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.

My short answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Decision making can and, according to my experiences, is best when both intuitive and data driven. Let me share a small-town story about how intuition and data can improve decisions.

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.

Last week, Dakota Resources launched a new website to better serve rural shapers. The website, which can be found at DakotaResources.org, offers an improved user experience, both on desktop and on mobile, and features a more intuitive navigation menu and pages that are better suited to our work today.