Dakota Resources Newsletter: Fall 2016

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

INTRODUCING HOME ADDRESS PLUS

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MILBANK BLAZES A TRAIL –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

JOIN THE HA+ LEARNING NETWORK –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DE SMET: FROM STRUGGLES TO SOLUTIONS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

SD HOUSING OPPORTUNITY FUND –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

FAULKTON ON THE GROW –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

GEARING UP FOR #RURALX17 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DAKOTA RISING ANNOUNCES NEW FELLOWS

FALL 201 6 N E WSLE T T E R

With a newsletter primarily dedicated to housing development, we wanted to start by explaining why our Home Address initiative has a new name and what it means for rural communities across South Dakota.

In a nutshell, Home Address has been replaced by Home Address Plus. Home Address Plus is a collaborative partnership bringing three of South Dakota’s key rural housing

STRONGER TOGETHER AND BETTER THAN EVER.

development leaders together into one statewide effort: Dakota Resources plus GROW SD plus NeighborWorks Dakota Home Resources. This partnership provides deeper resources, enhanced technical support, dedicated community coaching and extensive education and networking opportunities to rural communities in need of strategic housing solutions across South Dakota.

Home Address Plus communities also gain valuable coaching provided by experts in all three of these organizations. Together, this team is working for the better.

“In South Dakota, there is a real struggle with organizations trying to do everything themselves,” said Mike Knutson, Community Coach for Home Address Plus.

“It’s been great to come together to truly collaborate with Grow SD and NeighborWorks. The real winners here are the communities that get the power of three entities working together in their best interest.”

MEET THE HOME ADDRESS PLUS TEAM:

LORI MOEN

JOY MCCRACKEN

MIKE KNUTSON

JOE BARTMANN

Chief Operating Officer at GROW SD

Executive Director at NeighborWorks Dakota Home Resources

Community Coach at Dakota Resources

VP of Community Innovation at Dakota Resources

KRISTI WAGNER

PAULA JENSEN

Connector and Senior VP of Advancement Community Coach at Dakota Resources at Dakota Resources

MILBANK BLAZES A TRAIL FOR HOME ADDRESS PLUS

PICTURED LEFT TO RIGHT: BOBBIE BOHLEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GRANT COUNTY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MIKE KNUTSON, DAKOTA RESOURCES LORI MOEN, GROW SD

As the first “new” community to come on board under Home Address Plus, work being done in Milbank is setting the stage for future communities.

“We started meeting with Milbank for the first time last June,” says Lori Moen of GROW SD, who co-coaches Milbank along with Mike Knutson of Dakota Resources. “We are in the initial stages, but we truly feel like we are bringing Milbank the very best solutions from a bigger pool of resources. We are also learning new ways to deliver those resources using the best processes from all three organizations.”

If Milbank is any indicator, Mike and Lori agree that Home Address Plus is already proving to be a successful venture.

“One of the six housing teams in Milbank has an emerging concept that’s unique to most small communities. It’s very early in the process for them to discover some of the things they are realizing,

and that’s been fun. We are excited about the potential,” says Mike.

For the community of Milbank, creating affordable housing solutions is a key component of the city’s aggressive goal of growing by 20 percent by 2020.

City leaders understand that before they can draw more people to the workforce, those people need adequate places to live – in fact, potentially up to 200 new homes need to be available to meet the goal.

“Milbank has set some lofty goals,” explains Mike. “Housing will be critical to their success, and we’re here to help them find realistic solutions. It’s a great community and we look forward to seeing their hard work pay off.”

JOIN THE

LEARNING NETWORK THE HOME ADDRESS PLUS COMMITMENT INCLUDES: This past September, nine communities and a variety of housing development resource providers gathered in Pierre for a learning network opportunity hosted by Dakota Resources as part of the Home Address Plus initiative.

For the first time, communities that were not part of the Home Address Plus network were invited to attend the gathering as part of a learning network option now available to all rural South Dakota communities.

“We decided to re-imagine our learning network to extend beyond just the communities we work with,” said Joe Bartmann, Home Address Plus coach. “For a reduced fee, any community can join our learning network and access tools like our webinars, online resources and attend events like the Home Address Plus gathering in Pierre.”

Cheyenne McGriff, Executive Director of the Wall Economic Development Corporation, was one of the attendees taking part in the gathering as a “non-member” guest.

