Author: leahb

As Zack and Val Jensen drove across the country from Washington to their home in Virginia, the exit for Sioux Falls and the beginning of a world hockey championship happened to align at the same time.

So the Jensens pulled off the interstate, found a Buffalo Wild Wings and spent the night in Sioux Falls.

Before they hit the road again, they visited Bread & Circus Sandwich Kitchen downtown and took a brief look around the city.

“We visited the Falls and drove around and thought it was a cool city,” Val said.

Little did they know, they’d be back.

Months later, a recruiter reached out to Zack, a doctor who specializes in osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal medicine.

“Have you ever heard of Sioux Falls?” the recruiter asked.

It seemed meant to be.

They moved here last summer, and Zack has started seeing patients at the newly built Allure Health in south Sioux Falls.

“I thought Dr. Jeremy Storm had a really good vision for the clinic,” he said. “I tend to be more lifestyle-focused, and the opportunity to join a physician-owned group instead of working for a health system was appealing.”

Zack, 44, grew up in California and joined the U.S. Air Force Academy – a career that brought him to Italy, Texas, South Carolina and Arizona before he went to medical school, did residency in Kentucky and ended up in working in Virginia, where he met Val as a master’s student at Liberty University.

Her journey is even more incredible – and timely.

She grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on the border with Russia. She began playing hockey at age 6, playing “seven years at a high level with boys” and had an opportunity to come to the U.S. for to play at 13, until there was a problem with her visa.

“So I had to change sports,” she said. “My brother was really into boxing, so I decided to try that.”

Three months later, she was a national champion in her class. She spent six years on the Ukraine national boxing team, winning three medals in 2015 at the World Goju-Ryu Karate Championship in full contact and even qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics before an injury requiring surgery sidelined her.

“I switched back to hockey because I really missed it,” she said. “I said if I’m not going to come back now, I’ll never try to pursue my dreams, and I ended up playing pro hockey. I played in Russia for a year, Canada for a year and then committed to Liberty University to play college hockey, and that’s how I ended up coming to the U.S.”

At age 24, she’s continuing to pursue her hockey dreams. She commutes from Sioux Falls to the Twin Cities multiple times a month to play for a team in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, playing alongside Olympians and others at the top of the sport.

“I drive four hours there and four hours back, and it’s crazy, but it’s the only way I can do it and keep playing hockey because Sioux Falls doesn’t have it yet and Minneapolis is pretty big on hockey.”

She is becoming connected to the local hockey community, though, and is excited to help it evolve.

“I’ve started to coach, so it’s great, and Sioux Falls is growing bigger every year, and I’m excited to see how it will explode here,” she said.

She’s even using her expertise in the sport to support her home country, where her mother, brother and many friends still live.

“I’m on the phone with them every other day,” she said. “My mom is in a safer spot, and my brother is on the border with Romania helping families and people move out from hot zones, so he’s engaged in a community that helps people, and I try to help from here as much as I can through skill session fundraisers.”

While in Ukraine, she attended law school before coming to the U.S. and worked with the local government in Kharkiv on various projects.

“We brought some changes to the law and were focused on how to make my city a bigger and better place for youth to live and how I would develop sports in the city,” she said. “It’s so painful to see because I grew up there and sort of helped to build that city. I did projects with those kids, and now they’re bombing those kids, so it’s been rough.”

She hopes to bring similar efforts to Sioux Falls.

“I’m excited to get involved in Sioux Falls to help build an even bigger sport community here,” she said. “I think it’s a really great town. I really enjoy the community here. There are a lot of great young people who are starting their business and a lot of opportunity to grow your business, and I think it’s going to be great to be in a smaller town but have the ability to grow it bigger.”

Her husband agreed.

“It’s a top city for entrepreneurship and growth, which is something we were looking for,” he said. “I really like the people I’ve worked with so far. And we’re getting to know a lot of people.”

He plans to serve in the South Dakota Air National Guard, and they both enjoy hiking, hunting and fishing nearby.

