SFDF shares updates on workforce programs

Posted on February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by leahb

As we look to 2026, we continue to view workforce as a key outcome of the Forward Sioux Falls campaign. The Sioux Falls Development Foundation is excited to report progress on our current workforce programs, and also to share new programs that will help fill the workforce pipeline in the Sioux Falls area.

Career Connections

A misconception about workforce development is that it only involves filling open positions. While this is one of the end goals of our programs, we have strategically started outreach efforts in our middle and high schools to support students and encourage them to seek high-demand careers after completing their high school education.

One of these programs is Career Connections. We’ve partnered with Brandon Valley, West Central, Harrisburg, Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Washington high schools to offer a weekly job shadowing experience that immerses these students into high-demand careers. There’s also an off-campus component that allows students to visit businesses in our key industries. Site visits from the 2021 Career Connections program included Electronic Systems Inc., Deffenbaugh Homes, Marmen Energy, and Grand Prairie Foods.

Many of these students are first-generation Americans and English is their second language. As Sioux Falls becomes more diverse, we must continue to reach these populations. To date, we’ve reached 461 students through this program, and it’s making a difference. Aleyda Callejas Cruz, a Career Connections student, shared why the program has been valuable to her and why she’d encourage other students to participate.

Aleyda Callejas Cruz, a Career Connections student at Lincoln High School.

“Use the opportunities that you get and others wish they had because maybe one day you might give them one.”

If your business would like to host a Career Connections visit, please contact deniseg@siouxfalls.com.

Recruitment Council

On Thursday, Feb. 3, we hosted our first Recruitment Council meeting of 2022. The Recruitment Council is a monthly meeting open to business leaders, HR professionals, and education and career guidance professionals to educate on best practices for attracting, retaining, and developing talent.

The first meeting of the year focused on internships. Attendees listened to a presentation on “4 innovative ways to increase your ROI through internships,” followed by a Q&A panel featuring Dr. Venky Venkatachalam (Dean of the University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business) and Tegan Molden (employee benefits specialist with Marsh McLennan Agency in Sioux Falls). The panel was moderated by Jodi Schwan (founder and publisher of SiouxFalls.Business), and attendees received great insight into best practices for internships as a way to fill their talent needs. If you are interested in joining our Workforce Information Now (WIN) email list to stay up to date on the latest workforce development events, please contact deniseg@siouxfalls.com.

UPSKILL Sioux Falls Program

In August, the SFDF received notification that we’d received a $100,000 workforce marketing and incentive grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). 50 % of this grant is to be used for workforce incentives or upskilling programs. In working with our partners at the South Dakota Association of General Contractors (AGC) and Southeast Technical College (STC), we identified a critical need for enhanced training for first-time Commercial Drivers License (CDL) applicants.

New federal requirements for entry-level driver training for the CDL went into effect on Feb. 7, and apply to all entry-level drivers seeking the following licenses:

Class A or Class B CDL for the first time
Upgrading an existing Class B CDL to Class A CDL
Obtaining a first-time school bus (S), passenger (P) or hazardous materials (H) endorsement

Courses will be instructed through STC and will be cost split between SFDF, GOED, and the businesses participating. This cost structure is stipulated by the grant, but still allows businesses to receive upskilling for their employee(s) at a fraction of what the cost would be under normal circumstances.

Our current partners offering this CDL upskilling include: K and J Trucking, Inc., South Dakota Trucking Association, and Southeast Technical College. If your business has a need for training CDL drivers, please contact deniseg@siouxfalls.com.

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation anticipates launching the workforce upskilling program in April 2022.

Talent Thursday with Brienne Maner

Posted on February 11, 2022February 11, 2022 by leahb

Brienne Maner, executive director of Startup Sioux Falls, joins us for Talent Thursday on February 10, 2022. She shares the latest insights from Startup Sioux Falls as well as her career journey from her first years in Minneapolis to how she found her way back to her roots in Sioux Falls.

SFDF reports recent land sales and infrastructure updates

Posted on February 8, 2022February 8, 2022 by leahb

Recent closings and projected sales

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation is pleased to report recent land sales from Foundation Park and Sioux Empire Development Park VIII. We experienced a strong close to 2021, and are looking forward to a busy 2022!

