The final two items on the city council agenda caused a splash as the council discussed city hall plans, development, and a vote to purchase the community pool; zoning on pipelines will be discussed at the May 23 meeting of the Minnehaha County Commission while petitioners were moved away from the doors of the Administration building and courthouse at last week's commission meeting; GHS golfers had great success at the Jesse James Invitational while track has been performing well, plus more!
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The final two items on the city council agenda caused a splash as the council discussed city hall plans, development, and a vote to purchase the community pool; zoning on pipelines will be discussed at the May 23 meeting of the Minnehaha County Commission while petitioners were moved away from the doors of the Administration building and courthouse at last week's commission meeting; GHS golfers had great success at the Jesse James Invitational while track has been performing well, plus more!
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Dear Editor: The Garretson folks who are frequent visitors to the Palisades Park and those living along the current Palisade Park road have the right to know what should be happening to this road, knowing that the State Legislature in 2022 allocated considerable funds to help the township improve this road.
We have hired Sayre and Associates to be our engineers. The company with the lowest bid, Loiseau Construction out of the Flandreau area will be doing the work. As I know you remember, work was supposed to start in April. Well, for the same reason that many track meets have been cancelled, as many golf events have had to be cancelled or postponed, or for the same reason planting has been held off by many farmers, the reconstruction of this road too has had to be postponed.
Our 2023 Palisade Township chairman, Craig Nussbaum has been in contact with our engineers and was told that they plan on the first week of June. With some luck, it could be the last week in May. Already those of us who travel this rough road have seen many flags in the ditches locating cable etc. know that things are getting close.
The road will have to be kept open during the reconstruction, which does add much to the total cost, but we know those of you living along 485th need to get to work and back home at night.
Also, you golfers need to be able to get to River Ridge to enjoy yourselves in the evening and on weekends. We plan to have a meeting to gather with all of you to let you know the traffic plan as we get closer to go time.
With the state allocated money, this project has to be done by a certain date or the funds are abandoned. We know we have a strict timeline, and you will see the job done.
SIOUX FALLS – At their Tuesday, April 25, meeting, Minnehaha County Commissioners heard a briefing from Judge Robin Houwman on local happenings and statistics with the court system.
Houwman discussed staffing and facilities in the Second Judicial Circuit, for which she is the presiding judge.
According to figures she presented, there are seven judicial circuits in South Dakota, and the Second Circuit, which is just Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties, is by far the smallest, in terms of area.
However, due to the huge populations in those two counties, the Second Circuit has the largest caseload in the state.
In fact, Houwman said her circuit handled 34% of South Dakota’s caseload in 2022. That left 66% of the cases for the other six districts.
The Second Circuit’s 62,338 cases is followed by the Third Circuit’s 26,812 cases. That circuit is made up of 14 counties, which include the larger municipalities of Brookings, Watertown, Huron, and surrounding areas.
To handle the larger load, Houwman added the Second Circuit currently has 12 circuit judges and four magistrate judges and is in the process of hiring a fifth magistrate judge, after the state legislature granted them the ability to do so during their last session.
In answer to a question from Commissioner Dean Karsky, Houwman said that the state picks up some of the circuit’s expenses, such as judges and staff salaries, but the county is on the hook for other costs, including facilities.
And some of those facilities involve the storage of records.
The Second Judicial Circuit Court Administrator Karl Thoennes told commissioners how state law requires the circuit to keep all records for at least 10 years, but that the major portion of records have to be kept in perpetuity and have been since South Dakota became a state in 1889.
In 2012, the legislature defined that records can be kept digitally, and they have been since that time, but that still left 123 years of paper records needing to be stored.
Thoennes said that current paper records represent “about 10,000 cubic feet…that must be kept permanently.”
To give commissioners a concept of size, he explained that a standard railroad car can hold around 5,000 cubic feet of material, and an 18-wheeler trailer hold approximately 3,000 cubic feet.
Thoennes then voiced the circuit’s current dissatisfaction with the current records storage company.
He said that beginning around 2002, off-site records were stored and archived by Records Keepers in a warehouse “just over the 10th Street bridge.”
He added that Record Keepers did an “excellent job,” and their rate of charging the county $2,200 per month for storage and record retrieval remained stable for “at least a decade.”
