Posts Tagged ‘Deuel County SD’

“Farm Beginnings” now offered in Brookings

July 14th, 2009

I’ve been impressed lately with how Deuel Area Development, Inc.  has been using their blog to connect with the residents of Deuel County, SD.  As you can see on their blog (www.deuelco.wordpress.com), they use it to provide updates on meetings, social events, and resources. 

 Today, I’m reposted one their posts (Thanks Briana) of a resource titled “Farm Beginnings now offered in Brookings” because I think it applies to people across the region.  When you are done reading, I’d encourage you to look into the other cool stuff going on over in Deuel. And if you are in community/economic development work, I hope you consider using a blog as a way to connect with your constituents. 

“Farm Beginnings” now offered in Brookings

Has it always been your dream to be a farmer, but you just aren’t sure how to get started? Well, an amazing opportunity is now available to help those dreams come true! Farm Beginnings, a farmer-led training and support program, will be available in Brookings this year.

Brought to you by Dakota Rural Action, Farm Beginnings is a program with a curriculum developed by a Minnesota-based Land Stewardship Project over a decade ago. Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, North Dakota, and New York are already taking advantage of the program, and now with the help of DRA, the curriculum has been adapted to fit the needs of South Dakota!

The Farm Beginnings curriculum expands far beyond the basic start-up steps to creating a new operation. Subjects covered by Farm Beginnings include:

Goal setting

Financial planning

Business plan creation

Alternative marketing

Innovative production techniques

 All of the classes are taught by experienced, local farmers and agricultural professionals.  If you are busy during the year, don’t worry. Farm Beginnings is not a time consuming project. From October 2009 to March 2012, classes are held twice a month in Brookings. On-farm education components are held from April to August, and participants may connect with other farmers for additional mentorship if desired.

If you are interested in this program and would like to learn more or fill out an application, contact:

Dakota Rural Action at (605) 697-5204 or heidiku@dakotarural.org.

The application deadline is August 31, 2009, so don’t wait! Class size is limited!

~Post written by Angela Kjenstad

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5 Things I experienced in Gary, SD

July 7th, 2009

As I promised, here’s an update on what I experienced over the weekend at the Gary, South Dakota 3rd of July Celebration.  For a town of 250 residents, they held an amazing event.  Both the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and the Watertown Public Opinion published stories.  Rather than describe the activities or the grand opening of the Buffalo Ridge Resort, I want to share “5 things I saw” in Gary while I was at the celebration. 

1. The transformation of a decaying community asset:  I’ve previously stated that I believe most rural communities have hidden assets waiting to be transformed.  And the former South Dakota School for the Blind may have been more decay than asset.  But a quick look at these before and after pictures will show what vision and hard work can do.  I hope it inspires other rural communities to look for assets they can develop.

2. A community coming together:  Gary residents have always come together to sponsor some great community celebrations.  This year, they put together an incredible set of activities for their two-day 3rd of July Celebration that coincided with the Buffalo Ridge Resort grand opening.   Not only do events like this bring money into town, but they also create a sense of community for residents and visitors alike.  (If you want to see what other events the community has planned, I’d encourage you to check out their new website.)

3. A Sense of Opportunity:  While taking some pictures Friday, I overheard one middle-aged guy say, “I want to move back, and I mean here (meaning Gary) not Watertown.”  I don’t know where the person lives or what he does for a living, but I’ll bet he wasn’t the only one to say that over the weekend.  The Buffalo Ridge Resort has undoubtedly created some employment opportunities, but hopefully it will also inspire others to dream of creating their own businesses.  (Anyone who has such dreams should contact Briana Hoffman, Deuel Area Development, Inc — briana.hoffman@rurallearningcenter.org .)

4. An entrepreneur who reinvested in his community after striking success:  Let’s be honest.  It would have been easier for Joe Kolbach to take the earnings from selling his wind energy business and move to the big city.  Instead, he chose to reinvest in the community that helped him build his company.  

5. Skepticism:  Yes, I overheard a few other people talking about how tough operating a resort facility in a town of 250 people will be.  But as Joe Kolbach said in the Argus Leader, “People can’t imagine why I’m spending the money on building this. But this is a passion for the whole community. It will work. I wouldn’t have built it if I thought otherwise.”

