In our continued efforts of championing rural economic and community development, South Dakota Rural Enterprise is compiling and sharing Community Success Stories that are a celebration and inspiration for other communities throughout the state. Click here to download a Community Success Story submission form, and read on to discover how South Dakota communities are succeeding in their development goals.

Area Community Education (ACE) Program - Mobridge, SD
Thanks to a new program in Mobridge, area residents can now learn basic computing skills, yoga, tumbling, or French cooking. These are just some of the classes being offered through the newly created Area Community Education (ACE) program. The ACE program is a direct response to community input received by the participants of the Creating a Value-Added Community (CVAC) process implemented in Mobridge last year. Click for more...

Campus Renovation Project - Gary, SD
The recent private purchase of the former School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Gary, SD, has brought about hope and promise for the once proud structure. For the past several years, many community members have had an avid interest in seeing the former school restored to its former state. With a planned celebration for the facility scheduled for July 4, 2009, local residents should start seeing rapid improvements to the campus and buildings. Click for more...

Native Discovery Tours®
This collaborative project promotes partner areas in the Cheyenne River, Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations as destinations for travelers in an effort to boost local rural economies, sharing the history, culture and tradition of the Lakota culture while creating a positive economic impact in communities found in the partner areas. Native Discovery Tours® promotes events, attractions, artists, historical sites, stories and local businesses to visitors. Click for more...

Sanborn Central communities share strength
The citizens of the towns of Letcher, Forestburg, and Artesian had the Sanborn Central school system to draw them together. But they also had more in common. Horizons II, a program of the SDSU Extension Service and funded by the Northwest Area Foundation, is helping the Sanborn Central communities share ideas and work together on several projects. Click here for more...

Ranchers Livestock Equipment & Welding LLC - Gregory SD
The task at hand was to convince Ranchers Livestock to build a new fabrication plant and expand their business from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Gregory, SD. If the local BID group could successfully recruit Ranchers Livestock to Gregory County, it would serve their goal of creating new employment opportunities, stabilizing income and helping stop the outmigration of a quality workforce. Click here for more...

Lakota Fund, Pine Ridge – Entrepreneurship: Heathershaw Designs
Lakota Fund is a Community Development Finance Institution promoting socio-economic sustainability for the Oglala Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. One dimension of the Lakota Fund’s work is supporting aspiring entrepreneurs. It is this mission that brought Lakota Fund’s Jo White and Marquitee Heathershaw, owner of Heathershaw Designs, together. Click here for more...

Centerville Millennium Addition Housing Project
The goal of the Centerville Development Corporation’s 15 lot, affordable housing project was to provide high quality, affordable housing opportunities in Centerville, in an attempt to attract young families to our community. Click here for more...

A plethora of projects in Parker
Over the last four years Parker has built and established many development projects that will aid in Parker’s growth for years to come. Among the projects are an affordable housing development, athletic complex expansion, a bike path, community marketing plan, and a multigenerational center. Click here for more...

Design: South Dakota - Project Corsica
The “Design:South Dakota” team was created to help small rural communities in South Dakota to gather and connect many visions for designing a better future. Design:SouthDakota is a three-step process of mixing local history, culture and knowledge with expertise and experience from outside architects, engineers, designers and community development practitioners. Click here for more...

Submit your own Success Story

Send us your own success story to share. - click here to download the Community Success Story submission form.

 

Click here to return to the Community Success Stories.