But in March 2022, the business was purchased by Vital Record Control, a national record storage and archiving company.
Thoennes explained that their monthly rates have more than doubled since the acquisition a year ago.
In addition, “without prior notice,” VRC moved their storage facilities near the airport.
“Since then, the court has had a great deal of difficulty retrieving records for court cases and the public,” Thoennes wrote, “We sometimes wait weeks or months for records, and VRC often insists that they never received the missing records from Record Keepers.”
The county now budgets $30,000 a year for record storage, but VRC has already increased that annual expenditure to over $55,000, and Thoennes expects those increases to continue.
He also mentioned that this cost is just for Minnehaha County, as Lincoln County has its own expenses for storage.
To deal with this, Thoennes said that the circuit is looking towards digitizing all of the old records to eliminate the need for dealing with companies like VRC to store its material.
The circuit has been working with Sioux Falls company Active Data Systems on a trial basis to scan 176 boxes from Lincoln County damaged, or in danger of being damaged, from flooding, as well as 20 standard storage boxes for Minnehaha County.
Just scanning Lincoln County’s 176 boxes cost $55,000, roughly one year’s rent to VRC.
According to Thoennes, based on the scanning costs for Lincoln County, Minnehaha would be looking at a cost of $312 per standard record box for its 6,600 boxes, or just over $2 million.
But after this is done, the state and Unified Judicial System would then assume all the costs of keeping the digitalized records, absolving the county of any further fees.
No action was taken on this at the meeting, but Thoennes and Houwman did want to put the matter on the county’s “radar” for future budgeting consideration.
The next county commission meeting will be at 9 a.m. May 16 on the third floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
The academic achievements of the best and brightest students from the Class of 2023 were recognized recently at the 33rd Annual Academic Excellence Recognition luncheon.
Governor Kristi Noem and the Associated School Boards of South Dakota (ASBSD) honored students who were identified as the top one percent of their senior class, from the state’s Public, Private and Tribal/BIE schools on Monday (4/24).
This included Garretson High School senior Preston Bohl.
Preston Bohl (center) with Lt. Gov Larry Rhoden and Gov. Kristi Noem (photo submitted)
Students designated as their high school’s honoree(s) received a certificate, South Dakota pin and the opportunity to meet and have their photo taken with Governor Noem, who also encouraged the students to take challenges head on.
“Look at challenges as opportunities. An opportunity to find out who you were meant to be,” Governor Noem told the seniors. “When you hit a challenge, you become a problem solver.”
ASBSD President Lisa Snedeker noted the day was a celebration of the students and their achievements.
“Before you head out on your next adventure, we celebrate your hard work. Today we celebrate your achievements,” Snedeker said to the students.
“Today, we celebrate you, the best and brightest of the Class of 2023.”
The event was sponsored by A&B Business Solutions, School Administrators of South Dakota, South Dakota Board of Regents, South Dakota Education Association and Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Musical entertainment was provided by the Woonsocket High School Choir.
Monday April 24, 2023 was a very important day for the citizens of Minnehaha County. The Minnehaha County Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously to protect current and future intelligent land use and development by passing ordinances controlling hazardous CO2 pipelines. The Board, staff and County Commissioner Joe Kippley listened to input from a variety of sources and crafted ordinances that were specific for a type of pipeline that has never been built in SD.
The Board heard testimony from citizens, landowners and representatives from two pipeline companies during a meeting that went until almost midnight. In spite of opposition to any ordinances by the pipeline companies, the Board voted to approve the ordinances and forward them to the County Commissioners for final approval. The Planning and Zoning Board members are to be commended for their persistence and courage in protecting citizens and responsible land use. They deserve a very big thank you from all of us.
A hearing of the ordinances by County Commissioners is scheduled for May 23, 2023 at 9:00 am in the Minnehaha County Administration Building. All citizens are encouraged to attend this groundbreaking meeting.
