March 6, 2026

A local small business specializing in gifting is making room for more.

Prairie & Pine is a custom corporate gift box design company helping businesses big and small create thoughtful and intentional gifts for their clients.

Owner Sara Rowland is no stranger to entrepreneurship.

Before moving to Sioux Falls from Brookings with her family, Rowland had started Trendz, a consignment clothing boutique, which she sold in 2019.

When it was time for her husband to expand his architect and engineering firm, they knew Sioux Falls was their family’s next move.

About that time, early into the pandemic, she took a year off to reassess.

“I felt very lost,” Rowland said. “I was in a new community, we built a new house, we were reestablishing everything here. I wondered how I could start over with my entrepreneurial heart.”

One day, her husband asked her what she was passionate about.

“I told him ‘I just want to make unique gifts for people all day long’,” Rowland said with a laugh.

“There is just something that compels me when I’m searching for that perfect gift. I admit, I’m obsessed.”

During the pandemic, gifting companies started to gain popularity because people couldn’t gather or connect like they did before.

“In researching, I started to see gifting companies forming and was inspired by a few on the coasts,” Rowland explained.

“I knew within seconds I needed to do that.”

So in 2021, Prairie & Pine was born in a bedroom of their home.

The name of the business fittingly merges her South Dakota roots, having lived on both sides of the state — “on the prairie and among the pine.”

Early on, Rowland networked with local event venues and businesses like The Meadow Barn and The Event Company, which she credits for a successful start to her business.

Eventually, that portfolio grew to include banks, construction and landscape companies, nonprofit organizations, marketing agencies and real estate agents, as well as private clients for milestone gifts, retirements, holidays, new beginnings and more.

“I love building relationships, I love connecting with people, I love everything gifting, and I tell my corporate clients that it’s about those little, intentional details that help your brand send out more than swag can,” she said. “I want to help make that difference for them.”

“It is always my goal when partnering with my clients that they can trust me to translate their thoughtfulness and vision into something unique and beautiful.”

Prairie & Pine handles every detail, from concept and sourcing to design, assembly and delivery to ensure best quality.

Shortly after launching Prairie & Pine, Rowland and her husband, Les, bought the building at 2301 W. Russell St. to completely restore, remodel and redesign.

That’s where Les’ architecture firm, Design Arc Group, is based, together with a State Farm Agency office and two spaces available to lease – one will be for Rowland’s expanded studio.

Right now, she’s in a temporary studio in the building.

There will be an open house for her new space later this spring.

Rowland looks forward to taking her business into a larger space, which will allow for more production and planning other ideas like her own gifting parties and events.

“I cannot wait to get started,” she said. “I’ll be able to handle larger production for those projects, sending out hundreds of gifts and more. I will also have a space designated for studio pickup and shipping access.”

Additionally, Rowland plans to add employees to accommodate the growth of her business.

Every company or client has different needs, and Rowland will have greater ability to curate box designs to meet them.

“It’s their thoughtfulness that starts all of this; I’m just the vessel to make it happen,” she said. “It fuels my passion.”

Rowland’s mission is ‘gifting for the greater good’ because a lot of her work extends beyond gifting.

She intentionally sources from small businesses or unique makers across the state, helping to connect her corporate clients to smaller businesses.

“I love telling my clients that they’re part of something so much bigger than getting stuff put together in a gift box,” she said.

With a recent order for Journey Group, she was able to impact seven small businesses.

Through Prairie & Pine, Rowland also started Act of Random Community Kindness, or ARCK, which takes a percentage of revenue from orders and circulates dollars back into the community.

Emily’s Hope and Go Red for Women are the two most recent beneficiaries of ARCK.

“The best part of my job is the relationships I’ve been able to build, the joy being spread and the fact that I’m someone who cannot wait for Monday to get started.”

Learn more about Prairie & Pine on its website.