Sometimes, growing opportunity in our communities takes more than bringing committed people together in leadership roles. The spark of change sometimes needs to come from outside the community itself—through people, organizations and institutions that add value by connecting and supporting, by enabling others to be more effective. These agents of change are called intermediaries, the middlemen of progress.

South Dakota Rural Enterprise is only one of many intermediaries that can make your development efforts more effective. Other vital intermediaries include planning districts, rural electric cooperatives, regional development organizations and community foundations. All these entities exist to bridge diverse partners and energize them toward a common goal—the goal of progress and prosperity. Each can bring expertise and technical assistance to a community’s development efforts, building capacity and serving as a link to other communities traveling down similar paths.

These intermediaries connect with institutions, communities and sometimes businesses. They sow the seeds of success for our economic future, but intermediaries are not always in the loop in hearing the stories of success that come from our combined efforts.

One of our state’s greatest development opportunities is to share the information about success with others. When we share the news, good ideas and steps to success with other businesses, entrepreneurs and communities, we set the stage to create a culture of confidence. We all need to know, in every corner of South Dakota, that we can succeed, that we can create opportunity and that we have the initiative, the knowledge and the drive to make things happen in our communities.

But first we must share our stories with each other. South Dakota Rural Enterprise wants to encourage and nurture those stories. To do so, we are creating a place on our website to share your stories of success. Our organization does not have to be involved in the project, nor will we take credit for any of the stories shared on our website. Rather, we want to be a clearinghouse for information that will help build that culture of confidence.

To further encourage the sharing of stories, we will be selecting one success story each quarter to receive a $250 cash prize. Just log on to www.sdrei.org for more information. Let’s proudly tell South Dakota’s stories!

2007 AUTUMN REPORT
	Opportunity Dialog focuses on action plans
	Smart communities follow 7 steps to success
	New IDA concept helps low-income families save
	Opportunity Roundup provides nationwide info links
	Let’s be proud to tell our South Dakota stories
	Pilot communities selected for CVAC