If you are not aware, there are two pipelines that want to cross our state, each project touching five states. These pipeline companies are owned, respectively, by Summit Carbon Solutions and Heartland Navigator Greenway. The stated purpose is to capture CO2 from the ethanol plants to reduce the carbon footprint. This waste product would then be converted from gas form to supercritical form, highly pressurized at up to 2200 psi, and sent to an underground site for permanent sequestration. One of the lines runs to North Dakota and one to Illinois. The companies involved in this would receive ‘carbon credits’ for their participation in lowering the carbon footprint. The ethanol plants have said it is essential for their survival to link up to the pipeline. They would be able to sell their product to states that have emission requirements, like California, for a premium. The pipeline companies would qualify for 45Q federal tax credits (your tax dollars) of $85 per ton of permanently stored CO2 and $60 per ton of CO2 used for enhanced oil recovery or other industrial use. Ethanol producers would benefit from a federal tax credit of $50 per ton of sequestered carbon dioxide.
Presently our SD law states that if a pipeline company is under consideration for a siting permit with the SD Public Utilities Commission, (SDCL 21-35-31) they are allowed to conduct land surveys without needing the express permission of landowners. Current law also states that “all pipelines holding themselves out to the general public as engaged in the business of transporting commodities for hire by pipeline” are common carriers. The law also says common carriers may use eminent domain. The bills that I brought forward in this past legislative session would have given landowners more protection. HB 1133 would have excluded CO2 captured for permanent sequestration from the definition of a commodity. If passed, these companies could not use eminent domain. This topic was not business as usual. Landowners all across the state showed up in favor of this bill. Similar efforts have been tried in other states with similar results.
Landowners NEED protections. There are roadblocks at every turn. Ask the Senate Commerce and Energy Committee why each one of them voted no when a majority on the House floor voted yes. I haven’t even touched on the safety aspects, insurance concerns, and land values that will be affected. Did you know that CO2 is an asphyxiant? Did you know that there is foreign ownership in these projects? SO MANY ISSUES!
I know this is getting long to read, but I need you all as citizens to understand this is being pushed through in six states. Landowners are showing up in meetings from Planning and Zoning, to County Commissions, and to State Legislatures. They are making calls and sending out petitions. In the meetings I have attended, if you ask the question, “How many of you in this room want this project?” barely a hand goes up outside of the pipeline companies and the ethanol industry representatives. I have heard from people concerned about this project from across this state, including former legislators, county commissioners, other elected officials, and the landowners themselves. Presently Edmunds, Brown, Spink, and McPherson counties are being sued by Summit Carbon Solutions. These counties are trying to put in safeguards for the citizens they represent. Two judges in the northern part of the state have ruled in favor of the pipeline companies. Also, over 200 landowners have received a letter threatening condemnation as of this month. At least 88 lawsuits have been filed. There will be a PUC hearing in Pierre in late July/early August regarding Navigator’s line, and another in September for Summit. There are over 500 intervenors so far.
My very real concern is that—if allowed-- this will not be the last project of this kind. More carbon pipelines are being proposed, and right behind them we have solar and wind projects that will be pushed for ‘the common good.’ If eminent domain is allowed for the carbon pipelines, we have just set the standard for more of this to occur.
There is a lot of politics and $$$$$$ behind these projects. Many, even farmers heavily tied to ethanol, question the narrative of this whole issue. Let me stress, the landowners I have met are not anti-ethanol. Many of them sell their corn to ethanol plants and some are investors in the ethanol companies. The issue is property rights.
Please read the letter that was sent to Governor Noem on April 17, 2023. Call her office and ask her to use her voice and her office to stand up for landowners. Contact your local officials and ask them to support property rights. Go to SDPropertyRights and sign the petition. Listen to the radio show posted on the site to get an even better grasp of this issue.
This IS a non-partisan issue. This IS an American issue. This IS a Constitutional issue. If we do not begin to raise our voices against this attack, we will see our rights not only slip slowly away, but ripped right out from underneath us.
The Splitrock Ladies Bowling League held their annual banquet at Eastway Bowl on April 25th, 2023, with Garretson, Ins. as the hostess. We ordered our food off the menu and all was delicious. Thanks to the cooks.
Cheryl Scholl opened with a welcome to everyone for coming and for all who bowled this year. A special thanks to our two subs who were very helpful this year. Subs were Renee Nelson and Lois Leslie. We got all 30 weeks in even with our three snow days. Teams were helpful getting them made up before our final week.