“We just couldn’t be more happy to welcome the Jensens to Sioux Falls,” said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“They have highlighted so many of the reasons that make this community attractive to those at all career stages and backgrounds. This is an incredible place for medical professions, entrepreneurs and people with a passion for sports and becoming involved. We can’t wait to see this couple continue to make their mark here.”

No matter what your industry, there’s likely talent waiting to support your business – if you know where to look.

“We understand that workforce is a shared, significant challenge for our business community,” said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“Our approach is to try and turn that challenge into an opportunity as we help businesses find the talent they need now and in the future.”

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation takes a multifaceted approach to doing that, beginning before students graduate high school and continuing through their college experience.

Career Connections

When a student is exposed to work opportunities while still in high school, it can make a strong impression that resonates well after graduation.

The Development Foundation launched Career Connections in 2020 as a pilot program. It’s designed for the 30 percent of high school students who have little to no post-secondary plans, serving as an introduction to industries and careers within the Sioux Falls region.

Starting with 59 students rotating through five organizations, the program has grown quickly in popularity among educators, businesses and students, reaching more than 400 students who chose among 38 firms in 2021.

“The response has been tremendous from our community. Our partner organizations see the value of investing time and resources to expose them to the career and educational pathways available to them in the Sioux Falls community,” Guzzetta said.

One of those partners is Graham Tire, where students learn about opportunities in the auto industry.

“We need workers,” president David Mickelson said. “This program has opened the employment pipeline to high schools, which is something we needed to do.”

The data behind the program is encouraging. Career Connections has helped 72 percent of high school seniors with post-secondary and employment plans after graduation.

Lincoln High School seniors Abshir Ibrahim, Kishmar Eberline, Aleyda Callejas Cruz, Christina Furula, Alfred Toe and Junior Meselu are some of the many college-bound students thanks to their participation in the Career Connections program.

“Use the opportunities that you get and others wish they had because maybe one day you might give them one,” said Cruz, talking about what the Career Connections program means to her.

Cruz plans to study business at Southeast Technical College.

Ibrahim, inspired by his visit to LifeScape, applied and has been accepted into the University of South Dakota’s nursing program.

“Working directly with the teachers and students has enabled us to identify barriers and apply resources and help immediately to the students,” Guzzetta said.

The Career Connections program is available in six of our community’s largest high schools. The program is looking to expand next year to help define more career and educational pathways for students after graduation. To learn more about participation, email deniseg@siouxfalls.com.

Connecting in college

As students advance through college, the Development Foundation continues to connect them with Sioux Falls and the career opportunities available here.

When the pandemic began in 2020, the Development Foundation innovated and flawlessly transitioned programming from in person to virtual.

Digital enhancements included establishing a strong presence on Handshake, the largest collegiate online network dedicated to underserved students and alumni. This platform has simplified the communication and engagement process with administrators, professors and students.

“We enabled several ways to help organizations to connect and engage talent using Handshake, from programs, internships and employment opportunities,” Guzzetta said.

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation’s Handshake network has grown to more than 2 million students in less than two years.

For in-person experiences, new approaches to internships are becoming an innovative way for businesses to establish relationships with future employees.

In the fall 2021, the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and the city of Sioux Falls collaborated and launched a pilot micro internship program with the University of South Dakota’s Beacom School of Business.

Over eight weeks, the Sioux Falls Development Foundation helped 30 very motivated, talented college juniors and seniors with placement. Students engaged in intensive learning projects and experiences in financial services, construction, land development, manufacturing, government and nonprofits to apply knowledge to practical and real-life work experiences.

“Internships are increasingly becoming more the norm for students of all ages. Internships are evolving to year-round experiences for students,” Guzzetta said. “We are at the beginning stage with these experimental experiences, seeing demand increase daily for micro and project-based internships.”

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation plans to build on the robust internship program this year, with more students from USD and a new cohort from Augustana University to help smaller and midsize businesses attract the talent they need.

“Now is the time to get connected, so we can begin bringing talent into your organization that will help meet your workforce needs today and in the future,” Guzzetta said. “We’re making a difference both for students and for businesses, and we’re positioned to build on that success.”

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.

 

“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.