What We Do

Led by our team of Community Coaches, Dakota Resources works to level up the capacity of rural leaders, economic development organizations, and rural communities through inclusive and effective products, processes, and strategies. We begin by asking questions that help us understand the unique needs of each leader, organization, or community. As we learn more, we expand the circle of influence and engage more community members to co-design what is needed to help the community move toward thriving.

Customized Coaching Services

While our work is highly personalized to each entity we serve, some examples of our Community Coaching services include:

• 1:1 coaching
• Leadership development
• Self-assessments for boards, organizations, and communities
• Strategic Doing Project Team Coaching
• Community Visioning Sessions
• Community conversations
• Core leadership team development
• Board training workshops
• Board Strategy Retreats
• Empower Community Coaching (commitment: 24 months)

CO.STARTERS

Dakota Resources partners with regional economic development organizations in five rural South Dakota communities – Watertown, Yankton/Vermillion, Aberdeen, Mitchell, and Brookings – to host CO.STARTERS cohorts and weekend bootcamp events through May 2024. CO.STARTERS is a business accelerator program that is designed to provide entrepreneurs with the insights, relationships, and tools to turn ideas into action and to build sustainable businesses.

Thanks to a $1M grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Dakota Resources acts as a rural spoke in the Community Navigator Pilot Program to bring CO.STARTERS to rural areas in order to create an ecosystem of rural entrepreneurship. Learn more about the CO.STARTERS program here. To register for a CO.STARTERS program, click the button below.

B.O.L.D. Framework

We’ve created B.O.L.D.: A Framework to Build Organizations for Local Development. This program engages board members in capacity-building activities that level-up your organization’s ability to create a thriving rural community. Over a six month time frame, you will commit to eight facilitated training sessions, connect with an online network of other economic development leaders, and create next steps to strategically carry out your mission. Dakota Resources will work with 20 South Dakota economic development organizations in 2023 and 2024 through this program. Through our partnership with South Dakota Community Foundation, the only expenses the economic development organization will be responsible for is travel costs for our facilitators.

Timeline of B.O.L.D.

• Introduction: Ready to Launch, Month 1
• Phase 1: Gathering the Facts, Months 2 & 3
• Phase 2: Exploring Gaps & Opportunities, Month 4
• Phase 3: Organizational Mission Moves, Months 5 & 6
• Phase 4: Activating Next Steps (optional)

Learn more about the B.O.L.D. Framework by watching our Information Session recording.