 

So what will the future hold? Some people will root against the Buffalo Ridge Resort because of jealousy and small-mindedness. That happens in big cities and rural communities alike.  Hopefully most people in the Gary region understand what an incredible opportunity stands in front of them.  I’m sure there are a lot of communities who would welcome such a development with open arms. 

Personally, I’d never root against anything Joe takes on.  He built a company from scratch, and has already done more with former blind school campus than most people thought possible.  Those are people who usually find a way to get the job done.  And they are the type of people we could use more of in our rural communities.

       

Note:  Be sure to check out more before and after pictures on Flickr.

Update:  Check out this post at Madville Times about the project.

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design:SD — What does branding have to do with design?

April 3rd, 2009

During the recent Design:SD charrette in Deuel County, I continually found myself asking the various communities who were represented (there are eight: Clear Lake, Gary, Altamont, Astoria, Brandt, Goodwin, Toronto, Lake Cochrane) a single string of questions.

What is your community’s niche?  What makes you special and different than the other communities in Deuel County?

Not surprisingly, this question was a bit difficult for people to answer.  Not because the communities aren’t unique, but because they simply haven’t taken the time to really think about what those things are.  I think the answers to those questions are intrinsically related to branding. 

Branding can be a really difficult concept to understand, and even more difficult to execute.  But it doesn’t have to be.  If you can answer the question above, you’re well on your way to identifying your community’s brand.  Of course there are other elements you will consider as you dig in, but the basics come back to knowing who your community is and being able to communicate it to others. 

So, what does this have to do with Design:SD?  

Design:SD always tries to start with the strengths of the communities as they currently exist.  Knowing your strengths (the foundation of your brand) gives the design team a solid foundation to build upon. 

A strong brand can also help your community decide what’s most important to work on first.  It can help you understand what elements need to stay because they build character and make your community unique, and what elements need to go because they detract from it. 

So, if you’re reading this post and aren’t sure where to start in your community, I’d challenge you to answer the questions above and begin focusing on those ideas and projects that build a stronger sense of who your community is.  I don’t think you can go wrong when you begin there. 

Photo Note:  The Deuel Design Team digs in to identify the boards that they will produce for the Deuel County community.

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design:SD — More on the Boards

April 2nd, 2009

Design:SD is a lot of fun because we don’t focus on financing - or more specifically, the lack of it.  Instead, the team and community spend  a lot of time brainstorming and imagining creative projects.   Unfortunately, what sometimes happens next is that the design team leaves, and community members are left wondering, “Where is the money going to come from?”

In Deuel, the design team didn’t even get out of town before the question was asked.  In response, the team created a board with a list of funding opportunities to address the question.  (see slide below)

 

The point behind the board was that lots of funding opportunities exist:  so the task becomes matching the funding source with the type of project being developed. 

After the board was done, team members began identifying opportunities not listed and we added a couple more ideas (see DOT Enhancement Grant and HOME Funds).  We could have added many others (like USDA Rural Development programs) as well, but decided the board wasn’t big enough.  In any case, the list is far from complete.

 

A bit of further advice

As I reflect on the slide, I can’t help but offer some further advice. 

People often worry about funding way too early in a project’s lifespan.  Rather than focus on money, community members should begin by prioritizing the community’s needs and developing a ranked list of projects that meet those needs. 

Once complete the community can take the first few projects off the list and begin developing them, including their cost estimates.  It is at this point that attention should be focused on both local resources and outside funding opportunities like those described on the board. 

At that point, projects either acquire the necessary funding or they don’t.  If they don’t, projects may have to go back on the list and wait.  The list may also need to be reprioritized.  It has been my experience, however, that if the project has merit, the support of the community, and is well thought out, the project will find its funding.   

I am offering this advice because it seems that if too much attention is directed at funding at the start, projects appear unrealistic and nothing ever gets started.   But if the energy goes into developing a good project that meets the community’s needs, the funding will eventually materialize.

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design:SD — The Design Boards

April 1st, 2009

Design: South Dakota’s three-day design charrette in Deuel County, SD culminated with a presentation of the design board developed by the team.  As Joe Bartmann wrote on the Design:SD blog:

The theme of our charrette this year became “Deuelities.” A play on ‘Deuel’ and ‘Duality.’ A duality is a relationship between two things, where both are different, but something is shared. That’s pretty much what we saw and heard in Deuel-several individual communities with identities of their own, but connected by a commonality or shared space and culture. County boundaries are certainly just imaginary political lines, but Deuel County communities have an opportunity for bigger things by connecting and working together.