Closed Sales – 2021

Company	Park	Acres	Sq. Ft.	Start/Completion date
CJ Foods	Foundation Park	141	700,000	Operational Summer 2024
FedEx	Foundation Park	36	337,000	Operational Summer 2022
Muth Electric	Foundation Park	7		Breaking ground Summer 2022
Outdoor Gear	Park VIII	8	50,000	Operational Fall 2022
Presidio Components	Park VIII	13	80,000	Operational Fall 2022
Minnehaha Properties	Park VII	1.49

Closed Sales – 2022

Company	Park	Acres
Site Works	Park VIII	3.46

Sioux Empire Development Park VIII infrastructure update

Located between Benson Road and 60th Street North, Interstate 229 and Sycamore Avenue, Park VIII has seen strong interest within the past year. As a result, the SFDF has identified the need for bringing additional shovel-ready, non-rail sites online.

The expansion of Park VIII involves grading and building out Bahnson Avenue from Benson Road (near the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society) through the park to 60^th St. North. The SFDF has engaged Runge Enterprises as the grading contractor.

The grading began in November 2021, and is estimated to be complete by August 30, 2022. Additionally, the construction of Bahnson Avenue through the park will be bid out in March 2022, with construction estimated to be complete by November 4, 2022.

This project will bring roughly 180 acres of contiguous non-rail lots online, with grading work being done on the 50-acre and 36-acre sites.

The Foundation is excited to continue to advance the goals of Forward Sioux Falls and grow the economy of the Sioux Falls area. Thank you for your continued support of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation!

Dallas couple drawn to Sioux Falls by work, friends

Posted on February 8, 2022February 8, 2022 by leahb

He’s from Kansas; she’s from Indiana.

They met in Dallas, Texas.

And as of the past few weeks, Sioux Falls has now become home.

“It really is a community,” Preston Schraeder said. “We felt that even when we were visiting.”

Preston and his wife, Sherree, discovered Sioux Falls through their friends Tyson and Nikki Ellenbecker.

“Tyson was one of my roommates in dental school at Creighton,” Preston said. “And his family is based in South Dakota, and his uncle has been an owner in Southwestern Dental for about 20 years. Tyson had always said such great things about Sioux Falls, and then it became less joking about it and more thinking it was an option to move here.”

Preston and Sherree Schraeder, and Nikki and Tyson Ellenbecker

As someone without a family history in dentistry, Preston had to grow his own practice. He followed college friends to Dallas, where he met Sherree, who works in medical equipment and supply distribution.

“I went to the University of Texas in Austin for college and didn’t want to leave after graduation,” she said. “I just loved it so much, the weather was great, and I had a job lined up after school, which took me to Dallas where I met Preston.”

But after several years, they determined the Dallas area wasn’t where they saw their future.

“We felt maybe there were better opportunities, specifically for Preston, outside of Dallas,” Sherree said. “There were things that maybe weren’t ideal long term as a place to plant our roots.”

Still, “for us to finally come to the decision that Sioux Falls was a good place for us took a journey,” she continued.

They visited with their good friends several times and got to know the Ellenbeckers’ friends.

“With all the couples we’re friends with, usually one person in the marriage is from here or went to college here and they’re moving back,” Sherree said.

“A lot of them are between 30 and 40 and starting families, and they’ve come back here for a reason, and they like it, and we like these people. So I feel like we’re making a good decision. We’re moving where we have friends, and they’ve created a small community around them, and all those people have been very welcoming and excited we’re moving here.”

The move solidified when Preston unexpectedly had the opportunity to purchase Riverview Dental, where he’s now seeing patients at 2425 W. 57th St.

“My goal is to have a very traditional family practice,” he said. “It has a great patient base already, and we were very lucky to retain almost every staff member. I walked in, and it was perfect, it was what I wanted to create, so it’s nice to not have to go through the growing pains because it’s here and ready to go.”

As a medical hub, Sioux Falls becomes a natural fit for a wide variety of professionals, said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“No matter what your career stage or specialty, you’re going to find a fit here,” she said.

