Category: Economic Development

From a new headquarters in northeast Sioux Falls, a homegrown success story quietly has become a major player in the outdoor apparel industry.

Head into Scheels or Dick’s Sporting Goods this time of year and it wouldn’t be hard to find a pair of snow pants or a jacket designed and manufactured through Outdoor Gear Inc., a Sioux Falls-based family business that now counts decades of success.

Sold under the names Boulder Gear, Rawik and Outdoor Gear, “we think an outdoor adventure should be attainable for everyone, regardless of experience or income level,” president Adam Garry said. “Whatever it is, we want you warm and dry doing it.”

Garry’s father, Jeff, founded the business in 1999 after serving as director of sportswear at Raven Industries and ultimately purchasing the division.

“At the time, they were building private-label apparel for the likes of Cabela’s and Land’s End,” Garry said. “A lot of that was being done at manufacturing plants in South Dakota in the 1990s until they got out of that business.”

Jeff Garry “thought Sioux Falls was a wonderful place to do business,” his son said. “Some of his colleagues from Raven came with him to the new company, and they set out to provide feature-rich, value-driven winter apparel.”

Jeff was able to grow the business for eight years before passing away of a heart attack at age 51.

Adam Garry, who had graduated from O’Gorman High School before going to college in Colorado – simultaneously indulging his own love of winter sports – had returned a few years prior and was sales manager of the company at the time of his father’s death.

“Suddenly, I became president of the company,” he said. “My mom, Julie, was in leadership at Citibank and transitioned into an active CEO role with Outdoor Gear.”

It was the peak of their selling season.

“He had taken me on the road with him from the beginning to meet our key accounts, so his relationships really became my relationships,” Garry said of his father. “So much of this is a relationship business.”

Julie still serves as CEO from the Sioux Falls headquarters, while Adam helps lead from a company office in Kansas City. “We believe our success is attributed to the dedication and expertise of our team, who consistently goes above and beyond for our customers.”

While Outdoor Gear operated for years from an office/warehouse on the east side of Sioux Falls, in early 2023 the company moved to a new 55,000-square-foot headquarters in the Sioux Falls Development Foundation’s Park VIII in northeast Sioux Falls.

“It was really out of necessity of growth,” Garry said.

“We’ve doubled our warehouse space and invested in racking and technology to improve efficiency and make it a better work experience for our team.”

The team loves the natural light in the new space, plus a break room big enough for group luncheons and an open area that accommodates meetings with the entire sales team from across the country.

The 16-person team almost doubles in size during peak shipping season.

“And our new space gives us the opportunity for a second phase because we have the land available as we continue to grow,” Garry said. “It’s been great. We’re settled in and have figured out how to make it as efficient as possible, so we’re looking forward to the future and the opportunity for continued growth.”

Outdoor Gear is “a really unique company,” said Dean Dziedzic, vice president of economic development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“It’s a tight-knit, family operation, and they’ve been extremely good to work with. We’re thrilled to have them at Park VIII. They’re a great fit there.”

The company had looked for existing space without luck, Garry said.

“We were incredibly limited until we stumbled on the Development Foundation. The relationship with Dean has been awesome, and having never purchased raw land before, we had no idea the opportunities that existed by locating in one of the development parks,” he said. “He was instrumental in helping guide us through the process.”

The Park VIII location makes logistical sense, too, Garry said.

“It’s a real advantage to be right off I-90 and near Veterans Parkway,” he said. “We’re consistently receiving product and shipping to retailers, so it’s been a great benefit for our trucking team.”

The company’s internal design team engages with independent designers to produce all its own designs and works with manufacturers in Vietnam, China and Indonesia.

Products under its primary brand, Boulder Gear, can be found at the nation’s largest sporting goods retailers, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Scheels and REI, along with independent ski shops.

“It’s everything from men, women’s and kids’ ski pants and jackets to puffy jackets and vests, fleece and handwear,” Garry said.

“We also have a small spring-summer line of basic packable rainwear and continue to look for opportunities to grow that market. But we specialize in feature-rich, value-driven technical apparel for winter.”

Additionally, some apparel is available online through the company’s website, bouldergear.com.

“Wholesale is our main focus, ” Garry said. “We see our website as a resource for the consumer to get awesome knowledge about the product and find their local retailer so you can try the products on and feel it in person.”

The biggest competitor “is Mother Nature,” he added.

“We try to match our product to the evolving winter conditions, and that includes more layering and transitional pieces in the assortment. But winter sports are popular, and cost is one barrier to entry when it comes to learning to ski or snowboard. So we want to make sure our product is built to withstand the test of time and for the outdoor experience whether that is hitting the slopes, sledding, ice fishing, walking the dog or shoveling the driveway.”

