Sunday, April 25, 2010

Long-time community builders continue to work toward growth

Merle Walter has been involved in economic development for 20 years in Arlington. His vision of economic development is promoting community development by creating present and future industry and community, creating jobs and creating stability.
“Nothing’s ever a guarantee,” he said.
The community was able to land Global Industry, an injection molding company. Global Industry is the largest business with almost 100 employees. Now the company is focusing on new ways to move their product and applications.
Arlington is also working to stabilize Main Street. Recently, Kinder Hardware went out of business and the community is rallying to maintain a hardware store.
“The main thing is to keep people in Arlington and create jobs to maintain our schools,” Walter said. The economic development group purchased a vacant building on Main Street and is renting the space to a call center. Link It is in the process of creating up to 10 jobs.
Another way that the community has been looking to expand its business climate is through partnerships. Over a five-year period, the development corporation will provide the Brookings Economic Development Corporation $25,000 to help bring business in to the community.
“There were a lot of concerns about going with a bigger community because they are just going to take our money and not going to do anything,” Walter said. “But it has been just the opposite. I thought it was a good deal. They have been very supportive of us.”
Another economic development tool being used by the city of Arlington and the development corporation is a revolving loan fund to help with business development. Each has put $100,000 into the pot for that purpose.
Location is another tool being used. The community is located close to I-29, as well as the communities of Brookings, Watertown and Madison.
“We maintain the small community aspect, but we still have a lot to offer,” Walter said. “Arlington has always maintained about 1,000 people. I think that is our comfort level.”
Driving south down Highway 81 is Salem, a community that is just off Interstate 90.
Darwin Miiller has been involved with economic development for more than 15 years in Salem. The goal for the Salem Development Corporation is to procure and develop new and existing businesses in the area. “Like the majority of smaller communities, we have limited resources,” Miiller said. “Sometimes development corporations forget about existing businesses that are around. We try to maintain that happy medium for both.”
While the last couple of years have been tough for communities, Miiller said Salem has maintained.
The community’s major manufacturing companies have closed down, but recently a new manufacturing company has submitted a plan to the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and will open in Salem, according to Miiller. The first year 27 jobs are expected and by the end of the third year the projections are 45-50 employees.
Possibly, the biggest draw to Salem is location. The community is three miles from I-90, which runs east and west throughout South Dakota and Highway 81, which runs north and south from the Canadian Border to the Mexican border.
“We are a bedroom community, but do have services,” Miiller said.
Miiller admits that he thought there would be an exodus of people when Salem’s major manufacturing company closed, but changed that mindset quickly because of the nature of the community. “Anyone who lives in a small town wants to stay in that small town,” Miiller said. “They like the rural living.”
Miiller said future development will be a slow, steady process.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Prostrollo finds economic development rewarding

Jerry Prostrollo has been involved in economic development for more than 30 years and during that time period, the Madison native says it has been exciting, fun and rewarding.
Prostrollo was involved in three major economic development projects: the Dakota State University mission change, Gehl Manufacturing moving to town and rail service reestablished in Madison.
Many people have been involved in economic development throughout the years, Prostrollo said. “One person doesn’t do it all.”
He started in the petroleum business. Then, in 1957, Prostrollo launched Prostrollo’s Auto Mall. He owned multiple dealerships throughout South Dakota and Minnesota. There were 11 employees at the start. Today, that same dealership in town has 80 employees.
His son, Pat, who runs Prostrollo Auto Mall in Madison, remembers how hard his father worked to make the Madison area a better, stronger place to live and raise a family. “He would spend a great deal of his time away from his business on local and state issues and business recruitment, not for his own self interest but for the betterment of the entire Lake County area,” Pat said.
One time Pat hauled two foot pieces of sod from the south side of Lake Herman to build a sod house at Prairie Village. “At the time I wondered to myself, why does he do these sorts of things and why does he care?” he recalls. “Then I got into business with him and realized how important Prairie Village and all the other projects he worked tirelessly on were to the Madison area. He spent weeks, maybe months, recruiting companies like Gehl Industries, Rapid Air, Guerdon’s Mobile Homes, and many, many others.”
Prostrollo retired from the car business 18 years ago. But, it wasn’t long before Gov. Bill Janklow called and asked for Prostrollo’s help.
He was appointed chairman of the REDI Fund. Later, he was appointed chairman of the South Dakota Railroad Authority.
As part of the South Dakota Railroad Authority, he helped secure a $33 million bond that constructed a railroad line to the coal fields. This was essential for the Big Stone Power plant.
That connection with the Railroad Authority also helped bring the Burlington Northern Railroad back to Madison.
“The town needs a railroad,” Prostrollo said.
A railroad allows farmers to export their grain. In addition, the elevator was able to increase storage capabilities and bring fertilizer in by rail cars, helping reduce its costs, Prostrollo said.
“It makes land more valuable and there is potential for economic development.”
Prostrollo was instrumental in luring Gehl Manufacturing to the community in the 1980s. “Bringing the industry to town spurred things on,” Prostrollo said.
And then with the help of Gov. Janklow’s efforts, Prostrollo said Madison was able to save Dakota State University. At that time there were 700 students. Now, more than 20 years after the mission change, more than 2,500 students are attending the university.
A new group now is working on economic development and Prostrollo is satisfied with the direction economic development is moving in Madison.
And Pat is following his father’s footsteps in business. And after becoming involved, Pat said he understood the importance of his father’s activities. “I’m grateful for those values he instilled in me growing up. “You truly can make a difference.”