“And for someone like Preston in dentistry, when you consider our growing population, the demand is going to be there. And for Sherree, whether she chooses to work remotely or locally, her skills are going to be in demand whenever she might want to consider her opportunities.”

Sherree is still in the process of moving from Dallas and said her early impressions about life in Sioux Falls are positive.

“I was surprised by how many restaurants and boutiques are downtown,” she said.

“I feel like every time we drive through, no matter what the temperature, people are outside walking around. And I don’t think COVID has caused any places to shut down. It seems like it’s alive and well, and that’s really nice to see. It’s a little smaller than Dallas, but I think there’s a lot here and everyone really loves living here.”

Preston agrees.

“It’s amazing how courteous and kind people are,” he said. “Texas is great and has Southern appeal, but it’s also a big city, and people are moving in from everywhere, and sometimes you get a little lost. It’s crazy traffic. You don’t feel that here. But at the same time, we go downtown and there are great restaurants, and it really does provide.”

For now, they’re glad to have found an apartment and are house hunting in south Sioux Falls. Sherree anticipates it won’t be long before their two dogs are making themselves at home on the city recreation trail.

“We lived near a walking path in Dallas and used it all the time, so I anticipate they’ll be running around Sioux Falls in no time,” she said. “We’ve been given really great recommendations. Everyone’s suggestions have been so helpful, so it makes us feel right at home.”

Sioux Falls Development Foundation awarded $100,000 from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development for workforce recruitment

Posted on February 7, 2022February 7, 2022 by leahb

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation is proud to announce they’ve been awarded a $100,000 workforce recruitment grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

“It’s no secret that workforce is the biggest challenge for businesses right now,” said Bob Mundt, President and CEO of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation. “As the leading organization dedicated to improving the economy of Sioux Falls, we’ve been proud to offer innovative workforce programs, but this grant funding gives us the opportunity to do even more, and that’s something we’re really excited about.”

In August, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) announced a workforce recruitment program to inform out-of-state job seekers that South Dakota businesses are hiring. Communities throughout South Dakota were invited to apply for funding, which was distributed based on the partnership commitment and the quality of jobs available. The initiative is a co-op matching grant, meaning the funds distributed by the state must also be matched by the receiving economic development organization.

The initiative has two components: marketing funding and workforce incentive funding. The marketing dollars will be spent on digital ads to recruit people to join the Sioux Falls workforce.

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation plans to use the workforce incentive dollars to build an upskilling program in partnership with Southeast Technical College. The two organizations will work together to identify critical-need areas in which existing members of the workforce could be trained – also known as ‘upskilling’ – to perform higher-paying, higher skill level jobs. These areas could include: healthcare, building trades, cybertechnology, and biotech.

“Southeast Technical College is excited to partner with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation to continue to fill the workforce needs of our region,” said Robert Griggs, President of Southeast Technical College. “Our organizations have a long history of working together, and we are thrilled about developing another avenue to help fill the gap in the workforce pipeline.”

The grant also requires that businesses participating in the workforce upskilling program also provide matching funds. This allows businesses to receive upskilling for their employee(s) at a fraction of what the cost would be under normal circumstances.

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation anticipates launching their marketing campaign and workforce upskilling incentive program in March 2022.

4 ways to maximize your ROI through internships

Posted on February 4, 2022February 4, 2022 by leahb

What’s one of the best ways your business can attract and retain desirable employees? Internships!

Providing a great internship experience can help you add the right people and skills to your talent pipeline. This webinar provides tips and best practices for hosting an internship that’s successful for both your company and your intern(s).

At the end of the presentation is a moderated panel discussion featuring Dr. Venky Venkatachalam, Dean and Professor in the University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business, Teagen Molden of Marsh McLennan Agency – Sioux Falls, and Jodi Schwan, founder and publisher of Sioux Falls.Business.

Watch the webinar

Interested in being part of our workforce programs?

Denise Guzzetta

Vice President of Talent and Workforce Development, Sioux Falls Development Foundation

Learn innovative approaches to offering internships at upcoming event

Posted on January 31, 2022January 31, 2022 by leahb

Learn how to increase your team’s production and ROI while offering valuable internship experiences at an upcoming workforce development event.