After the welcome it was turned over to the hostess team Garretson, Ins. for the drawing of door prizes. Everyone received a nice prize. Nice job for the shoppers.
From there it was turned over to Bonnie Kramer to give out the awards. There was a roll-off between Jesse James the first half winners and JSA/Engineers & Land Surveyors on April 18th. The roll-off was won by Jesse James. Members of the team are Vickie Wielenga, Jackie Engebretson, Arlys Johnson, Bonnie Kramer and Renee Nelson. Congratulations.
The Achievement Awards were given to Holly Mulder who increased her average by 10 pins and to Brenda Jones by increasing her average by 8 pins.
We had four people who had perfect attendance: Marlene Blum, Diane Fueston, Kathie Franz and Bonnie Bruggeman.
This year the awards were given out for the bowlers’ highest games and series.
125 awards: Marie Cissell for bowling a 137, Dar Hofer for bowling a 128 and Amanda Lumpkin for bowling a 139.
145 awards: Marlene Blum for bowling a 165, Bonnie Bruggeman for bowling a 172, Barb Caffrey for bowling a 169, Jackie Engebretson for bowling a 172, Joann Gundvaldson for bowling a 155, Arlys Johnson for bowling a 148, Lois Leslie for bowling a 168, Renee Nelson for bowling a 164, Jill Reindl for bowling a 171, Barb Risty for bowling a 173, Connie Saathoff for bowling a 165, Glenda Sandstede for bowling a 146 and Julaine Walker for bowling a 165.
175 awards: Ann Behrend for bowling a 175, Marcia Bork for bowling a 181, Jan Fonder for bowling a 198, Kathie Franz for bowling a 197, Carol Jibben for bowling a 183, Brenda Jones for bowling a 175, Pat Paulsen for bowling a 182, Cheryl Scholl for bowling a 190 and Vickie Wielenga for bowling a 175.
200 awards: Diane Fueston for bowling a 202, Bonnie Kramer for bowling a 230 and Holly Mulder for bowling a 210.
400 Series: Ann Behrend for bowling a 443, Marlene Blum for bowling a 406, Bonnie Bruggeman for bowling a 406, Barb Caffrey for bowling a 429, Jackie Engebretson for bowling a 433, Brenda Jones for bowling a 450, Lois Leslie for bowling a 405, Renee Nelson for bowling a 431, Barb Risty for bowling a 444, Connie Saathoff for bowling a 418 and Julaine Walker for bowling a 400.
500 series: Holly Mulder for bowling a 542 and Cheryl Scholl for bowling a 502.
We had two bowlers who bowled 75 pins over their average: Diane Fueston bowled 77 pins over her average and Bonnie Kramer for bowling 78 pins over her average.
A few special achievement awards were handed out. Pat Paulsen and Cheryl Scholl for the least improved bowler. Holly Mulder had the most turkeys of this season with 11 and Barb Caffrey picked up the most splits with 14.
A few special awards were handed out for those joining the 70's, 80's and 90's Club:
Marcia Bork and Marie Cissell join the 70's club, Pat Paulsen joined the 80's club and Dar Hofer joined the 90's club.
The next year hostess will be JSA.
Hope to see everyone back next fall. Have a great summer.
TEA, S.D. – Alisa Turner can readily remember the trepidation she felt a decade ago when her company made its first international sale to a Cabela’s retail store in Canada.
Turner is a co-owner and CEO of Ruff Land Kennels in Tea, which makes industry-leading, one-piece molded plastic kennels.
At the time, the company wanted to build on its domestic business and expand beyond the border. Turner laughs about the process now but recalls how nerve-wracking it was. She and co-owner Lyle Van Kalsbeek paused before signing the documents to enter international trade relations with America’s neighbor to the north.
“Lyle said to me, ‘You better hope you have that right, because you’re signing that and it’s a federal offense punishable by jail time if anything is wrong,’” Turner recalled. “I didn’t sleep for weeks hoping it would cross the border – and that I wouldn’t go to prison.”
