On January 15, Dakota Resources marked a major milestone: 30 years of connecting capital and capacity to empower rural communities.

The day brought together community leaders, team and board members, partners, and supporters in Pierre for conversations at the Capitol and an evening reception celebrating the people and partnerships that make rural progress possible. It offered a meaningful look back at the impact created through our partnerships with rural organizations and local leaders, and a look forward to continued support for the projects and people shaping South Dakota communities for years to come.

30 years of seeing what’s possible

Dakota Resources was founded on January 2, 1996 by 13 South Dakotans to help fill a financing gap and support the work of rural economic development organizations. Since then, we’ve assisted more than 150 rural communities and organizations in South Dakota and other rural places nationally and helped move capital directly into local hands.

The results speak for themselves:

• $90+ million in loans committed to rural economic development organizations
• 35+ investors supporting the loan fund
• 150+ rural communities and organizations engaged in Dakota Resources programming
• $535 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocation authorized to qualified low-income community investment projects

But the story of Dakota Resources has never been about “capital only.” It’s also about strengthening boards, skills, and peer networks that help rural leaders learn faster and lead with confidence. This is the “capacity” piece of what we do.

As we shared during the anniversary announcement, the real drivers of rural progress are the local leaders that we get to partner with and who show up every day for their hometowns: ultimately, people who improve rural communities are those local leaders who are working every day to help their community thrive.

A proclamation to honor the milestone

During the evening reception, Governor Larry Rhoden helped open the program with remarks and a proclamation recognizing January 15, 2026 as “Dakota Resources’ 30th Anniversary Day” in South Dakota. He said, “As a lifetime South Dakotan, I appreciate your work.”

Spotlight story: Tripp’s momentum and what partnerships make possible

A highlight of the reception program was Board Chair Caleb Finck sharing the story of Tripp and what can happen when connection, capacity-building, and access to flexible capital come together at the right time.

As Caleb put it, Dakota Resources partnered with Tripp by coming alongside local leaders and residents to ask the right questions: “They came in and worked with us and community members and tried to say, what would you do differently? How can we turn things around? It’s not Dakota Resources that does the work, but it’s the community members in the communities that we work in that do the work.”

And the results in Tripp are visible today. “We have new houses going up and we have a thriving grocery store. Our school district has grown in enrollment year after year for the last couple of years, and we’ve really turned things around,” Caleb said. “We’re now a capital borrower from Dakota Resources because we’re putting up more housing. We have new residents moving to Tripp. Those are the impacts that Dakota Resources can have.”

That’s the Dakota Resources model in motion: pairing leadership growth with tools that help communities take action and “do the work”.

A special thank you to partners and a 30th-year Champion Sponsor

The reception also made space for recognition of the wide ecosystem of partners (communities, investors, board members, advocates, and supporters) working together to make all of this work possible.

We highlighted the importance of long-standing financial partners like Dacotah Bank, and announced that Dacotah Bank will serve as the Champion Sponsor for Dakota Resources’ 30th anniversary activities.

Dacotah Bank brings a shared belief in rural communities, helping pool capital that Dakota Resources can re-lend for local projects, while also showing up as engaged partners beyond the dollars.

The celebration continues: 30 stories for 30 years

This Capitol Day was the perfect kickoff celebration for our 30th anniversary year.

Throughout 2026, Dakota Resources will be sharing “30 Stories for 30 Years”. These will be past and present snapshots of rural momentum, local leadership, and the partnerships that help communities.

Because after 30 years, the heart of our work remains the same: helping rural leaders turn good ideas into real progress — and building the networks, capacity, and capital to make it happen.