Coordinated by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, this panel discussion Feb. 3 will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Commerce Center, 200 N. Phillips Ave.

Networking will begin at 3 p.m. in the Sioux Falls Development Foundation’s Briefing Center located on the first floor of the Commerce Center. Employers will have the opportunity to meet students from Augustana University, the University of Sioux Falls and South Dakota State University.

The presentation will begin at 3:50 p.m. in the Betty J. Ordal Conference Center on the second floor of the Commerce Center.

“This is a full-circle opportunity for employers,” said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development. “Not only will you walk away with new and inspiring ideas for your internship program, but you’ll have a chance to meet one-on-one with students who could become those future interns or new hires.”

Speakers on the panel will include Teagen Molden, a USF graduate who became connected to her employer, Marsh McLennan Agency, through an internship and has taken on numerous full-time roles since graduation, and Venky Venkatachalam, dean at the USD Beacom School of Business, who has worked with multiple Sioux Falls businesses as well as the Development Foundation to create ongoing work experience opportunities for students.

“If you want to learn about best practices and new ways to think about internships, these are the people to learn from,” Guzzetta said. “Start thinking now to be ready for the interns who will be ready to contribute in a big way to your business this summer or even sooner.”

To learn more and register for the event, click here.

Sioux Falls’ Estimated Population Surpasses 200,000

Posted on January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 by leahb

A city of 200,000

The following is a news release from the City of Sioux Falls.

Upon another strong year of construction, strong job growth, and improvements within our community’s quality of life standards, Sioux Falls continues to see its population increase.

The population of Sioux Falls now is estimated at 202,600, a growth of 6,750 people over the last year. This 6,750-person increase over the past 12 months means the city grew at a rate of 3.45 percent.

Historically, Sioux Falls has averaged a 4,280-person annual increase for more than a decade (2.40 percent annually). In 2020, the city’s population grew by 5,100 (2.7 percent).

The population estimate is calculated by Planning and Development Services, based on a variety of data points from the U.S. Census Bureau and local building permit information.

Know someone who should move here? We can help!

South Dakota ranks 2nd on the 2022 Tax Foundation Index

Posted on January 6, 2022January 6, 2022 by leahb

When it comes to picking a state that has the best business tax climate, South Dakota is always near the top! With no corporate or individual state income tax, it’s a great place to own a business. The Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index revealed South Dakota is the second best state for business tax climate. Curious which other states are in the top ranks? Learn more at the link below.

Move from Idaho leads to Crumbl Cookies manager going ‘all-in on Sioux Falls’

Posted on January 6, 2022January 6, 2022 by leahb

This was the deal: Move his family to Sioux Falls, open a couple of cookie shops and move on in a few years.

Colby Wilson and his wife, Janessa, had never been to the city before when the topic came up last winter. He was a project manager for a health system in Idaho; she was moving toward nursing school.

But when his childhood friend Brock Stokes approached him about helping expand Crumb Cookies to Sioux Falls, he was ready to listen.

“I had been in college at Utah State where Sawyer Helmsley started Crumbl in 2017, and I knew him from playing baseball growing up, so I had kept my eye on Crumbl, and I knew they had something going, and I wanted to be a part of it,” Wilson said.

“Brock told me he had just franchised some locations in Sioux Falls and was looking for someone to manage them, so after talking about what Sioux Falls had to offer, it got us really excited, and my wife and I decided to pursue the opportunity.”

They visited for the first time in early May before making a final decision.

“We wanted to be in the community and go to church and see what it would be like to live here, and we absolutely loved it,” he said. “It was a lot of fun on Phillips Avenue, and we had an opportunity to attend a local church and got to know some folks who were super friendly. Good food, good people, we couldn’t stay away.”

They moved in July and opened Crumbl Cookies at the end of the month to record crowds.

“As soon as the store opened, this community was so fantastic,” Wilson said. “Let’s just say Sioux Falls loves our cookies. It was absolutely insane.”

And the Wilsons soon realized they loved Sioux Falls enough to buy a house right away. They’ve moved into a west-side neighborhood near Roosevelt High School and have connected to the community in a big way.