Ruff Land Kennels CEO Alisa Turner sits behind her desk at their office in Tea, S.D., as two of her office dogs provide continued inspiration for more innovations at the company. (Photo: Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch)
Turner, Van Kalsbeek and third co-owner Doug Sangl have since become relative experts at selling their kennels and other pet-carrying accessories overseas. Their continued foray into international trade is one driver of a recent growth spurt that has seen Ruff Land’s annual revenues climb from $11 million in 2021 to $16 million in 2022 to an expected $23 million in 2023.
The team broke into the international market on their own, mostly through resourcefulness, dedication and a large dose of trial and error.
Starting this week, a new statewide nonprofit group called South Dakota Trade hopes it can make it far easier for other Rushmore State businesses to do business with international markets and generate new revenues and jobs along the way.
The new public-private nonprofit trade association will be funded and supported by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and through association members and other South Dakota entities already engaged in business development.
The group’s staff of three full-time and two part-time employees will cooperate with numerous partners inside and outside state government to develop a roadmap for both farm and non-farm businesses to expand into foreign markets.
Luke Lindberg, president and CEO, said the group will use a wide range of existing resources and create new procedures to support South Dakota businesses on two basic levels:
Help them find foreign markets where their products are wanted and to then take advantage of those selling opportunities.
Find international buyers who might be interested in purchasing products made by South Dakota businesses and then arrange those commercial connections.
“Our main function is export promotion, and our core goal when we wake up in the morning will be, ‘How do we sell more South Dakota products and services around the world?’” Lindberg said.
“That’s really our desire – to build that culture of international trade, and get into new business or market segments that haven’t thought about this in a while — or ever.”
GOED declined an interview request from South Dakota News Watch.
South Dakota Trade will also use funding from the State Trade Expansion Program, an arm of the federal U.S. Small Business Administration that has provided $200 million to states to expand foreign trade.
The state and other industry groups, such as Elevate Rapid City, have done a good job of promoting international trade in South Dakota, especially in the agricultural industry, Lindberg said. But the state has fallen behind others in the level of efforts made and number of resources available to help businesses expand into domestic markets, he said.
South Dakota is home to the International Trade Center, run by Rock Nelson of Sioux Falls, which serves as an online hub for some export assistance. But until now, South Dakota was one of only two states without a formal international trade office, which has undoubtedly led to missed business opportunities, Lindberg said. Nelson will now be a staff member of South Dakota Trade.
“If you look at the non-ag data, our exports have been largely flatlined over the last decade. … We have not seen a growth in real dollars particularly and maybe even negative growth in international exports in South Dakota,” said Lindberg, recently a top official at the Export-Import Bank of the United States who is also the son-in-law of U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota.
“There is definitely room for us to get better in those export areas.”
According to data supplied by the trade group, South Dakota in 2012 had $5.3 billion in total global exports, which included $3.8 billion in agricultural sales and $1.5 billion in manufacturing sales. Those annual figures remained flat and even fell during 2015-2019 but have risen to $6.7 billion total in 2021.
Food and kindred products were the largest export category in manufacturing with $680 million in sales in 2021, while soybeans were the top agricultural export product with $1.3 billion in sales in 2021.
Recent surveys have shown that more than 40% of American small businesses have the opportunity at hand to expand into overseas markets, Lindberg said. Other data show that about 95% of global market opportunities exist outside the U.S., he said.
One immediate goal of the new trade group will be to target 20 South Dakota businesses to enter into an “Export 101” course that will provide them with a blueprint to fast-track efforts to expand into foreign markets, Lindberg said.
Once the number of exporters and exports increase in South Dakota, it should create a platform for potentially rapid growth in the number of businesses that are capable of selling overseas and an increase in interest among other countries to buy products made in the state.
Beyond finding new markets for their products, the group expects to provide South Dakota businesses with expertise in marketing, compliance, transportation and logistics related to international sales, Lindberg said. The group just learned it had received $175,000 in Small Business Association State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) funds, which can be used over the next 18 months to provide grants to South Dakota businesses trying to expand international sales, Lindberg said.
The North Dakota Trade Office, led by executive director Drew Combs, is largely serving as a model for what Lindberg hopes to accomplish in South Dakota.
“To a person just starting out or who’s not familiar with the global marketplace, it’s scary,” Combs said. “If there’s a buyer in Spain who wants to buy your widgets, how does that work? What do I need to do to get that guy his container of widgets?”