Monday, April 12, 2010

Parry: A Difference Maker

For the past 15 years, Howard has seen economic success behind the leadership of Rural Learning Center President Randy Parry. Parry will never take credit for any of the success. He considers himself just a facilitator.
However, those who know and have worked with the leader of one of the most successful small county turnarounds in South Dakota will tell you that Parry is a difference maker.
Long-time friend Tom Kilian said Parry brings great energy and tireless enthusiasm to the projects of the moment. “He is sincere, earnest, plainly committed, patient and forgiving. He likes people, is extroverted and friendly,” he said. “He processes quickly and connects the dots that many don’t even see. He is kind and socially concerned.”
Jim Beddow, who is working with Parry at the RLC, said Parry’s leadership and passion for the cause resulted from a conclusion that if he did not get involved his fingerprints would be on the decline of Miner County. “Secondly, and most importantly, he ultimately answered a "call" from within that he should make the move to leave a secure position at the school and lead this effort,” Beddow said. “In my view, he is the epitome of the power and possibility of transformational leadership.”
Pat Maroney said Parry is a difference maker because of the respect he has earned in all the endeavors he has chosen to do in his life. Maroney said that respect has been earned from hard work and a positive and confident attitude.
“Randy has built relationships with the students he taught, the athletes he coached and now with his peers at the Rural Learning Center. Randy's life is a vocation, not a job. The results speak for themselves.”
Parry was raised in Canistota in McCook County, where his father worked as a feed grinder traveling to farms in the area. He graduated from Canistota High School and then went on to the University of Sioux Falls, where he earned a degree in education and business economics. He landed at Howard in the fall of 1970 and continued teaching until 2000 when he helped launch the Miner County Community Revitalization, which today is called the Rural Learning Center.
Parry remembers the first endeavor in economic development involved the school district and the issues the students talked about that were confronting Miner County.
“It wasn’t just economic development. It was leadership. It was conversation,” Parry said. “It was an approach that was saying we have to come up with a strategic plan to grow and to transform Miner County.”
Since 1995, the Rural Learning Center has leveraged $74.1 million in infrastructure and jobs, created a diversified economy that includes wind energy and has developed an assisted living center, children’s care corner and negotiated and saved jobs for one of the largest industries in the county.
Parry said the road to change is not easy, it is sometimes messy work. “It is really difficult to be able to get communities that feel it is hopeless to take time and effort to create a plan for a positive, aesthetic change,” he said. “Sometimes you have to start small – like moving the stumps out of Fedora, but at the same time being strategic about bringing the grassroots of people together to say this is their plan. We are really acting as facilitators.”
Rebecca Mommaerts has been working with Parry for only a few months, but said it didn’t take long to see how truly dedicated Parry is to his community. “His work at the Rural Learning Center is more than just a job to him; it’s a life mission. He’s never off-the-clock; it seems like he’s always working to create and sustain jobs and homes in our community, during the day, at night, and even when he went on vacation recently,” she said. “It doesn’t take long for a person to become inspired when they are around Randy Parry. He works for what he believes in, and believes in his work. Miner County is lucky to have him.”
Tami Severson, who has been working for several years with Parry, said Parry is never afraid to bring key people together to discuss difficult or challenging issues. “When bringing these groups or organizations together he provides an open and honest atmosphere. When openness and honesty are present, and the meetings are about the issues themselves, innovative solutions can be revealed,” she said. “His ability to connect with people on a professional and personal level has built solid relationships with organizations, and most importantly, the people within organizations. People and organizations remember feeling like they were needed in these conversations because he believes they truly were.”

