About Ellie Naasz

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So far Ellie Naasz has created 19 blog entries.

Dakota Resources’ Learning Network Honors 2023 Award Winners

At Dakota Resources’ Learning Network Gathering Awards Banquet in Brookings, SD, held on November 3, 2023, three honorees received distinguished awards in appreciation for their service to their communities. This annual tradition, which takes place at the Entrepreneur Support Systems Learning Network gathering, allows Dakota Resources to celebrate the innovative work that is happening in rural places across the state.

By |2023-11-06T22:06:28+00:00November 6, 2023|News & Notes|0 Comments

Do you know what’s behind your community’s historic population shift?

I spent some valuable time this week doing a bit of data discovery about rural communities. In my search I explored an interactive map showing the percent change in total population from the 2010 to the 2020 Census at both the state and county levels. I first zoomed in to view the South Dakota county-level data – it was a mix of blue (growth) and beige (decline) county blocks spread across the east and west sides of our state. I discovered 33 of 66 counties in South Dakota had positive population growth in the past ten years!

By |2023-10-17T13:29:14+00:00October 17, 2023|News & Notes|0 Comments

Dakota Resources Launches Annual Giving Campaign

We believe the future of rural exists here, right now, and that it’s up to all of us to shape it, together. In this spirit, Dakota Resources launched our inaugural Annual Giving Campaign in September, with a goal of financially bolstering our programs and our work to empower rural communities. With an initial goal of 100 supporters by the end of 2023, we’re already halfway there, and today, we ask you – our readers, followers, and partners in a thriving rural – to show your support for us.

By |2023-10-17T11:19:16+00:00October 16, 2023|News & Notes|0 Comments

Learning Network’s Housing Gatherings Spark Tangible Results

While conferences and workshops are frequently offered by all types of organizations and industries, opportunities to truly engage with others by sharing success stories and best practices are comparatively rare.  Every year since 2018, Dakota Resources’ Learning Network program hosts quarterly events known as Thriverr Gatherings. Although our Thriverr Gatherings share some commonalities with a typical conference or workshop, we’ve spent years designing these events to cultivate regular and consistent collaboration and connection for our members.

By |2023-10-16T19:40:35+00:00October 16, 2023|News & Notes|0 Comments

Harvest Hoven: A Community Coaching Story

It’s harvest time here in rural communities across the Midwest and the nation, and it’s that word “harvest” that rings so true for communities like Hoven, South Dakota. While many think of crops like beans and corn as integral parts of a farmer’s fall harvest, the town of Hoven experiences a harvest each day, with the help of Dakota Resources, as community volunteers work together to reach their potential of creating a thriving rural community.

By |2023-10-16T19:28:24+00:00October 16, 2023|News & Notes|0 Comments

Entrepreneur Fund Supports Rural Business in Minnesota, Wisconsin

Success stories are among our favorite tales to tell, and that’s certainly the theme of our work with the Entrepreneur Fund. Like Dakota Resources, Entrepreneur Fund is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that lends capital and provides services in order to diversify the regional and rural economy in northern and central Minnesota and, since 2022, in rural Wisconsin as well. Born out of a need to diversify industry on the Iron Range in the late 1980’s and early 90’s, Entrepreneur Fund was founded with two main priorities: to support entrepreneurs to start and grow small businesses that would create steady incomes for themselves and others, and to renew the entrepreneurial culture in the region.

By |2023-04-26T14:53:19+00:00April 3, 2023|News & Notes|0 Comments

Survey Says Series: Rural Development Relies on Many Hands, Storytelling

Community and economic development work is often complex and can mean many different things. For this reason, Dakota Resources continues to survey our constituents in order to take stock of rural development work in and around South Dakota. In late 2022, Dakota Resources engaged stakeholders in a survey in order to assess the building blocks of a thriving rural community and gather statistics around what economic development organizations throughout the state are doing when it comes to economic development in their service area.

By |2023-04-26T14:54:25+00:00April 3, 2023|News & Notes|0 Comments

Garrett Schweitzer

Garrett Schweitzer is the Market President of Dacotah Bank's locations in Lemmon and Bison. He understands the important role community banks play in rural economic development and takes great pride in helping business owners and farmers and ranchers reach their financial goals. He is active in the community, having served on the Lemmon City Council, Lemmon Area Charitable and Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors, West River Cooperative Telephone Company Board of Directors, and Lemmon Country Club Board of Directors. Garrett and his family love the outdoors and enjoy spending time in the vast, rural areas of western South Dakota and other western states.

By |2023-03-31T15:38:28+00:00January 1, 2023|Board|0 Comments

Ryan Mulder

Ryan is the Sioux Falls Market President for American State Bank. With more than 24 years of experience in the financial services industry, Ryan assumed his current role with the bank in 2018. Prior to American State Bank, he was employed with HSBC/Capital One. He joined HSBC in 1999 as an entry level unit manager. He managed several different departments over the years including customer service and credit bureau disputes. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree from Dakota State University in Madison. He has served as a committee Chair for the Sioux Empire United Way and an 18-year classroom volunteer for Junior Achievement.

By |2023-03-31T15:39:08+00:00January 1, 2023|Board|0 Comments

Lisa Carrico

Attorney, licensed in both Illinois and South Dakota. My practice is primarily business and estate planning. Originally from Lapeer, Michigan. Currently on the Board of Trustees for theBoys & Girls Club of Watertown and Vice-President of the Watertown Rotary Club. As part of my civil service to the community, I am currently the President of the Watertown Municipal Utilities Board and have served as the interim City Attorney for the City of Watertown. Prior to opening my own practice here in Watertown in 2008, I served as General Counsel to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Indian tribe from 2003 to 2007. What I enjoy most about my law practice is helping non-profits and those wanting to start their own businesses and watching them grow and helping them navigate the landscape as they grow and encounter new challenges.

By |2023-03-31T15:41:45+00:00January 1, 2023|Board|0 Comments
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