The overarching goal “is to be feature-rich and value-driven in all our products,” he added. “That’s both for our customer – the retail store – and the end consumer who uses the product.”

Forward Sioux Falls is a joint venture between the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Sioux Falls Development Foundation and is widely respected as the premier economic driver for the Sioux Falls region. To learn more and connect, click here.

More than 140,000 people packed a trade show in early November for the automotive aftermarket industry – where a Sioux Falls company proved its success is anything but under the radar.

Dakota Digital, which started in founder Ross Ortman’s house in 1986, took home two wins and two runner-up awards from the Specialty Equipment Market Association’s annual event, the SEMA Show, the largest trade show hosted in Las Vegas.

“SEMA can’t recall a single company taking home as many awards in a single year,” Ortman said. “To get any awards at all at that show is huge because it’s the biggest in the United States, so any mention is big – but this is just a massive home run for the year.”

The new hardware caps a memorable 2024 for Dakota Digital, which earlier in the year moved into a new 40,000-square-foot expanded space at its headquarters in northwest Sioux Falls.

About 70 team members are working there, along with 75 in an adjacent building.

“We’ve got good additional expansion capacity for office and production space, but the warehouse is filling in quick,” Ortman said.

“We’re bringing many processes back in house that we had to farm out before because we didn’t have the space either for the processes or the people behind them, so now we’re getting back to being as vertically integrated as we used to be.”

Dakota Digital has become the industry’s leading manufacturer of aftermarket gauges for hot rods, muscle cars, street rods and trucks. It also has a full line of gauges for Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Its recent award-winning products include Velocity Commander Cruise Control, which won Best Engineered Product from SEMA.

“It’s a cruise control product designed especially for the hot rod market,” Ortman said.

“It has all the bells and whistles, Bluetooth integration and great troubleshooting options. It’s a significant improvement over what’s on the market, and we’re starting production this month to begin shipping it before the end of the year.”

The company’s MLX-5000 Universal Motorcycle Gauge System took home the SEMA award for Best New Powersports Product.

“We introduced that instrument cluster specifically for the Harley-Davidson industry, and it’s been shipping for four or five months now,” Ortman said. “R&D is a strong area for us. A lot of our engineers love the industry we work in.”

An original tenant for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation’s Park VII, Dakota Digital was a driving force behind the development park when it opened there in 2003.

“We knew they had an incredibly promising business and wanted to do what we could to support them,” said Dean Dziedzic, vice president of economic development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“It’s been rewarding to watch their growth. The innovation and workforce opportunities that they’re bringing to the market are exactly what we’re looking for in advanced manufacturing employers.”

The Development Foundation “has been incredible to work with,” Ortman added. “They were accepting of opening this park sooner than they planned because they knew we wanted to move in, and over the years, they’ve been phenomenal as we’ve shown plans for our new development.”

Dakota Digital’s new building allows it to double its footprint, bringing a modern feel to the showroom with a lot of glass and natural light incorporated into the design.

“Now that we have this nice, new space, we’re also planning to do some remodeling on our original building to bring it up to the same standards,” Ortman said.

The original building at 4510 W. 61st St. N., will house administrative offices, raw inventory, the machine shop, wire and cable assembly, and instrumentation faceplate printing and lasering.

The new building at 4720 W. 61st St. N. includes the showroom, sales offices, tech support staff, electronic subassembly, final assembly lines, finished inventory and shipping.

“It’s great having production flexibility under one roof,” Ortman said. “We have a very high-mix production environment and being able to be nimble with our production lines is critical. Being able to turn on a dime based on customer demand has been paramount.”

The company also is constructing a 60,000-square-foot building to the north that can be divided into 20,000-square-foot bays for lease.

“We see these as light industrial or warehouse – someone who wants a showroom because it faces toward Walmart,” Ortman said.

Footings and foundations are in, and vertical construction recently started.

“It’s moving along, and they’re hoping to have it completed by the middle of the year next year,” Ortman said. “Interest is good, but anyone who needs something needs it sooner, so we’ll have a shell ready, and we may also build out a space that’s fully move-in ready.”

The space is listed with Bender Commercial Real Estate Services.

Dakota Digital employees are loving the new space, Ortman added.

“We’re just thrilled with how everything turned out,” he said. “We plan to add 10 to 20 people now that we have the room and can bring everything back in house.”

In addition to supporting Forward Sioux Falls and its workforce development initiatives, the company also has worked closely with Southeast Technical College and the CTE Academy to introduce college-age and high school students to its opportunities.

“We’ve done tours to get kids interested early on and let them know what’s available in the industry,” Ortman said.

“The workforce development programs through Forward Sioux Falls and the Development Foundation help us meet today’s needs while Southeast Technical College and the CTE Academy help establish the momentum needed for our next generation of workforce.”

