Dec. 14, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

It likely wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that every community in the Sioux Falls metro area is growing – or wants to be.

“That’s the theme of our region, and we’re looking to cultivate an ecosystem for that growth and development,” said Jesse Fonkert, president and CEO of Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

“We want to have a role in how that’s put together, and we want our communities to be at the forefront of decision-making opportunities.”

It has been a year of growth for SMGA itself, which was formed by the merger of the Lincoln County and Minnehaha County economic development associations.

Earlier this year, the alliance added its first economic development specialist, Ryan Solberg, focusing on providing support to metro area communities that contract for his services instead of hiring full-time staff.

A second development specialist, Sheldon Jensen, also recently joined the team.

“This is a way for us to provide value to our communities collectively,” SMGA board chair Eric Pauli said. “We help them do a deep dive into their communities to get a feel for where they’re going and what needs to happen to shape the community they want to be. Lennox might want to look totally different from Tea or Dell Rapids or Baltic, and these individuals provide the expertise they need to help get them pointed in the right direction.”

The growing team also means more office space is needed. So early next year, SMGA will move into a second-floor space in the Harvester Building in downtown Sioux Falls at 196 E. Sixth St.

“We envision this as a gathering place for our employees and communities – a way to meet in the middle, given the broad geography we serve,” Pauli said. “I think it’s a good opportunity to offer more of a physical space to meet, close to decision-makers in downtown Sioux Falls and still close to our partners at the Sioux Falls Development Foundation and Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce.”

The 3,000-square-foot office will be shared with the South Dakota Development Corporation, which is an agent for the SBA in issuing and servicing SBA 504 loans – a program that helps small businesses purchase real estate with uniquely advantageous financing.

“We’re all about trying to find synergies, and right now our organization doesn’t practice small-business lending, so rather than creating that function, it made sense to find a partner,” Fonkert said. “And we’re talking with other organizations that want to have a presence downtown and complement what we do. We have excess space at this point, so that only makes sense.”

Co-officing also likely will highlight challenges small businesses face and lead to different lending products to assist them, SDDC president and CEO Jennifer Oberg said.

“Working with SMGA is an opportunity for us to collaborate on different projects from the early stages to bring finance and economic development together to benefit the small-business owners along with the communities they choose to build in,” she said.

“While SDDC and SMGA serve uniquely different purposes, the efforts of both organizations are surprisingly similar: to foster economic and community development in our communities.”

The SDDC serves the entire state and communities of all sizes, with new lending opportunities planned for next year.

“SDDC’s mission is to help and advocate for small businesses in our great state, and the co-location with SMGA is a fantastic step forward as we bring different perspectives to achieving the goal of helping small business,” Oberg said. “Coming out of the pandemic, this just feels like the best next step for SDDC to grow and assist more communities and borrowers in our state.”

She hopes to add a fifth team member in the coming year and move into the new office in early 2022.

Broadening reach

As SMGA grows its team, it’s also expanding in terms of the communities it serves. While the alliance historically has supported the communities outside of Sioux Falls in Lincoln and Minnehaha counties, the metropolitan statistical area includes McCook and Turner counties.

“We see a ton of potential expanding to those counties,” Fonkert said. “They have a lot of opportunities right now to capitalize on housing demand, as many people are looking to move into more suburban and rural areas from across the nation.”

For instance, Jensen, the new economic development specialist, will be helping support economic development in Salem.

The county seat of McCook, it has a robust business community with significant growth potential.

“Salem has a lot of opportunity,” Pauli said. “They’re right on the interstate, they have a cool retail environment already, and I think they’re just waiting for someone to be in a position to help organize and provide direction for growth. It’s a good example of how we plan to expand strategically into communities in the metro where it makes sense and how we can adjust our approach depending on their needs.”

SMGA also will be investing in a new community readiness program next year, conducting surveys of its communities to determine “what their strengths are and what can be improved,” Fonkert said.

SMGA has extended its reach digitally too. Its recently launched siouxmetro.com is updated frequently with news and information about metro area communities.

“That’s been beyond exciting and can be leveraged for all our communities,” Pauli said. “It’s so important to be highlighting what they have to offer, whether it’s to site selectors, small businesses or prospective residents.”

And keep watching for details on the annual Grow Smarter Conference in April, which will be held in Harrisburg and offer valuable education and networking opportunities.

“We have outstanding participation and partners from the public and private sectors already, but we know there’s opportunity to expand our reach,” Pauli added. “We think there are many entities and individuals who have not yet connected to SMGA and our communities who would benefit from it, so we’re looking forward to reaching those people in a variety of ways in the coming year.”