Sept. 3, 2019

This week’s Up-and-Comer is Nathan Hofer, membership coordinator for Downtown Sioux Falls Inc.

Name: Nathan Hofer

Age: 32

Hometown: Freeman

What brought you to Sioux Falls?

Lots of things brought me to Sioux Falls, but most prominently was my wife — then fiancee — was here. I was working at the University of South Dakota at the time and commuting. I wanted to be in a place that had a lot to offer someone in their mid-20s, and I found that in Sioux Falls. Shortly after that initial move to Sioux Falls, I began working at the University of Sioux Falls, where I spent five years before coming to DTSF, and that opportunity got me very inundated with the Sioux Falls community as well.

What keeps you in Sioux Falls?

I have told so many people that if you had asked 18-year-old Nathan if he would be in South Dakota at this point in his life, he would have said “No way!” However, life has kept me in South Dakota, and I have truly fallen in love with this state and, moreover, the city of Sioux Falls. The vibrancy of this city has drawn me in and made me a passionate Sioux Falls resident. As Sioux Falls continues to grow and develop, I continue to be astounded by the opportunities that are available, whether they are social, professional or recreational. Sioux Falls is truly becoming a place to be on a national scale. It is such an amazing opportunity to be part of a city on the rise and, especially as we look at our downtown community and the incredible changes that have occurred over the years, be able to be present in a time where we can make significant changes to the culture and community in a way that I feel we haven’t had before.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?

My favorite thing about my job is our members. I enjoy getting to get out into our community and talk with our members and hear their triumphs and their struggles or simply just talking with them about how things are going in their life. The community downtown is one that is passionate, vibrant and welcoming, and I truly love getting to be part of that every day, hearing people’s stories and getting to walk through life with them.

How did you get connected to your industry?

My path to DTSF was a matter of happy coincidence I would say. I was looking for something new outside of the realm of higher education where I have spent the last decade working, but I wasn’t sure where that would be. When logging in to LinkedIn, I saw a post about this position, and I knew I had to apply. It wasn’t on any job boards that I was looking at, so seeing this random post that might not have been in my feed if I had looked 15 minutes earlier/later was incredibly fortuitous to say the least. When I showed the job posting to my wife, we both smiled and knew that I needed to apply as I had been passionate about our downtown community since moving to Sioux Falls, tied with my love for people — I’m about as extroverted as it gets! — and a desire to work for a nonprofit  made this seem like the absolute right fit for my career move. DTSF has kept me running since day one, and I wouldn’t have it any other way as everyone here is constantly trying to make this a better place for our members, residents and Sioux Falls as a whole!

Describe DTSF Inc. in three words.

I’m going to take the easy way out and share the three words we put on all of our documentation as they truly espouse the mission of DTSF and what we aim to do in this community, which is to connect, grow and celebrate.

What’s your favorite way to give back to your community?

I have always enjoyed working with others to serve organizations in need. I had an easy connection to that when I worked at USF with the multiple service days I organized, doing everything from picking up trash on the street to cleaning out kennels at the humane society. Truly, I like getting out into my community and helping where there is need; I don’t necessarily have one area that I specifically focus on as I want to try and give back to as many organizations as I can.

What’s one business you’d like to see in Sioux Falls that isn’t here now?

That is a tough one. I think Sioux Falls is growing so much, and I love all that is happening from our small businesses to the large-scale chains that are coming in, so picking just one business is difficult for me. I will say that I would love to see more small businesses permeate Sioux Falls as I think that provides a lot of our uniqueness and flavor. But as for a chain I would love to see here, I’m a sucker for Chick-fil-A and Chipotle, so if either of those places came to Sioux Falls, I would not be upset about it whatsoever.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I really don’t know. The only thing I can say is that I love being part of Sioux Falls, and I don’t see myself leaving Sioux Falls at this point. Life always has a funny way of changing our plans when we don’t think those plans are changeable though, so there’s always room for that to change. However, if it is up to me, my hope is to be in Sioux Falls, and I could definitely see myself still with DTSF in five years. This is an organization that I have felt over the past month and a half is always looking forward and trying to make a change and is willing to change with the ever-changing landscape. DTSF stays true to its convictions while focusing on the future, and that is something I admire about this organization, so as I said, I could definitely see myself with DTSF five years from now. Honestly, I’m just hoping I’ll be a functional human five years from now as we prepare to have our second child as I am not ready to run man-to-man defense yet!