Over 100 community and business leaders hailing from rural towns all across the state landed in Wessington Springs last Wednesday for SDSU Extension’s annual twoday Energize! Conference held on May 31 and June 1.
Each year a town is chosen to host the conference and for the event in its fifth year, Wessington Springs was its 2023 host. Past conferences have been held in Fort Pierre, Milbank, De Smet and Lemmon.
“This years conference is different than normal because people are being sent all over town to different businesses to listen to the different breakout sessions. Wessington Springs is a unique place to host a conference because we have never hosted one in such a small town,” expressed Kara Harders, an SDSU Extension specialist and Energize! Conference planner.
Attendees from across South Dakota gathered at the Jerauld County Ag 4-H Building on May 31 and began their experience by hearing from Danna Larsen, an Iowa-based entrepreneur focused on “Rural Revival,” with a business and website by the same name.
Larsen presented a very informative presentation about her business, and how community members can “revive” their own community, as she currently is in her small town of Odebolt, Iowa.
She began her company after moving home from Nashville, TN during the Covid-19 pandemic. On her journey home, she would drive through numerous struggling small towns and knew she had to bring awareness to the fact that small historic towns are slowly disappearing.
She first started a podcast called “Rural Revival” and spread the word about these small struggling communities. Much to her dismay, people started reaching out to her, asking how to “revive” their own struggling community. “Rural Revival” is now a business with a mission of helping grow small towns and businesses.
Larsen spoke on the keys to small town revival and gave examples of how many other communities were able to “revive” their small towns by following them.
“The keys to small town revival are: having a vision and leaders who work together, having a community that is attractive to younger people and families, and having a community with an inviting atmosphere,” explained Larsen.
“Small towns can’t afford to lose their cherished historic buildings. Our job as leaders is to keep the positive and not go back to the negative because one business can transform a community.”
The conference featured breakout sessions covering the topics of arts and culture, youth engagement, funding community projects and housing. Local businesses hosted the sessions including True Dakotan, Pin Twisters, Humm-Dinger, Total Oil, Springs Food Market, Springs Inn, Sweet Grass, American Legion, and Shakespeare Garden.
Wessington Springs Mayor, Brian Bergeleen, was excited for the Energize! Conference to be taking place in this community, “I had never heard about the Energize program before, but after I learned more about it, I knew it would be a good thing for our community.”
Bergeleen, who was first elected Mayor in 1988, knew there has always been a need to make changesinthiscommunity. “The whole reason I ran for Mayor in 1988 was because I knew there had to be changes made to our community if we wanted it to be successful. This conference is a great way to meet people from other communities and learn about new ideas on how to make changes and improve our community so that it is here for many years to come.”
Loree Gaikowski, member of the Wessington Springs Area Chamber and Development (WSACD) and the local planning committee for the Energize! Conference was very excited for Wessington Springs to be hosting this event.
“First, I speak for our whole committee when I say how absolutely thrilled we were to see so many locals attending the conference and appreciative of each of our local businesses and sponsors for being so supportive of it.”
“This conference would/ could not have happened without all the hard work put in by our local planning committee. The entire process was an experience. The planning of this conference alone taught us what true community engagement and collaboration is all about. From Development, City, 4-H, SACOTA, FFA and more, we all worked together to create opportunities for attendees to experience the full benefits of this type of conference. We made a great team and while difficult at times, it was very worth it to see the end result of our community being so engaged,” said Gaikowski.
She said she hopes the excitement and buzz this event created in the community continues.
“The goal was to plant seeds that will grow, challenging ourselves as a community to thrive with new ideas, concepts, and a future that lies solely our hands.”