“We’ve got season passes to the zoo and spent a ton of time there, the Pavilion, Butterfly House & Aquarium. We have a membership at Sanford Wellness, so we spend a lot of time at the pool,” he said. “I’ve started to do a little cycling – I’ve been a runner in the past – and there’s a fantastic trail system, and we love dogs. The dog parks here are absolutely fantastic. And we have two small children, so it’s been fun having access to so many parks.”

They’ve also established a tradition of Sunday breakfast at the Phillips Avenue Diner, explored SculptureWalk and toured holiday lights.

“It’s been tough being away from family, but so quickly we’ve gotten friends and people we consider family,” Wilson said.

The family’s experience is one shared by many others, said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“We hear this continually – once families discover Sioux Falls, they become connected to this community easily and in many ways,” she said.

“In Colby’s case, it’s especially fun to see he moved for a role in the retail industry and is experiencing such a good fit. We have so many outstanding retail opportunities, whether you’re looking to be an owner/manager or grow your career on the culinary or customer service side. You don’t hear as much about people relocating for these roles, so Colby is an example of why it’s absolutely something for retail professionals to consider.”

It has been so busy at Crumbl, Janessa has been helping out there while still exploring options for nursing programs.

“She wants to pursue an advanced nursing degree, and there are tons of options,” Wilson said. “Pick a university, and they’ve got a good program. It’s just tailoring to our schedule and how quickly she wants to go through a program.”

The coming year will bring new developments on the cookie front, too, as the Wilsons are helping open the city’s second store at Dawley Farm Village later in the year.

And as for the original agreement – spending two or three years in Sioux Falls – that could be changing too.

“We truly are enjoying it so much that my wife is starting to talk about five- and 10-year plans and committing to this community,” Wilson said. “We’re all-in on Sioux Falls. We’ve dug ourselves into the community as quickly as possible. We love it.”

South Dakota a top 3 state for inbound migration

Posted on January 4, 2022January 4, 2022 by leahb

In its annual national movers study, United Van Lines tracked which states had the top inbound and outbound migration during 2021. The company shared that the pandemic is likely a reason for people relocating to lower density areas and wishing to be closer to family. As the second highest state for inbound migration, we’re excited to have some new faces in South Dakota!

Learn more

Sioux Falls ranked as a bike-friendly community

Posted on December 21, 2021January 4, 2022 by leahb

Sioux Falls ranks among the nation’s best places for bicycling for the 13th year in a row, according to the League of American Bicyclists. Learn more about the ranking by clicking the button below.

Learn More

Talent Thursday featuring Jesse Deffenbaugh

Posted on December 13, 2021December 13, 2021 by leahb

Talent Thursday with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation is live streamed every Thursday on Facebook at 3 p.m CST. During this 30-minute program, Jesse Deffenbaugh, operations manager for Deffenbaugh Homes, shares about the current homebuilding landscape in Sioux Falls, as well as an inside look at all that a career in homebuilding can offer.

Northeast development park that’s nearly full starts on expansion

Posted on December 7, 2021December 7, 2021 by leahb

A development park in northeast Sioux Falls that has filled up with new businesses this year is going to grow from 100 to nearly 280 acres.

Park VIII is located between Benson Road and 60th Street North, Interstate 229 and Sycamore Avenue. It dates back to the mid-2000s but initially was slow to gain traction, in part because of limited access. That’s changing.

“60th Street North now connects to Veterans Parkway, which also now connects to Interstate 90, so that’s been key,” said Dean Dziedzic, vice president of economic development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation. “It already has easy access and visibility to Interstate 229, and now with our next phase, we’re building out Bahnson Avenue, which I think will mean the land will sell quickly. And it’s a supply-and-demand situation. We just do not see large nonrail sites on the market.”

To put the demand in perspective, of the 625 acres in the foundation’s inventory, 160 acres are shovel-ready. Of that, 100 acres sit along rail lines.

Businesses looking for nonrail, noncontiguous sites can look at smaller lots ranging from 2 to 18 acres – but that’s it. In Park VIII there currently are 16 acres available with a couple of deals in process for small parcels.