Design Sd Deuel County (SD) Design Boards
View more presentations from ReImagineRural.

You can see from the slides that there are some pretty talented design professionals on the team.  Some of the concepts developed involve major projects, while others could be accomplished with a little effort here or there.  It will be fun to see where the community takes the ideas.

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Welcoming potential residents

March 31st, 2009

A recurring theme we heard during our three-day design charrette in Deuel County (SD) was the desire to bring more residents to the community.  We heard that several of the community’s largest employers are still looking for employees - even during this economic downturn - and that a high percentage of the community’s labor force is currently driving into town to work.   Sounds like a great opportunity. 

It also leads to a question: how does a community convince people to move to their town?   Part of the answer may be in how easy it is for these potential residents to get to know the community. 

Lost and Found

During the charrette, design team members stayed with host families.  One of our presenters was one of those hosts. 

On Wednesday evening, he and his wife were on the “look-out” for their guest.  After seeing someone who looked lost go by their house several times, the presenter’s wife walked out to the street to see if this was their guest. Turns out the individual worked in town and was contemplating a move to Clear Lake.  His work schedule had made it difficult for him to get to know the community and look for available housing, specifically.  , He was driving around to get a feel.  The presenter’s wife offered some assistance, and the worker was on his way.

Small town atmosphere

This is the type of story that we have come to expect from rural communities.  It demonstrates the small town, friendly atmosphere that is so common.  But it also demonstrates that just being friendly may not be enough.  How many people never get noticed as they check out our communities? 

I was happy to learn that the town of Gary recently held housing fair as means of sharing information about housing opportunities.  But beyond that I did not hear of many other examples of how the issue was being addressed in Deuel County. 

It seems to me that all rural communities should dig into this question further.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the answers, but I’m sure there are a lot of innovative ideas out there.  I hope people who have those ideas will share them in the comments below. 

The bottom line is that welcoming potential residents is too important of an issue for us to leave it to happen-stance meetings out on the street.

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design:SD — Themes emerge

March 31st, 2009

Wow! We survived Design:SD. And I think the Deuel County (SD) community did as well.

While it was fun to work on design elements county-wide (rather than one community at a time), it challenged our time schedule, and made blogging from the event difficult.  After working late into Friday evening (the last boards were completed around 2:00 am), the team successfully presented the design boards to the community Saturday.  We heard some interesting comments following the event, and I think we sparked some “reimagination” among community residents.

I intend to produce several post-charrette articles over the next few days, including the presentation of the design boards.  Until they are ready, I will leave you with a brief summary of a few of the main themes that emerged during the charrette.

General Themes from the Charrette

Plan: Whether it’s the physical appearance of the community or economic development, creating plans will help the community use its limited financial resources more efficiently.

Develop gateways: The community could benefit from improving design elements that direct visitors to key public places. For instance, local residents may know how to get to Main Street, to the school, or to the city park, but visitors probably don’t. There are numerous design elements that could help, including signage.

Work together: Most rural communities have a strong history of coming together in times of need, and we definitely saw evidence of this in Deuel County. But all communities benefit by collaborating with other towns in the county as well as those outside the county.

Beautify Main Street: Each of the communities has an opportunity to improve the aesthetics of their main street areas. Doing so will send the message to visitors that something good is happening in the community and it can help spur retail development.

Photo:  Larry (standing) and TJ working on some architectural elements.

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design:SD — Team Orientation

March 26th, 2009

Design South Dakota got off to a start last evening with a reception and team orientation session at the 109 Club in Gary, SD.  It provided an opportunity for the design team (made of architects, planners, and community development specialists) to mix with community members and hear details of the following three days. 

Joe Bartmann, the project’s co-leader (along with Tom Reasoner) asked the team to remember two points that I’d like to share:

1.) Design like people matter. By this, Joe meant that “place matters.” And how people interact within places may be different. The team’s job is to capture how people will interact within their place, and then design to facilitate that interaction.

2.) Design Team’s job is to help the community have “new eyes”. From my perspective as a community development specialist, this is particularly important because residents rarely see the whole picture of their community. After looking at their community day-after-day, some elements of the community seem to disappear. We no longer see them, or at a minimum don’t see them the same way outsiders do. It’s the design team’s job to help people see their community in new ways.

