Dakota Rising, the entrepreneur development program of South Dakota Rural Enterprise, is transforming the way in which six South Dakota areas approach economic development. The driving force that brings community leaders together with local, regional and statewide business resources is the Dakota Rising Entrepreneur Fellowship. The Fellowship award includes a $10,000 grant, but more importantly the Fellowship provides peer support to entrepreneurs committed to growing their businesses and their communities.

The six Dakota Rising Sites are 57735 On The Rise, serving Fall River County; Dakota Rising Aberdeen, serving Brown County; Faulkton Area Economic Development Initiative, serving Faulk County; Four Bands Community Fund, serving Dewey and Ziebach Counties; Glacial Lakes Dakota Rising, serving Day, Marshall and Roberts Counties along with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Lake Traverse Reservation, and Spearfish Dakota Rising, serving the Spearfish area zip code.

"The future of rural communities is dependent on the success of the people who already live and work there," said Beth Davis, President of South Dakota Rural Enterprise. "Through business visitation and community conversation around the issue of business retention and expansion, local Dakota Rising leaders focus attention on the investment necessary to grow their economies and their communities."

And the Dakota Rising Fellows are growing their communities. During the first three years of the program, the Fellows' businesses have, in aggregate:

• Increased assets by 50%.
• Increased revenues by 14%.
• Added 24 full-time employees earning over $13.93/hour.
• Taken their businesses from a loss to a seven-figure profit.

Dakota Rising Site Coordinators and resource teams engage in a variety of activities that help strengthen businesses in their communities. They host networking events and trainings, engage young people and match local business owners with local, regional and state resources. Dakota Rising participants are cultivating a retention and expansion system for entrepreneurs and local business owners through the selection and nurturing of Entrepreneur Fellows in their Sites. The Dakota Rising Entrepreneur Fellows for 2011 are Alan Bakeberg, Ranch House Café, representing the Four Bands Community Fund Site; Joshua Fritz and Jeff Drumm, Crow Peak Brewing Company, and Dee Sleep, Chicken Creek Communications, representing the Spearfish Dakota Rising Site; Lori Holt, Quilter's Corner, and Chad Homan, Homan Welding, both representing the Faulkton Area Economic Development Initiative; Tom Hurlbert, Hula Design, from the Dakota Rising Aberdeen Site, and Jenny Nelson, Sisseton Flower Shop, chosen from the Glacial Lakes Dakota Rising Site.

For a profile of the 2011 Entrepreneur Fellows, go to www.dakotarising.org.

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