Thursday, April 1, 2010

New development leader adding different spin

Rita Anderson has been the economic development director for De Smet since Jan. 1. Anderson, who had been involved with community development in Colorado, took the job because of how progressive De Smet has always been. During her work in Colorado, Anderson used De Smet as an example of how a small community can thrive.
“The community took a unique historic legacy and developed it into a tourism attraction and now it has really put De Smet on the map,” Anderson said. “We have over 25,000 people from around the world visit us and tour the Laura Ingalls Wilder historic sites each year.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder continues to draw people to De Smet. “Tourism has increased this year where a lot of places have not,” Anderson said.
Another business, De Smet Farm Mutual Insurance Company of South Dakota recently had a $2.5 million expansion. Now there are more than 200 employees.
Then there is the city’s industrial park. Currently, the economic development group will be building a new 10,000 square foot spec building in the business park this spring.
Already, the industrial park has several anchoring tenants including Lyle Signs. The company that makes green interstate signs occupies two buildings and employs 90 people.
Geofurnace, the community’s first green industry, employs 20 people. Geofurnace manufactures geothermal heat pumps.
A custom window manufacturing company, DeSco Architectural employs 32 people. A medical device manufacturer is also part of the fabric of the industrial park. UltiMed employs more than 75 people.
One tenant, C. M. I., Inc, moved from the industrial park to a larger building on the north side of town. Currently, there are two or three open spaces in the industrial park.
Legend Seeds, another large local business which has customers in a 4 – state region, has 46 employees.
“We have a good mixture of businesses,” Anderson said. “All over with small towns you have to have an active economic development to keep a community going. We have been fortunate to be able to concentrate on expanding rather than worry about maintaining. We feel good about the future. The residents and businesses of DeSmet are very progressive and forward thinking.”

Different methods but same hope


Economic development is used to help create jobs for those who live in rural communities. Each community has a different method, but the hope is always the same; create jobs and see a community grow.
Rural Learning Center President Randy Parry said the economic development impact is huge on a community. “Once people understand that it is possible to accomplish change, they then see that the future is not hopeless and they actually see things and are able to understand why change happened,” he said. “They are actually moving and growing.”
The key moving forward is to be more efficient in helping businesses, Lake Area Improvement Corporation Executive Director Dwaine Chapel said. “The cost of doing business hasn’t increased as drastically as the risk of doing business has increased.”
Chapel heads Madison’s efforts to create jobs using a partnership network by helping businesses expand, recruiting businesses, providing incentives for workforce development, helping market Lake County and working with investors in Forward Madison.
The Forward Madison campaign, created three years ago, set a goal of 400 jobs. To date, the campaign has created 360 jobs.
“It has also helped set an atmosphere for company expansions,” Chapel said. “Recruitment is a great opportunity and a very important part of the overall picture, but you need to take care of who is here first.”
Over the past few years, the LAIC has worked on expansion projects with CE Attachments, Integra Plastics and Rosebud Manufacturing. The development group helped create a Tax Incrementing Finance (TIF) District for affordable housing and also worked with James River Equipment and Heartland Consumers Power District in their efforts to move into the Lakeview Industrial Park.
“The community is much more aware of all the things they can do to be part of economic development,” Chapel said. “Each individual industry within Madison is part of economic development. They all become one and this helps the community grow.”
Chapel said there are companies looking to move, but the cost of attracting those companies has increased dramatically.
Forward Madison incentives have helped. These incentives include electric rebates and workforce training in forms of hiring and training incentives, as well as negotiating places for employees to live. In addition, LAIC has put together an entrepreneurial program that helps with business plan development and working with financials.
Howard is constructing a multi-dimensional complex that will have a hotel, wellness center and conference training facility. The focus will be leadership development, housing and economic development, as well as wind and solar training and rural health issues. The building will be a LEED platinum, certified building.
Parry said several communities are calling and asking for help and advice. “This is a place where people can come in and connect, grow and learn from each other.”
The Rural Learning Center’s mission is to create a unique place for people to gather, to converse, and to strategically plan ways of improving the lives of the people in rural America. The building will tie into that mission, according to Parry.
“Not only will it be a place where people can come and exchange ideas and learn, but it will also be a place where people from anywhere in the world will be able to exchange these ideas through video conferencing and Internet access,” Parry said. “We don’t have all the answers. What we do have is to share what we have learned over the years and connect that with other entities that also can help their communities grow.”