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design:SD & “The 10 Principles of Livable Communities”

March 25th, 2009

When the Design: South Dakota process begins tomorrow in Deuel County, South Dakota, the group will rely on the American Institute for Architects’ (AIA) 10 Principles of Livable Communities.  Since most of us non-architects/designer are unfamiliar with the principles, I thought it might be helpful to provide a summary below. 

 

10 Principles of Livable Communities

1. Design on a Human Scale
Compact, pedestrian-friendly communities allow residents to walk to shops, services, cultural resources, and jobs and can reduce traffic congestion and benefit people’s health.

2. Provide Choices
People want variety in housing, shopping, recreation, transportation, and employment. Variety creates lively neighborhoods and accommodates residents in different stages of their lives.

3. Encourage Mixed-Use Development
Integrating different land uses and varied building types creates vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, and diverse communities.

4. Preserve Urban Centers
Restoring, revitalizing, and infilling urban centers takes advantage of existing streets, services and buildings and avoids the need for new infrastructure. This helps to curb sprawl and promote stability for city neighborhoods.

5. Vary Transportation Options
Giving people the option of walking, biking, and using public transit - in addition to driving - reduces traffic congestion, protects the environment, and encourages physical activity.

6. Build Vibrant Public Spaces
Citizens need welcoming, well-defined public places to stimulate face-to-face interaction, collectively celebrate and mourn, encourage civic participation, admire public art, and gather for public events.

7. Create a Neighborhood Identity
A “sense of place” gives neighborhoods a unique character, enhances the walking environment, and creates pride in the community.

8. Protect Environmental Resources
A well-designed balance of nature and development preserves natural systems, protects waterways from pollution, reduces air pollution, and protects property values.

9. Conserve Landscapes
Open space, farms, and wildlife habitat are essential for environmental, recreational, and cultural reasons.

10. Design Matters
Design excellence is the foundation of successful and healthy communities.

 

But what does this mean?

Some of the principles are easier to understand than others.  It will be the task of the designSD team to apply these principles within the context of the Deuel County community.  If you are looking to better understand the principles and how they apply to your community, I’d encourage you to check out the “Reflections on the most livable city:  How Pittsburg measures up to the AIA Principles of Livable Communities” article found on page 9 of the October 2007 issue of Columns magazine (a publication of AIA Pittsburg).  Pittsburg is hardly rural, but I think the short descriptions will help you see the applicability to your rural community. 

   

Other “10 Principles of Livable Community” resources

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Design:SD Heads to Deuel County this Week

March 23rd, 2009

The folks in Deuel County can expect a little extra excitement this week.  A group of 18 architects, landscape architects, engineers, planners, and community development professionals will spend three days in Deuel at the end of this week (March 26-28) for Design: South Dakota. 

Design: South Dakota, now in its third year, is a is a new way to help rural communities across South Dakota create a better future by design, where architects, engineers, planners and community developers volunteer to help South Dakota’s small towns gather and illustrate ideas for their future.

 The 3-plus day design:SD event, called a “charrette,” is described by project leaders as a “mixing bowl” of local knowledge, ideas and visions for the future, with the expertise and experience of professionals from outside the community. 

The Deuel County community has been preparing for the event since the fall of 2008, when they were selected as the next Design: SD community.  Recently, Deuel Area Development (a local non-profit development corporation) has hosted a series of roundtable discussions leading up the charrette.  The topics have included:  agriculture, main street business, healthcare, recreation, young families, and uses for the former school for the blind property.  The information harvested from these conversations was sent to Design team members to help them prepare and understand the community a bit before the three day event.

“The design charrette is the shortest portion of the process, when you consider the work that must be done before and after the event,” said Joe Bartmann, co-leader of the d:SD, Project Deuel County.  “The ideas that are illustrated have, in many ways, been long in the making for a community-and when the design team leaves it is up to the community to follow-through and make the ideas a reality.” 

Mike Knutson and I will be among the Design team for Project Deuel County, so watch for live updates and pictures from Deuel later this week!

If you’re a Deuel County resident, or simply interested in learning more about Design:SD, you’re invited to several community events during the charrette.  Events, times, and locations are listed below.

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