Want to do something grand? You’re going to need a grand plan. That’s the idea behind the Stronger Economies Together (SET) program, which helps multi-county regions create high-quality plans for collaboration that improve their economies. Read More »
Blog Archives
What’s possible: Communities find strength through regional partnerships
Some South Dakota communities have decided that community development work sometimes goes better when they look beyond their own borders. Read More »
What’s possible: Quarterly meetings help economic developers help one another
Economic development in the Dakotas often extends beyond the boundaries of a single community, either for financial or geographical reasons, but sometimes even those groups benefit from further collaboration. Read More »
What’s possible: Cross-marketing helps region grow its tourism
A half-century ago, three northeastern counties realized they would be stronger working together. Read More »
Exchange aims to link growers, producers, consumers of specialty grains
Dan Avery of Alcester, S.D., is working on a new model for connecting the growers and producers of specialty grains with the people who want to buy them—helping farmers make more money, and helping consumers more easily find those specialty products. Read More »
What’s possible: Cooperatives plug in to regional relationships, development
In the 1930s, electric cooperatives took a gamble and invested in the rural Dakotas—an area that private power companies had deemed too risky. Today, however, the investment is literally paying dividends to the cooperatives that took a chance on rural farmsteads, and those who live and work in those areas. Read More »
What’s possible: Cooperating pays off in Ipswich
A decade ago, Ipswich, S.D., faced a problem all too common to rural Midwest communities. Read More »
South Dakota teens turn Big Ideas into big proposals
This year’s Big Idea Contest was filled with “real possibilities,” according to organizers. Read More »
Community Spotlight: White Lake
White Lake, S.D., may see itself as a “bedroom community” to nearby Mitchell and Chamberlain, but the town of 450 has found its own ways to stand strong. Read More »
Dakotafire Café: Building relationships between ages set as a goal
Residents of Doland across the age spectrum say they are interested in each other’s lives, but youth and adults don’t always connect with one another as much as they would like. Read More »