“It was great experience,” she said. “We had the opportunity to network with resource providers and talk to other communities to see that some of us share the same problems. I learned that to start right, we need to pick a project, gather the right people and start some conversations. We’re moving forward using what we learned to try to find some solutions to some unique housing issues in Wall.”

For more information about joining the Home Address Plus learning network, contact Joe Bartmann at joe@dakotaresources.org.

1.

Engaging more local people in conversations about housing priorities

2.

Helping change perceptions about the importance of viable housing as it relates to economic development

3.

Connecting with other communities to share innovative approaches

4.

Helping communities make sense of housing needs studies and developing housing action plans

5. Hosting Home Address Plus gatherings for

expert training, peer-to-peer learning,

statewide and federal resource support networking 6. Coaching Home Address Plus community

sites and providing resources and networking 7.

Providing Home Address Plus “members only” online tools and training that include webinars, resources and networking

8.

Offering home mortgage assistance, low interest loans, down payment and closing cost assistance to qualified buyers

9. Providing comprehensive technical support

and valuable home ownership education classes 10. Supporting rural homeowners with access

to maintenance, weatherization, energy

efficiency and home improvement resources

“They helped us really focus on our priority needs and how to get things done.

My heart was just singing.

It’s just taken off from there.”

RI TA A N D ERS ON DIRECTOR, DE SMET DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

“Nothing was getting done. We had been at it for quite some time and really didn’t know what to do next. Then, I heard about Home Address.”

DE SMET:

FROM REAL STRUGGLES TO REAL SOLUTIONS.

Those are the words of Rita Anderson, Director of the De Smet Development Corporation, as she reflects on how the housing situation in De Smet has improved since joining Home Address in 2014.

She explains that, according to a 2013 housing assessment, a dire lack of adequate housing in De Smet required 45% of the 400 employees at the De Smet Industrial Park to commute to work each day. She goes on to say that housing has been a hot button issue for years.

“After we got on board with Home Address, Joe and Mike helped us facilitate a community meeting. It fell in the middle of a blizzard but we still had over fifty people show up,” she explains. “They helped us really focus on our priority needs and how to get things done. We had people volunteering and signing up to head committees, things we had been trying to accomplish with no results. My heart was just singing.

It’s just taken off from there.”

Some of the progress to date includes:

THE SOUTH DAKOTA HOUSING OPPORTUNITY FUND (HOF) is designed to

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promote economic development

A section on the De Smet community website that lists all current available rentals and homes for sale.

in South Dakota by expand-

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sanitary and affordable housing

A new resident’s packet that outlines housing resources, such as available land, utility companies, funding, loans and more.

targeted to low and moderate

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in South Dakota.

Creating “starter home packages” that allow families to choose from three models that can be built at an affordable price.

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Making a map of all available lots in the city and working toward two new housing developments in the future.

But perhaps the biggest benefit was accomplished after Rita and two other

ing the supply of decent, safe,

income families and individuals

The HOF is being administered

by South Dakota Housing Development Authority (SDHDA) and the SDHDA Board of Commissioners (SDHDA Board).

members of the De Smet team attended the Home Address gathering in

HOF funds may be used for new

October 2014. While there they had the opportunity to talk with representatives

construction or the purchase

from the South Dakota Housing Development Authority, who talked to them

and rehabilitation of rental or

about applying for the Housing Opportunity Fund (HOF) to help De Smet

homeownership housing,

build townhouses.

housing preservation, including home repair grants and grants

“We decided to go for it,” she says. “And SD Housing walked us through every step of the way. Applying for a grant always seemed so overwhelming, but they were there to help and it made it so much easier.”

Last October, De Smet was informed that they were granted full funding in the amount of $298,500 from the HOF. Four new townhomes are now under construction on land donated by the City. The townhomes are scheduled to be finished next spring and Rita says there is already a waiting list to get into them.

to make homes more accessible to individual with disabilities, homelessness prevention activities, and community land trusts. Any for-profit entity, non-profit entity, tribal government, housing authority, political subdivision of this state or agency of such

“Without Home Address, I know we wouldn’t be making this kind of progress,” she says.

“We have several more projects to tackle and it’s exciting to see the momentum. People are interested.

Things are happening. It’s a dream come true for me.”

subdivision, or agency of this state is eligible to apply for funding.

