The Dakota Rising Fall Cohort Meeting was held November 7-9 in Mobridge. Attending the convocation were 2009 and 2010 Dakota Rising Entrepreneurs Fellows, Site Coordinators from all six Dakota Rising Sites, Program Consultant Jael Kampfe and Mentors Gerald Sherman, Dr. Larry Swain and Kristi Wagner, Dakota Rising Coordinator. All attendees were invited to participate in a tour of 2009 Fellow Tobey Vander Laan's Wild Dutchman Seeds facility in Mound City.

The focus of the fall Dakota Rising conference was on Networking and Mentoring. The theme of the conference adopted by the site coordinators was "None of us are as smart as all of us." Among the topics discussed were employee incentives and hiring, advertising and marketing, cost efficiencies and creative tips for customer service.

The purpose of the quarterly meetings is to foster a conversation among the Fellows about the challenges and successes each encounters in his or her business. By posing practical questions, Fellows exchange solutions and innovative concepts that might be applied to each other's specific situations.

South Dakota Rural Enterprise created Dakota Rising to help cultivate rural entrepreneurs and thereby spur a renaissance of South Dakota's rural economy. Dakota Rising, a continuing program of SD Rural Enterprise, strategically partners with local communities to invigorate rural entrepreneurs and their companies by deeply investing financial and human resources to aid individual development and grow their businesses.

The purpose of Dakota Rising is "to cultivate rural entrepreneurs that invest in themselves, their businesses and the greater community in order to create a culture of confidence."

Dakota Rising is administered by SD Rural Enterprise in partnership with SDSU Cooperative Extension, SD Governor's Office of Economic Development, SD Small Business Development Centers, East River Electric Power Cooperative and the REED Fund, and the Enterprise Institute. Dakota Rising is made possible through the generous support of the Northwest Area Foundation, Citi Foundation, SD Community Foundation, Home Federal Bank, First Interstate Bank, Dacotah Bank, East River Electric Power Cooperative and the REED Fund, and individuals committed to entrepreneurship development in South Dakota.

For more information on Dakota Rising or other SD Rural Enterprise programs, contact Dakota Rising Coordinator Kristi Wagner at 605-978-2804 or e-mail kristi@sdrei.org.

2010 WINTER REPORT
	New Markets Tax Credits impact Dakota towns
	Don't look back-set goals for tomorrow
	VanHofwegen named managing director for Dakotas America
	Focusing on our purpose makes us more effective
	Capital Investment Fund reaches $12 million
	Entrepreneurs exchange ideas at Mobridge meeting