By: Bob Mundt, President/CEO
Workforce and talent development, land development and housing are key focus areas for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation in 2022. These three areas define our road ahead and create our work plan as we continue to lead the economic development efforts of the region.
While we will continue to grow our current programs targeted at recruiting young talent — including Talent Draft, Talent Tours, Talent Thursdays and Talent Rebound; we will add to the mix with a new and expanded INTERN Sioux Falls initiative targeting internships at local companies with a goal of attracting over 1,000 interns to the region annually. In addition, we will expand the WORK Sioux Falls electronic marketing campaign to metropolitan areas around the Midwest to attract more workers to the region by connecting them directly with company employment pages. With the support from the State, we will initiate a new UPSKILL Sioux Falls program to assist existing firms with upskilling current employees into higher paying positions within their company, filling critical positions.
We’ll continue working with our middle schools in the STEM initiatives and our high schools with the Career Connections program connecting juniors and seniors with local jobs and advanced training opportunities. The recently announced Health Sciences Clinical Simulation Center on the campus of Southeast Tech will substantially increase the number of health care graduates available for our medical community.
Grading and developing our industrial parks will result in more build ready property and create the critical infrastructure we need to land new and expanding companies. Additionally, we will be exploring the expansion of our parks to include additional land to serve the needs of the future.
Working with the State of South Dakota, the City of Sioux Falls and our housing partners, we will explore our role in addressing the career housing shortage in the region. With the critical need for housing as it relates to the job creation and workforce development initiatives of the Foundation, it is imperative that we find solutions to build more affordable housing. This may include redevelopment initiatives or partnership arrangements with the City, the Development Foundation and private sector developers.
The road ahead is being paved today, literally and figuratively, and the Sioux Falls Development Foundation is proud to be a leader in this growth. We appreciate your support and look forward to a great 2022.