Family leaves Las Vegas hospitality scene for Midwest move to Sioux Falls

When a Broadway tour, a concert or a special event decides to come to the Washington Pavilion in downtown Sioux Falls, John Jenkins is among the first people to interact with the organizers.

“I’ll go over all the technical details like lighting and sound and audio, and then I’m one of the main contacts when they arrive to make sure they get set,” said Jenkins, who became the technical services manager for the Pavilion and Orpheum Theater Center late last year.

“I’ve been very lucky to find the right position at the right time.”

In this case, the role at the Washington Pavilion prompted Jenkins, an Omaha native, and his wife, Melissa, to move their family halfway across the country from Las Vegas.

“I was looking for jobs and hoping to move back to the Midwest,” he said. “Vegas is great, but it’s not child-friendly. It’s not an ideal place to raise kids.”

His experience in producing live events began as a teenager when he accompanied his mother to a beauty pageant and ended up working for the production company traveling the region.

After high school, he worked in corporate audio-visual production in Oklahoma and then hotel event production in Omaha before moving to Las Vegas where his parents had relocated.

“I had the opportunity to run MGM Resorts’ corporate operations for all their hotels, helping centralize their corporate AV and production,” he said.

After supporting operations at well-knowing properties, including MGM Grand, Bellagio Hotel & Casino and ARIA Resort & Casino, he moved to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to lead entertainment production.

“So I got to work hand in hand and was the main contact for any concert that came in the building — Eric Church, blink-182, Guns N’ Roses — and it was by far my most fun job ever,” he said.

Finally, he landed at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in an operational leadership role that included more big-name concerts and fights.

“I stayed there until COVID and then took a little break from the entertainment world,” he said. “It’s taxing on families just because of the hour requirements, so I found a new job as director of operations for an automotive software company for six years until the owner sold the company.”

After decades growing their careers — Melissa spent 20 years in leadership roles at The Venetian Resort — they wanted a move but knew it would be tough to match the pay of Las Vegas in a smaller market.

“There’s a change in pay because of cost of living, but we didn’t want to lose that much, so we started looking for states that didn’t have personal income tax,” Jenkins said. “So it wasn’t a dramatic change for us.”

He has family in Minneapolis and Omaha, “so I figured Sioux Falls was a great middle position,” Jenkins said. “My parents still live in Vegas, and they came for the new year to my house, so my sister drove from Minneapolis and my brother from Omaha, and it was a nice central meeting point.”

The role at the Washington Pavilion “offers a very diverse clientele,” he said. “There’s some rental, some concerts, Broadway, so it gives me diversity. And I’ve never done Broadway, so that’s something interesting I can learn that creates a little challenge.”

He’s also impressed by his colleagues in Sioux Falls.

“I have an amazing crew here — very talented,” Jenkins said. “Technically, this crew is very qualified. Any of these people could go to Vegas and succeed in a larger market, and it’s nice to have that in a smaller market.”

The connection to the Washington Pavilion also has created immediate opportunities for his family, including a 9-year-old and 3-year-old, to enjoy indoor activities with the winter move to Sioux Falls.

“My wife brings them two or three times a week here to get out and play around,” he said. “My daughter just started with sports and theater classes.”

The family joined many this holiday season in taking in a record-setting performance of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” at the Pavilion.

“The Pavilion is very involved in the community, and we’re impressed how much Sioux Falls cares about the arts and how much they’re doing for the arts,” Jenkins said. “I love the food downtown — I haven’t found a bad restaurant yet — so we’re enjoying ourselves, and I think we will even more once the weather warms up.”

They found a west-side home to rent while they’re getting to know Sioux Falls and have enjoyed becoming part of their neighborhood elementary school, he said.

“Nothing is very far in Sioux Falls,” Jenkins said. “It’s not like Vegas where we’d drive an hour to get somewhere. It’s a 15-minute drive to work for me, and the school is right there near where we live. Every school we looked at seemed great. In a bigger city, that could be an issue, but here they have a great public school system.”

His wife, who has a bachelor’s degree in project management and a master’s in hospitality, has been exploring her options in Sioux Falls too.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Jenkins family to Sioux Falls,” said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“John and Melissa both bring such high-level experience and skills to our community, so it’s wonderful they discovered what Sioux Falls offers. You can easily see how our mix of a family-friendly city with accessible cost of living and career opportunities can be the perfect fit.”

Jenkins already is sharing the benefits with others too. His oldest daughter remained in Nevada for nursing school and will be looking for a place to grow her career.

“She’s gotten a lot of scholarships, but I keep saying there’s great opportunities in Sioux Falls if you want to be close to Mom and Dad,” he said.

If you’d like to learn more about growing your career and family in Sioux Falls, email deniseg@siouxfalls.com.