“As a community, we don’t have a lot in nonrail industrial sites, so the investment into Park VIII will bring roughly 180 acres of contiguous nonrail lots online,” said Mike Gray, the foundation’s director of business expansion and retention.

One reason for the expansion is the strong interest Park VIII has drawn within the past year.

B&F Fastener Supply, which is based in Minnesota and began its Sioux Falls office in 2008, moved into a new 26,000-square-foot building in Park VIII in July.

The family-owned business is an industrial supply wholesale distributor that specializes in fasteners but can provide many industrial-related products to Sioux Falls and the surrounding area.

“We started with zero customers here. We literally just took a chance, and 2008 was a very challenging time to do that, so kudos to the family for being willing and able to take a risk because it’s really worked out,” said Ryan Shaw, B&F’s executive vice president of sales.

“Sioux Falls has been a fantastic market, and the team there is showing no sign of slowing down. They’re doing great things, and they’ve had tremendous growth.”

The move to Park VIII is the company’s third office since opening in the market. It primarily consists of warehouse space, with some office, and will include about a dozen employees in a combination of sales, customer service and warehouse roles.

“We saw the land as a developing area, and we look for industrial parks with like-minded companies to fit into,” Shaw said. “We feel it’s a good fit. We’d outgrown our previous location, and this will help fuel our future growth.”

The B&F Fastener team calls the new location “a castle,” he joked.

“They love it. There were real space restrictions previously because of our growth and the former location’s layout, so this is phenomenal,” he said. “There’s space to breathe and grow and get our day-to-day operations done more efficiently. It’s especially nice as our team has been barraged with other challenges and continues to navigate them well. We’re just really thankful for them and thankful this location came together for them and for our company as we continue to grow in Sioux Falls.”

Other growing companies also have been buying land and existing buildings at Park VIII.

Grand Prairie Foods acquired a 50,000-square-foot warehouse and office building earlier this year to support its growing breakfast sandwich business line and position it for future growth.

For 18 months prior, the company had been hauling inventory back and forth to a warehouse in Sioux City, “so it’s a nice fit for our business to be able to consolidate a lot of food inventory in one location,” CEO Kurt Loudenback said in announcing the move in early 2021.

The extra land could be used if the company decides to expand production at some point, he added.

Other newcomers to Park VIII include an expansion for a Sioux Falls wholesale provider of winter apparel and a California-based light manufacturer.

The expansion will include building Bahnson Avenue from Benson Road near the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society north to 60th Street North. The plan is to begin grading the 180-acre expansion as soon as the ground thaws in the spring, to be done by July 2022. Other infrastructure work is going to be bid late this year or early next, with the goal of finishing the road work by October 2022.

“These are predominantly going to be large lots, but there will be a lot of flexibility,” Gray said. “We’re looking to target large users, 40 to 60 acres, but there is still opportunity to subdivide.”

While the property is zoned for heavy industrial, warehousing, distribution and advanced manufacturing, “it’s also a gateway to the community,” Gray continued.

“Sanford Health headquarters and Sanford Research are on the other side of the interstate. So we want to target complementary users. Aesthetically, we want to see some nice-looking buildings. Based on what we’re hearing from businesses, we do think there’s going to be interest.”

For information on availability in Park VIII or other Sioux Falls development parks, contact:

Dean Dziedzic

Vice President of Economic Development

Graphic artist with big following chooses Sioux Falls for home base

Posted on December 6, 2021December 6, 2021 by leahb

Graphic artist Clara Meath grew up in Washington, D.C., went to college in Georgia and spent some of the first years of her professional career in Atlanta and the Twin Cities.

Two years ago — well after building a national reputation and a following large enough to fund her comic book projects without a publisher — Meath chose Sioux Falls as her home base.

Why?

“It was the best move for my career at this point,” Meath said.

That may seem surprising, but it perhaps shouldn’t be.

The cost of living is lower in Sioux Falls, for one thing. And Meath can work from anywhere. Her social media fan base — more than 43,000 on Instagram — can explore the worlds she creates regardless of where she builds them.

But perhaps most importantly, Meath said, “they love me here.”

“I mean, shouldn’t that be enough?” she said. “That’s what mutual attraction is all about, right?”