The growth of the business supports the need to continually invest in expanding the team.

“In our world, we have to work harder to stay in the lead, but we’ve always have a good profile in the industry, and the hot rod world is such a hobbyist industry that it tends to avoid the peaks and valleys of the economy,” he said.

Looking back, though, the past five years have been especially strong – with throughput doubling since 2019.

“You don’t always realize it’s happening at that pace as you’re gaining more and more momentum every year,” Ortman said. “We’ve developed a great team over the years, getting all the right people in the right places. That’s allowed us to maintain this growth without completely breaking the system.”

To learn more and connect with opportunities at Dakota Digital, click here.

Forward Sioux Falls is a joint venture between the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Sioux Falls Development Foundation and is widely respected as the premier economic driver for the Sioux Falls region. To learn more and connect, click here.

In 2023, several Sioux Falls community leaders identified an opportunity to maximize the use of riverfront land on the southeastern edge of Downtown Sioux Falls. With its proximity to the river, the bike trail, the Whittier neighborhood, and a growing and prospering downtown, this property was identified as having much greater potential for vibrancy and long term impact for the Sioux Falls region.

This next chapter — the Riverline District — is an opportunity for Sioux Falls to dream big. Our community has done just that, and Forward Sioux Falls has been a part of the ideation and visionary process, and has also provided financial support for conducting a Highest and Best Use Analysis and Economic Impact Study for the Riverline District.

This report was released in early 2024 in tandem with the February announcement of a visionary plan for the community from the Friends of the Riverline District and the City of Sioux Falls. This 2050 vision includes the development of a modern and appropriately sized convention center and repurposing the existing Sioux Falls Convention Center into a flexible public indoor recreation and event space, which will help fill the community’s stated demand for this type of indoor facility.

On July 9, 2024, the City of Sioux Falls released the “Convention Center Review and Market Analysis” for the Riverline District during the City Council Informational. Several representatives from Johnson Consulting, based out of Chicago, IL, compiled the study and presented it to the City Council. This is part of a comprehensive and phased approach to analyzing the feasibility of developing a new convention center at the Riverline District at Tenth Street and Cliff Avenue.

The “Convention Center Review and Market Analysis” by Johnson Consulting shows that Sioux Falls would support a newer and larger convention center at the Riverline District and that it’s a feasible development at that location from a market standpoint.

“Downtown Sioux Falls is growing toward Tenth Street and Cliff Avenue, so it’s important we are strategic in the steps we take now to maximize the potential of the Riverline District,” said Mayor Paul TenHaken. “This market analysis is part of our due diligence with the Riverline District to ensure this visionary plan emphasizes the well-being of our community and economic vitality for Sioux Falls.”

“We continue to see the potential positive impacts the investment of the Riverline District will not only have on the area directly at Tenth Street and Cliff Avenue but also for businesses downtown and throughout the community,” said Lynne Keller Forbes, co-chair of Friends of the Riverline District. “We are taking a multi-faceted approach to this project to continue the momentum of this bold vision for our community.”

To read more about the Market Analysis, click here.

Electronics Systems Inc. will increase its manufacturing space by 60 percent with a new addition that breaks ground this week.

The Sioux Falls manufacturer, founded in 1980, will add an 18,500-square-foot steel structure building to join two separate facilities at 600 E. 50th St. N.

The addition will break ground May 11 at 11:30 a.m. and support manufacturing of high-tech custom electronic circuit board assemblies involving automated equipment, assembly and testing operations.

“It’s being driven by demand,” president and shareholder Gary Larson said. “We’ve seen steady growth in our business, consistently for the last decade, and then after a slight blip at the start of the pandemic, we’ve done nothing but continue to grow.”

ESI provides a full range of electronic manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, in the industrial, commercial, medical, energy, agriculture and biotech markets.

“Nearly everything has electronics in it now, so there’s considerable demand in many industries, but you still have to earn the business,” Larson said. “What we’ve seen is a solid base of customers that we continue to service, and they continue to reward our efforts.”

It all centers around customer service, he emphasized. The goal at ESI is not just good customer service but legendary service. The kind that exceeds expectations and leads customers to tell others.

“Everybody here has the same job, and that’s providing legendary service to the customer no matter what your position in the company,” Larson said. “That’s what we’re focused on, and it’s served us well.”

It culminated in the company being honored with the highest overall customer rating and the Service Excellence Award sponsored by leading trade publication Circuits Assembly.

The designation reflected the highest score in all categories, from quality to technology, value for price, responsiveness, dependability and timely delivery.

“ESI is a fantastic company, and we’re excited to celebrate their success with this expansion,” said Mike Gray, director of business development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation. “We were glad to advise them on the local programs available to assist growing companies as we work to expand target industries in our community.”

