Sioux Falls Development Foundation awarded $100,000 from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development for workforce recruitment
- February 7, 2022
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.