Like any healthy relationship, Meath’s affection for the city has grown with time through shared experiences. She visited on multiple occasions for events like Siouxpercon or smaller gatherings at shops like Rainbow Comics over the years. She had spent a short stint in town already, rooming with one of her sisters before bouncing back to Minnesota.

The 32-year-old has made plenty of connections with fans and other aspiring artists in a city she describes as friendly, genuine and supportive. Siouxpercon is her favorite event, in part because so many of those fans make it a point to find her and say hello.

“Every city has its own personality, right?” she said. “Here, you do have that Midwestern nice thing. People want to engage, and there’s not that impulse to be competitive and cut people down.”

Sioux Falls is also a place where she can be a “big fish in a small pond” and embrace the role of mentor and guide to aspiring artists, both online and in person at events.

Fans can learn a lot about how comics are made from Meath’s Instagram feed. For her current project, “mother 47,” Meath posts her progress on the platform with the hashtag #whoismother47, which acts as a window into her day-to-day work life.

The hashtag’s followers can watch the project take shape in near real time. Meath might post the rough sketches with the shapes of her characters’ heads in one photo and then the finished product in the next panel. Some posts pan between her computer screen and her numbered notes; others are time-lapse videos that show her artist’s hand at work.

It’s an understandable commitment to her fan base, given how important Instagram has been to her recent projects. She’ll pitch them to followers and then direct them to Kickstarter campaigns. The “mother 47” project has raised more than $11,000 in advance funding, for example. Her “Sketchbook” series and her adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Conqueror Worm” also were financed by fans.

Her creative success while based in Sioux Falls shows how the city has evolved as a place to work, said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“Clara’s success on social media and through crowdfunding really highlights how entrepreneurs and artists can increasingly grow their business from anywhere,” she said. “What also matters, though, is what kind of community you’re experiencing when you’re not online. And increasingly, we are finding artists and other creative entrepreneurs are finding people they can connect with and who will support them in Sioux Falls.”

Add in the state’s favorable business conditions and the city’s emphasis on quality of life, and it’s a powerful combination, Guzzetta said.

“A self-employed graphic artist enjoys a favorable tax structure here just like a larger corporation,” she said. “And there are increasing ways to collaborate with other like-minded people, whether it’s within a small business or event, at Startup Sioux Falls or by participating in the growing number of calls for art within the community.”

Meath would not necessarily suggest using an Instagram business model to all artists. It’s just the platform that has worked best for her. She doesn’t spend much time on Facebook nor does she intend to join TikTok. She has a video podcast on YouTube with mentor and collaborator Zach Howard, for example, who has cultivated his fan base on other platforms.

“You have to find what works for you,” Meath said. “Zach has a lot more success on Facebook, which is probably just a demographics thing.”

It’s also not especially surprising that Meath feels compelled to offer guidance to others. She grew up with four sisters in a home-schooled household, where she was taught by her mother, a dancer, and supported by her father, an independent publisher.

Her family and her teachers at the collegiate level offered support during rough patches. Before graduating as valedictorian of the Savannah College of Art and Design’s sequential art program — “sequential art” is an umbrella term for panel-by-panel narrative art forms like comic books and graphic novels — Meath hit a low point, during which she wasn’t sure if she’d finish. Her professors and advisers pushed her to stay on, a “humbling and empowering” experience that still resonates with emotion when she retells the story nearly a decade later.

Showing both the process and the finished product is more than marketing, Meath said.

“I’d definitely say helping newer artists learn is one of my goals, having people who know even a little more than you come alongside you when you’re just getting started is so, so important, so I suspect I feel an obligation,” she said, adding that her best advice for artists is to “know who you are, know your strengths and weaknesses, and lean into both.”

As far as her storytelling goals, that’s a little simpler. As complex, detailed and full as her panels and plotlines may be, the endpoint is always the same: empathy and “the maximization of experience.”

“I want to allow people to mentally experience things they’d never be able to otherwise,” she said.

Meath said she’s glad she has landed in a community that supports those endeavors and one that has grown more supportive of the arts in general.

The slow, peaceful pace doesn’t hurt, either.

“I grew up in D.C., so this place is Candyland.”