Feb. 3, 2022

This paid piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

If Harrisburg acts now, the future implications could be big.

That’s the conclusion of a monthslong community planning and economic development process resulting in a five-year “Heart of Harrisburg” initiative meant to lay a foundation for an anticipated booming future.

In many ways, that’s already in process.

The community of more than 7,000 just south of Sioux Falls projects the population will climb to more than 12,000 by 2030 and reach 18,000 by 2040.

“Our sales tax growth is up 46 percent, which is crazy, and population is obviously going up,” Mayor Derick Wenck said. “I asked our city planner, and we have just over 2 square miles under development for housing and another possible 220 acres that might be starting dirt work this summer.”

But there’s plenty of land left for growth – and Heart of Harrisburg aims to help the community identify what types of uses could complement the residential activity and position Harrisburg for a well-rounded economy.

“Instead of becoming another suburb with a lot of houses, the goal is to become an economically viable, wholly constituted city with a sense of place,” said senior project executive Al Doeve of National Community Development Services, who facilitated the plan with the community.

“It can build industrial park space with heavy and light industry if it wants. It can build Class A office space and neighborhoods and parks, and link the parks and build thoroughways and crosswalks. It can do all that and get it right by the time thousands of additional people arrive in Harrisburg.”

The Harrisburg Economic Development Corporation became connected to NCDS through Sioux Metro Growth Alliance and its president and CEO Jesse Fonkert.

“We just knew Harrisburg was growing and it was time to have a strategic plan and long-term vision around that growth,” said Adrienne McKeown, board chair of the Harrisburg EDC. “Jesse had worked with NCDS before and pointed us in their direction.”

Harrisburg “is already a thriving and growing community,” Fonkert said. “With the Heart of Harrisburg initiative planned, our organization is excited to be a partner in helping them achieve their goals.”

The community became highly engaged in the process, with 80 community members participating through more than 15 community dialogues, including dozens of businesses representing sectors such as financial services, health care, development, construction and utilities.

“It was outstanding,” Doeve said. “It’s been a pleasure to energize it and focus in on what Harrisburg really needs to do.”

The plan’s first three priorities include:

• Develop a business park with essential infrastructure to acquire targeted businesses and allow for existing business expansion. The plan is to secure up to 100 acres during or before 2026.
• Attract companies to locate in or near Harrisburg, with the goal of a minimum of five companies with 15 or more employees by 2026.
• Create jobs through developing a year-round business-retention strategy to assist local companies looking to expand and plan for transformation with a goal of 175 or more people working at new or growing companies in or near Harrisburg.

Those jobs are projected to represent the manufacturing, retail trade, health care, IT, finance and insurance, and arts and recreation industries, among others. The targeted median household wage is $88,000.

“I wasn’t really surprised by the themes. I think it makes good sense,” McKeown said.

“A lot of times we hear people say they want more restaurants or a swimming pool, but we can’t get there yet until we have fundamental things like industry and business growth and job growth. That’s what helps support restaurants and future quality-of-life projects.”

To execute the Heart of Harrisburg, the community is embarking on a five-year fundraising campaign similar to the Forward Sioux Falls economic development campaign. This one aims to raise $2 million, and the city already has committed $650,000.

“I think they’re going to crush that goal in a heartbeat,” Wenck said. “It’s shocking to me how many businesses in Sioux Falls have a little footprint in Harrisburg and they were all for it.”

One initial step toward implementing the plan already has been taken. At the start of the year, the Harrisburg Economic Development Corporation became its own entity separate from the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce. It’s now led by Brandon Lane as executive director.

It’s the first step in a process that the experts have shared is best accomplished before growth gets further ahead of the community, McKeown added.

“I was at almost every community dialogue session and something he (Doeve) continually said was to do the planning before the concrete is poured,” she said.

“Once the concrete is poured and homes are built, it’s hard to change. We’re at a unique crossroads here where we had a lot of growth, but we still have open land and an opportunity to decide what goes where and what are our priorities, so it was crucial to do this at this point.”