Combs said expanding international trade is a 24/7 job that requires a wide range of efforts to grow markets and sales opportunities. His group formed in the early 2000s and regularly visits trade shows, maintains contacts with international buyers from around the world and has an extensive database of U.S. producers and foreign buyers.
Back home, the group provides training and expertise to North Dakota businesses that want to enter or grow foreign trade.
“We give classes and can walk them through the process and legal hurdles, through import/export and customs,” he said. “There’s a vast array of resources we can tap into.”
Though he seeks to provide opportunities for all types of businesses, Combs said any Midwestern trade agency will naturally focus on the agriculture and energy industries.
“If people can’t eat, there’s a problem,” he said. “The world is relying on this region to help feed everybody, because you can’t grow wheat in the desert or the jungle.”
Combs said he has been happy to help South Dakota get its foreign trade office up and running and to provide guidance and advice, even though the two states may be competitors on some level.
Making contacts in the international trade community and creating relationships with key decision makers is a large part of what the trade group does to help businesses in North Dakota but also in other states that work collaboratively to expand U.S. exports on a larger scale, he said.
For instance, a customer from Asia who has purchased precious metals from North Dakota in the past recently contacted Combs to ask about buying agricultural products, which deepened their relationship and enabled Combs to shift those sales to businesses in another state.
“He was looking for chickens, and we don’t have chickens in North Dakota, but I hooked him up with some chicken guys I know,” Combs said.
Both neighboring states will benefit when the new South Dakota Trade association becomes active, Combs said.
“You were kind of missing the boat a little down there, and we’re excited you guys came on board,” he said. “There’s always enough money to go around, and especially if it’s our sister state, we’re eager to work together.”
As Turner recently talked about the new trade association in her office at the Ruff Land headquarters in Tea, two dogs slept on the floor and other canines scampered about the warehouse. Ruff Land’s facility produces durable kennels that safely carry pets in vehicles or on trucks and are designed to last for years and protect animals even in rough travel conditions.
The new trade group could be a valuable resource for many South Dakota businesses that aren’t aware of international opportunities or which might be intimidated by the complexity of the process, she said.
“I definitely think what we did is replicable, and that there needs to be something to help guide people because I was flying in the dark at first,” Tuner said. “I really think there’s a huge opportunity for an organization like this to help, especially for small businesses, to get out there into new markets.”
While foreign sales still make up only 3% of Ruff Land’s annual sales, expanding into overseas markets has been as invigorating as it has been challenging, Turner said.
The rapid rise in sales has allowed the company to invest in building a strong future for the company that had five employees 10 years ago now has 26 people on staff. It also fuels the employment of a dozen or so other employees at other molding businesses.
In the past two years, Ruff Land underwent a $2 million building expansion, added two new molding machines valued at $1 million, spent $1.6 million on new molds and bought a $260,000 robot that will cut ventilation holes in kennels to enable employees to avoid repetitive motion work.
The company also recently invested in a computer program that allows foreign customers to buy kennels and accessories in their own monetary unit and pay for shipping and duties based on their specific location.
As Turner and her colleagues have gained experience, Ruff Land has landed international sales in Japan and Ecuador, and recently added South Korea and Switzerland to its foreign sales roster. Turner recently took a class on working with companies in Australia and plans to attend an Aussie trade show in the fall.
In March, the federal Small Business Administration named Ruff Land the 2023 Small Business Exporter of the Year in South Dakota.
“Each time I see a new international sale from our website, I just jump up and down,” said Turner. “I want everybody to have the opportunity to have one of our kennels and to have safety for their pets, no matter where in the world they live.”
— This article was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit journalism organization located online at sdnewswatch.org.
Delta David Gier has a lot to look forward to. He’s approaching 20 years as conductor and music director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, which has overcome financial challenges and a global pandemic to position itself as a cultural force on the Great Plains, drawing national acclaim for its community engagement and musical repertoire.