One valuable program will allow the company to “stair step up” into the increased property taxes that the expansion will bring with it.

“This allows them to gradually take on that additional cost instead of experiencing it immediately after making a large capital investment to grow in Sioux Falls,” Gray said.

ESI is a strong example of the onshoring business that has occurred since 2020.

“The pandemic certainly made businesses understand the value of a domestic manufacturing partner,” Larson said. “From that perspective, the market has changed, and we’re seeing new opportunities.”

Of course, capturing those opportunities takes people. ESI has grown to 275 employees, but its expansion will require more.

“The job market is tough, and the majority of our workforce works directly in manufacturing – assembly, machine operators and things like that – although we also have staff in engineering, materials and purchasing,” Larson said. “If we find people willing to work a steady shift and in support roles, they can have great success here.”

ESI has worked closely with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation’s Career Connections program, bringing high school students into the production facility to learn more about the opportunities here.

The hope is to encourage more internships and launch a manufacturing technician certificate through Southeast Technical College this fall to build a pipeline of workers directly sourced from high school and offer a way to upskill.

“Nothing we build has our name on it, so students don’t know us and have no idea what goes on in a building like this,” Larson said. “When groups come through, it’s been a fun opportunity to tell our story.”

Larson makes it relatable, teaching students how ESI manufactures electronics that power drive-thru intercoms and interruption controls for emergency response vehicles, for example.

“We relate it to real life – these are things nobody knows about,” Larson said. “We enjoy working with the Development Foundation and are looking forward to getting more traction in our student-focused programs.”

The company is a strong opportunity for workers at all skill levels, said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development at the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“This is a highly automated, tech-driven business that continues to make key investments both in its physical facility as well as in talent,” she said. “It’s a perfect example of how we’re trying to open students’ eyes to the opportunities that exist to learn valuable skills and grow a career without leaving Sioux Falls.”

ESI hopes to open its expansion sometime in the third quarter.

“We’re really focusing on expanding our current capacity, so we’ll add any new equipment we need, and that might increase our capabilities because the technology is ever-changing, especially in automation, so we’re always upgrading,” Larson said.

“And we’ll be hiring to support the expansion. We’re already anticipating it and trying to stay ahead.”

To learn more about Electronic Systems Inc., click here.

Recently, Forward Sioux Falls made the decision to contribute funding to the newly organized South Dakota Trade Association to better serve FSF investors wanting to participate in international trade. Prior to this campaign, international trade had been championed by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation with funding from FSF, SBA, SBDC, and the State of South Dakota. Two years ago, those responsibilities were transferred to USD and the Vermillion Chamber, but with the new support from the state, these efforts will now be handled by the South Dakota Trade Association.

South Dakota Trade will work closely with the business community to navigate international trade for South Dakota and has already secured a $175,000 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to expand South Dakota exports.

“South Dakota products and services are second-to-none and it is my great honor to work alongside Governor Noem, our members, our partners, and teammates to promote them abroad,” said Luke J. Lindberg, President and CEO. “South Dakota Trade will be a vital resource to our farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and small business owners as they navigate an increasingly complicated global economy.”

The new organization will offer four programs:

• Free and confidential business consulting for small businesses looking to export their goods and services.
• Trade missions and reverse trade missions on behalf of the state to develop important relationships with foreign buyers and those looking to do business in South Dakota.
• The State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) grant, which can reimburse a company for expenses related to growing a business overseas.
• Export seminars and courses that will enhance companies’ export-readiness. Classes range from beginner to advanced and can often be covered by STEP grant funds.

“Ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers live outside of the United States,” said Joe Beck, newly elected board chair of the association.

Beck, who is also the executive director of corporate development at Viaflex, an exporter based in Sioux Falls, continued, “We are putting together a team and programs that will enable South Dakota to capture more value across all industry segments and aspects of the supply chain.”

South Dakota Trade is funded by a variety of partners across the state, including local businesses, trade associations, economic development organizations, the University of South Dakota, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

In addition to Beck and Lindberg, South Dakota Trade’s board of directors will be comprised of four additional directors and two ex-officio members:

• Vice chair: Andrea Thompson, Vice President, International Programs, Northrop Grumman
• Vice chair: Holly Lien, Chief Marketing Officer, Pete Lien & Sons
• Treasurer: Jeff Griffin, President & CEO, Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce
• Secretary: David Kiesner, Director of Business Development, Millborn Seeds
• Ex officio: Sheila Gestring, President, University of South Dakota
• Ex officio: Commissioner, GOED

South Dakota Trade is a 501(c)(6) association that navigates international trade for South Dakota. The Association has offices in Sioux Falls and Rapid City. For additional information, please visit www.southdakotatrade.com.