July 13, 2022

As Startup Sioux Falls plans to move into a new downtown headquarters, other organizations and businesses that located in its former building also have had to find new places to operate.

The startup organization, which is working remotely for now, will move to the historic Milwaukee Freight Depot at Sixth Street and Phillips Avenue early next year. The new location will be a smaller space with a focus on co-working, meeting and event spaces and other amenities to support entrepreneurs.

The building at 2329 N. Career Ave. was home to more than a dozen newly formed and small businesses along with many resource providers that support them. The space is transitioning to a new health care education simulation center for Southeast Technical College.

Four organizations affiliated with the USD Beacom School of Business were housed in the building and temporarily have relocated to 5116 S. Solberg Ave.

“Our long-term plans are to relocate to the Discovery District facility once it is built,” said Mark Slade, state director of the South Dakota Small Business Development Center Network.

The office includes:

• Small Business Development Center: Assists business owners and startup entrepreneurs in a wide variety of areas. The most utilized free services are assistance in business plan development, budgets and sourcing capital.
• Procurement Technical Assistance Center: Assists existing business owners in doing business with the government. This can range from identifying contracting opportunities to government registration processes — and getting paid upon fulfillment of the government contract. These services are free of charge and confidential as well.
• Small Business Innovation Research: Work with inventors, business owners and faculty in pursuing government research grant opportunities for the development of new products and processes. These services also are free and confidential.
• Manufacturing & Technology Solutions: Primarily working with manufacturers in a variety of needs from lean process improvements and plant layouts to  automation and HR-related training. These services are supported primarily by grant sources but do cost the participating businesses a service fee.

All four of these programs are funded by federal grants with matching funds from the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

GOED has moved to an office at 4901 S. Isabel Place. The agency is responsible for economic development across the state, working to retain and expand existing businesses, foster new businesses, facilitate business succession and recruit out-of-state businesses. The office works closely with community economic development corporations and administers a variety of financing opportunities.

“The new office will provide the space we need for our employees as well as easy access to the interstate,” said Ann Gesick Johnson, director of business analytics and marketing. “Our team is frequently on the road visiting with businesses and communities throughout the state.”

South Dakota Biotech, the state affiliate of the international BIO organization, moved its office downtown to 110 S. Phillips Ave., Suite 304.

“We’re excited to be downtown not far from the new Startup Sioux Falls building and in a location where we can easily connect with many industries that support the biotech sector,” executive director Joni Ekstrum said.

The Sioux Falls office of the South Dakota Small Business Administration is finalizing its lease for another space and will remain in the current building until a move officially is set, district director Jaime Wood said.

The office has a team of six federal employees serving the state: five in Sioux Falls and one in Rapid City, plus a network of resource partners.

“We congratulate Startup Sioux Falls on their progressive move towards serving founders downtown in the heart of the city and Southeast Technical College for growing their campus and curriculum to better serve the growing need for medically trained workforce across the state,” Wood said.

Because it involves a federal government office, the lease process has more layers, but more information about the move should be available soon, she said.

“SBA SD looks forward to continuing to support small businesses in all phases of the business cycle – from startup to growth to succession.”

The Startup Sioux Falls building also was home to several businesses that incubated there.

Alternative HR LLC provides outsourced human resource services, both as needed and remotely, for clients locally and outside the region. Its office is now in the Phillips Centre, 300 S. Phillips Ave., Suite 101.

CEO Dan Oakland originally had ruled out downtown because of concerns about traffic and parking, but after looking at several offices, he decided to include it.

“And I talked to a number of downtown business folks who said parking and traffic were nonissues, and they told me how much they enjoyed being downtown. After being downtown for a few months now, they were right, and I’m glad I listened,” he said.

“As a B2B provider, responsiveness is actually more critical to us than location, but we really do enjoy our downtown location and its proximity to restaurants, shops and activities.”

The business started HR subscription services during the pandemic, which Oakland said have been well received, providing newsletters, monthly tools and on-call support, and it has increased remote support capacity.

“Because of the tight labor market and the competitiveness of wages, we’ve invested in and expanded our ability to support clients in the area of compensation, specifically in providing real-time market data about wages and in helping clients rethink their compensation philosophies and systems to be more competitive,” Oakland said.

Moving sale

Startup Sioux Falls will host a moving sale from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 14, selling everything from cubicle walls to household decor. Salas Salsas food truck will be there from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Partnership to expand health care training programs with new simulation center