To succeed in any community is a partnership. 

Although working in rural areas can feel isolating at times, Dakota Resources is omnipresent, existing for you to boost morale and to champion growth and change. We will continue to be an ally who believes in you as long as you’ll have us. 

But the same is true for us. This work is mutually dependent. We want you to stay by our sides and nurture the relationships we share, because when you grow, we grow, too. 

We’re excited to introduce you to a few leaders and organizations we have served over the years who have now been supporting us within our Annual Giving Campaign and year-round.

Leaders in Estelline and Sturgis ‘respect’ the tools given to them by Dakota Resources

Linda Salmonson currently serves on the board at Dakota Resources but is also the chairman of an all-volunteer board for her community of Estelline’s Economic Development Corporation. 

After participating in our B.O.L.D. program in 2023, Salmonson says the board is more engaged and structured than ever. 

They have since re-written their bylaws, re-invested in getting to know their community and ensured support from the city, all because the board volunteers received training from Dakota Resources they didn’t even know they needed.

“The B.O.L.D. training program offered us a place to restart, and those are things communities are crying for,” Salmonson says. “We’ve created good habits now, and I credit all of that to Dakota Resources’ staff and their facilitation. There is nothing better than information that comes from a third party.”

Salsonson is not alone in advocating for Dakota Resources. She says fellow volunteers in her community, who took it upon themselves to attend Thriverr networking events last year, are now sharing on their own how “valuable Dakota Resources has been” and how beneficial it was to participate in the B.O.L.D. cohort. 

“All of that is out of respect for the learning they got from Dakota Resources,” she says. “There is no doubt about that.”

Amanda Anglin in Sturgis echoes the appreciation for Dakota Resource’s programming, adding that the tools they have given her can be used anywhere in life, not just in the work she does leading her community’s economic development organization.

“My job has taken me out of my comfort zone so many times, and I give a lot of credit to Dakota Resources because of that,” she says. “They have given me so much professional development to empower me in my position. 

“Now I want to give back on a personal level so they can continue the work they are doing in South Dakota.” 

Salmonson’s entire board in Estelline is equally cognizant of the synergy needed between Dakota Resources and rural communities for everyone to thrive.

“If you don’t give to Dakota Resources, those resources will cease to exist,” Salmonson says. 

“The reason I give at Dakota Resources, and the reason I will keep on giving to Dakota Resources, is because they need long-term, sustainable support from their stakeholders. 

“That’s us. We are the stakeholders.”

Dakota Resources cohorts empower businesses to stand on their own

Andy Holst and his wife, Jen, have been running a marketing business called House of Brands in Yankton for over 20 years. After participating in the Dakota Rising program in 2018, “the business took off.” Dakota Rising was an entrepreneur support program Dakota Resources ran from 2008 until 2019. Since its sunset, we have incorporated the principles and guidelines of the program’s work into Thriverr and our coaching work, building entrepreneur support through local economic development organizations.

Holst says participating in the cohort’s quarterly three-day workshops was a reckoning for he and his wife to realize they needed to empower their 20 employees to work more autonomously and run the business as an equal leader while they were away. 

“Prior to Dakota Rising, if I wasn’t there, the business wasn’t running too well,” he says. “So it was fun to challenge the team, to delegate tasks and to encourage them to step up to the plate,” he says. 

It was beneficial for Andy and Jen as well. Today, while the business “runs itself,” they are home with two newly adopted children, ages 11 months and 4 months. “It’s been a huge life change, and our business is doing very well.”

He gave to Dakota Resources for the first time last year and continues to find the effort worthwhile. “Dakota Resources is a very special organization.”

Business owners grow their footprint after support from Dakota Rising

Dakota Rising alum Troy McQuillen is also in a position to give back today. He has been running a well-established graphic design business in Aberdeen for 30 years, but he also published a community magazine ten years ago, started a weekly newspaper in Aberdeen last year and then a weekly in Watertown last month. 

“I never thought that would be possible, but our phone has been ringing for 30 years, and I’m so grateful to give to an organization where genuine people are doing amazing things in rural South Dakota,” McQuillen says.

Thank you to all of our rural partners for recognizing the teamwork it takes for our state and region to thrive. We’re in this one together. If you want to support Dakota Resources’ mission, you can donate here.