April 25, 2022

This paid piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

Crystal Jacobson starts a new job today: mayor of the city of Worthing.

The mother of three has a long history with the Lincoln County community – she has lived there 18 years and served on the City Council, planning and zoning board, and parks and recreation board.

“We want growth in this community,” she said. “That’s one of the things the biggest majority of citizens want. They want new business. We’re a small community that’s going to back any business that comes into town and give them what we can for support.”

But Jacobson knows that first, the city government needs additional staff support.

You can count the number of city employees in Worthing on one hand. Jacobson herself has a full-time job at Midco in addition to serving as mayor. And there isn’t the budget for a full-time employee to focus on economic development.

So a partnership with Sioux Metro Growth Alliance is great, she said. “It’s perfect. It’s exactly what we need.”

A new economic development specialist being hired by SMGA will support the communities of Worthing and Harrisburg, which are contributing to fund the position.

“A community that wants to add economic development staff without adding a full-time position can save considerably with this approach,” said Jesse Fonkert, president and CEO of Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

“Additionally, we work as a team on projects. So while you have one person directly working with you, that person also is working within our organization to bounce around ideas, strategize and has the added benefit of my oversight and management and experience and connection.”

Sioux Metro Growth Alliance already is serving that role for the communities of Baltic, Dell Rapids, Lennox and Salem.

“What makes sense with Harrisburg and Worthing is the two communities are fairly close geographically, share common utility providers, but are in very different stages of growth,” Fonkert said. “So this person will be able to kick off growth and create momentum from the ground floor in one community and take advantage of the momentum and full vision already in place in the other.”

In the case of Worthing, there’s a need for commercial development to help balance the demand for residential growth.

“Main Street is not very big, so we need to grow out in the industrial park area,” Jacobson said. “If we can find more land to build toward the interstate, just anything to get in here and help the community in a way that will bring in more sales tax revenue and all people to stay in our community and shop.”

In the case of Harrisburg, the new economic development specialist is coming into the 7,000-person community as it wraps up its five-year Heart of Harrisburg public-private partnership campaign centered around economic development.

Its goals include:

• Develop a business park with essential infrastructure to acquire targeted businesses and allow for existing business expansion. The plan is to secure up to 100 acres during or before 2026.
• Attract companies to locate in or near Harrisburg, with the goal of a minimum of five companies with 15 or more employees by 2026.
• Create jobs through developing a year-round business-retention strategy to assist local companies looking to expand and plan for transformation with a goal of 175 or more people working at new or growing companies in or near Harrisburg.

“The campaign has been tremendous,” said Adam Walsh, board chair of the Harrisburg Economic Development Corporation. “We’re making great progress toward our $2 million goal, and there’s a lot to celebrate, especially with the Sioux Metro Growth Alliance partnership.”

The community will hold a Heart of Harrisburg celebration from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Meadow Barn at Country Orchards.

“Harrisburg is growing its business and industry, but what we’re seeing is businesses in Sioux Falls stepping up to the plate because they have a shop here, they’ve done work in Harrisburg, and they know the work is coming, and they want to be part of that,” Walsh said.

The Harrisburg Economic Development Corporation became its own entity separate from the city’s Chamber of Commerce earlier this year. When a vacancy was experienced at the executive director position, the board found value in partnering with SMGA, Walsh said.

“It all comes down to developing relationships and working with other organizations to grow because economic development isn’t one person’s responsibility. It’s regional and its multiorganizational,” he said.

“Jesse has been a great resource for us to help establish what this organization needs to do to be successful, and the partnership is important to helping us leverage resources we don’t necessarily have.”

The community is looking for someone who can build and maintain relationships while helping execute Harrisburg’s vision for the future, community development director Larry Klipfel said.

“We hope to see a well-rounded individual, I think of a torchbearer in this situation,” he said. “They need to maintain a consistent presence in the community to work toward what we’re all collectively trying to achieve.”

Sioux Metro Growth Alliance is still hiring the new economic development specialist. To learn more about the role, click here. 

“For someone who wants to make a big impact on communities and lead a team focused on a brighter future, this is a fantastic opportunity,” Fonkert said.

“We prefer a background in economic development but can train those skills. It’s all about finding someone who works well with people, can strategize and is passionate about community.”