The 63-year-old Gier, his trademark tousled hair showing touches of gray, sat in a conference room at the Washington Pavilion in downtown Sioux Falls on a recent afternoon and pondered the unmistakable momentum of the state’s century-old orchestra, which concludes the 2022-23 season on April 29 with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Delta David Gier is approaching 20 years as conductor and music director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, which calls the Washington Pavilion home. (Photo: Courtesy of SDSO)
First there was the May 2022 article by New Yorker music critic Alex Ross, who dubbed Gier’s 75-member ensemble – just 13 of them full-time – “one of America’s boldest orchestras” after attending a world premiere performance of the latest score from composer John Luther Adams at the Pavilion’s 1,800-seat Mary W. Sommervold Hall.
That high-level praise, plus the ongoing Lakota Music Project, Gier’s ambitious effort to meld orchestral styles with traditional Native songs and ceremonies, drew the attention of music-loving philanthropist and South Dakota native Dean Buntrock and wife Rosemarie.
Their $2 million donation became the largest in the organization’s history and will fund a performance in 2025 of a Pulitzer Prize-winning opera based on the Norwegian immigrant novel “Giants in the Earth,” which marks its 50th anniversary that same year.
The Lakota Music Project has evolved into Bridging Cultures, an initiative aided by the Bush Prize for Community Innovation awarded to the South Dakota Symphony in 2016. The program will explore musical partnerships with immigrant and refugee communities and highlight artists such as South Asian composer Reena Esmail and Iranian composer Niloufar Iravani, who will perform as part of this year’s season finale on April 29.
It's an exciting time, in other words, for a former New York Philharmonic assistant conductor who arrived in Sioux Falls in 2004 with the stated goal of finding a sense of place beyond standard-fare composers and prominent patrons and then actually embark on that search, shattering a few stereotypes along the way.
“One of the things I brought to the South Dakota Symphony was a conviction that an orchestra should serve its unique community uniquely,” said Gier.
“So what does South Dakota need in an orchestra? The first thing is that it needs great music, and we need to play great music as well as we possibly can, and we do that. But beyond that, what do you do with education and community engagement? And who are you engaging?”
Scott Lawrence, a longtime symphony board member who served as chairman from 2013 to 2022, remembers hearing that message two decades ago and being taken aback, just as audiences recoiled at times when hearing contemporary American composers championed by Gier rather than the easier listening of Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.
“Never before had I heard someone talk about, ‘What we do with our communities?’” said Lawrence. “The symphony never talked about that kind of stuff. It was just music on the stage. That was what we did. But David had a vision and a passion for more than that, and it wasn’t just lip service. He lives it every day.”
The results are encouraging.
The nonprofit has an annual budget of $2.4 million. It reported net assets of $3.4 million in fiscal year 2022, up from $2.7 million the previous year.
That’s quite a turnaround from just over a decade ago when the Great Recession nearly forced it into extinction. Everyone, including Gier, took a pay cut at the time, only to encounter new challenges when COVID-19 hit in March 2020. Subscriptions are down 12% from the last pre-pandemic season, but the $2 million gift includes funds to boost marketing and outreach.
Besides leading the 75-member orchestra, Gier wants to grow a crop of future musicians. The symphony’s educational programming includes a youth orchestra of 137 musicians comprising five student ensembles that has sent alumni to “top-shelf conservatories around the country,” according to Gier.
He frowned in contemplation when asked about his future and that of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. His wife, Angela, acknowledged that a dream job with a big-city orchestra could still emerge, but it’s not uncommon for conductors to have two or three orchestras. And Gier is mindful of the moment in Sioux Falls, a place not previously given to national acclaim in matters of the arts.
“Music directors generally come in with a bag of tricks and need to move on within 10 years or so,” said Gier, who was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2020.
“But there are exceptions to that rule, and I like to think of myself in that category, where the ensemble and the conductor grow together. I think that’s certainly been the case. I’m a much better conductor now than I was 20 years ago, and the orchestra is much better. Nobody wants it to end now, and nobody foresees that.”
Jennifer Teisinger, the symphony’s executive director, arrived in February 2019 and is still sorting through the benefits of the New Yorker article and $2 million donation. She’s more to the point when speaking of Gier’s future.
“We have not talked about him leaving,” Teisinger said. “We have only talked about him staying.”
— This article was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit journalism organization located online at sdnewswatch.org.