For more information visit www.sdhda.org.

FAULKTON PLOTS A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD After a Home Address meeting in January 2016, the community of Faulkton decided to move forward on yet another “believe in possible” agenda item: the development of a new residential neighborhood. That neighborhood is taking shape as the Faulkton West Side Addition, featuring 24 lots that developers hope to have ready next spring (pending a good winter).

The lots are available in a variety of sizes, and all stick-built homes ranging in size from Governor’s Houses on up will be welcome. There is already interest from potential buyers in the area. It is the hope of the community that the neighborhood will draw new people to Faulkton, especially as the City pursues the development of a 32-acre Industrial Park just east of town. That venture is being made possible thanks to a $384,000 grant approved by the State Board of Economic Development to provide half the public infrastructure for the park.

“If we build it, they will come, we hope,” said Trevor Cramer, Director of Economic Development for Faulkton. “We owe a lot of credit to Dakota Resources. They lit the fire for this community and the West Side Addition is just one more thing we can add to a long list of achievements. We are very grateful.”

The new West Side Addition will be the first project funded by tax increment financing (TIF) in Faulk County history. The TIF is planned to be financed through Dakota Resources.

“We owe a lot of credit to Dakota Resources.

They lit the fire for this community and the West Side Addition is just one more thing we can add to a long list of achievements.

We are very grateful.”

TR EVOR CR AM ER DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN FAULKTON

RuralX2017 –––––––––––––––– – – – –

July 18-19, 2017 –––––––––––––––– – – – –

Dakota Event Center Aberdeen

Make plans now to attend RuralX17 next July 18-19 at the Dakota Event Center in Aberdeen. The two-day event brings rural “thinkers and doers” together from across the region in a gathering that inspires critical conversations, connects people with ideas, encourages community-to-community collaboration and transforms ideas into action.

If you attended last year’s event, you know you don’t want to miss it!

For more information visit dakotaresources.org.

THE FACTS ABOUT RURAL HOUSING

According to the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies 2016 report, the need for affordable housing is at an all-time high across the nation. About 21 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, and nearly 30 percent of them reside in substandard housing with leaky roofs or inadequate plumbing. Rural families are more likely to be impoverished than the rest of the nation. The annual housing trends report shows that half this population pays over 50 percent of their income on rent, and prices are rising more than twice as fast as incomes.

These are just some of the reasons why Home Address Plus is working so hard to bring affordable, safe and adequate housing solutions to rural communities across South Dakota. If you would like to hear more, visit homeaddressplus.org.

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DAKOTA RISING

ANNOUNCES NEW FELLOWS The Dakota Rising Empower! Conference held in October welcomed ten new rural entrepreneurs into the Dakota Rising Fellowship, which is a three-year initiative designed to help them accelerate the growth of their businesses.

This group of exceptional second-stage entrepreneurs includes: –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– RUTH BOUZA, Custom Touch & Limo, LLC, Wagner BRAD HAHN AND JAY YOHNER, Pioneer Buildings, Martin JENNI TUCKER, Help-U-Rent, Spearfish CURT LOUT, Mammoth Handcrafted Signs, Hot Springs RACHEL WOODS, Apparel WorX, Wagner HILLAREY HOLLAND, HH Designs, Britton PICTURED L TO R [FRONT]: RENEE HALGERSON, HILLAREY HOLLAND, RUTH BOUZA, BETH DAVIS, JULIE FISCHBACH, CARRIE KUHL [BACK]: RACHEL WOODS, CURT LOUT, JENNI TUCKER, JAY YOHNER AND BRAD HAHN

CARRIE KUHL AND RENEE HALGERSON, Hitch Studios, Brookings JULIE FISCHBACH, Mainstream Boutique, Aberdeen –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– The honored 2016 Innovative Community of the Year was Faulkton.

CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT

ENTREPRENEUR DEVELOPMENT

HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

As a catalyst for economic development and a champion for rural vitality, Dakota Resources offers four key initiatives that allow us to help rural communities in South Dakota. These initiatives are how we make an impact.

For more information about Dakota Resources, visit dakotaresources.org.

If you want to be part of a passionate crew that cares about all things rural, find us in these places and join in!

STAY IN TOUCH

p: 605.978.2804 e: info@dakotaresources.org w: dakotaresources.org