At Dakota Resources, we are always looking for ways to grow the capacity of economic development leaders and organizations. Part of that capacity building is making sure that rural economic development leaders and organizations are taking advantage of all the technology and tools available to them. As AI continues to become a greater part of the business and nonprofit landscape, we want to offer opportunities to learn together.

There are some exciting opportunities we want to promote that are happening right now. See the different ways to engage below.

Survey: Help Us Support You

As we continue to develop content and learning opportunities for rural economic development organizations, we want to get a sense of the level of use and engagement with AI tools. Your response to this survey will helps us figure out how to best support you going forward. Responses will be kept anonymous and only reported as an aggregate.

Please respond to our survey by August 28th.

Thriverr Gathering: Using AI in your Economic Development Organization

Join us for our first ever Thriverr Gathering focused on Using AI in your Economic Development Organization. We will be joined Andy Jorgensen and Dan Klosterman from the EdgeTeam, based out of Sioux Falls. EdgeTeam has trained thousands of people on AI, including the Dakota Resources staff. We are excited to partner with them to bring this two-day gathering to all of you.

This event qualifies as basic AI awareness training (Category 3) for employees if you are awarded the Workforce Development Competitive Funding for AI Adoption. Just put “Thriverr Gathering: Using AI in your Economic Development Organization” and this link as the training in Category 3 of your application.

Tickets go on sale on September 1, 2026. Read more about what you can expect at the link below.