwork. She also takes time to focus on her health, walking every day. She and her husband live in rural Brookings and enjoy spending time with their friends and family and in local community activities. Carla graduated from South Dakota State University with a BS in electrical engineering and minors in math and computer science. She earned her master’s degree in business administration
from Drake University, where she also taught in the finance department.