Oldham, Montrose involved with success stories

Two area communities are among several across South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska that have had recent community success stories.
Representatives from both communities gave presentations at the 10th Annual Midstates Community and Economic Development Conference in South Sioux City, Neb., last month. The day-long conference focused on successful strategies and innovative ideas to help communities and rural development groups in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.
Amy Condon, who has been working with projects in Montrose, said the main point of their talk was sharing with other communities how they went about starting and sustaining projects.
Roger Eide, who is the mayor in Oldham, said his talk focused on not giving up. “When you start looking at your community you find out there a lot of assets,” he said. “People are our most important assets.”
Oldham has developed a housing development project to take possession of tax delinquent property in the city, clean up the lots and make them available free to anyone who will build a single family home on the property.
To date, five lots have been cleared. In addition, there have been 25 inquiries about the lots and the community has seven applications.
“I think we’ve come a long way,” said Eide, who is also the head of the Oldham Area Improvement Corporation. “We weren’t doing anything as far as any type of development activity in the past. We’re making some progress. It is slow and it is challenging. It takes persistence.”
Montrose has also been working on a community development project. The project provides opportunities for community members for healthy, low-cost product, financial assistance for those who cannot meet their basic needs, education classes and physical and recreational activity.
Three ladies have been spearheading the activities.
Charla Cope has been orchestrating Spudfest, a yearly celebration that provides community spirit. In addition, the community has started Cash for Community program where part of the proceeds to help those who need to make payments, such as utility bills or groceries.
Connie Smith and Condon are both involved in community education that includes computer classes and yoga classes. Condon also spearheads the community garden, where community members grow produce and then distribute the produce through a farmer’s market.
One challenge for the Montrose community was getting people involved. Another was suggesting projects that just didn’t work out.
What the organizers did learn from the project was that the city has community spirit. “People are already asking what day the next Spudfest is because they want to be there and have fun,” Cope said.

Exciting two months for Rural Ventures

In less than two months, Rural Ventures has become an online publication hit.
On Feb. 1, the first issue was launched with more than 340 visits on the web site the first month. Now, when the words ‘Rural Ventures’ are typed into Google, the publication is listed fifth out of more than 4 million different pages. At times, both the PDF that is sent to the partners and the web site are in the top five.
From what I have been told about those who know about how Google and how the web site works, this is good news. It means that people are reading the stories that are being written and more importantly, having opportunities to view our partners’ web sites.
My feeling is there are several reasons why Rural Ventures is being read from people around the country and even as far away as Israel, England and India.
First, there are the stories that are being written and the people that are telling the stories. People are craving stories that enlighten, educate and enhance their everyday life.
Then, there is the network of partners that distribute the publication either by placing a link on their web site or by sending the publication to their distribution list. I have been told by more than one partner that they are behind this venture because it shows that there are good things happening in our communities and our counties.
Finally and possibly the most important aspect is what the publication stands for: “strengthening rural communities by connecting them.” This is our way of helping bring businesses and families back to South Dakota by telling the stories of the people who are in the communities.
And that is exactly what economic development leaders are doing in their communities as you will read in this month’s issue; strengthening their communities by connecting with others who have the knowledge and expertise to help them grow into the future.
Right in our own backyard there is being built a state-of-the-art learning center in Howard. In addition, two economic development trend setters – Jerry Prostrollo and Randy Parry – are continuing to work to bring jobs to communities, but more importantly the younger group is learning from those two and others and carrying on the torch.
And Rural Ventures is just a rural publication that is doing what it does best – telling stories – to help the economic development cause.