Oct. 23, 2025

This piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

From nuclear energy prospects to renewables and data centers, power up your knowledge of how energy meets economic development at the annual SMGA Growth Summit.

Organized by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance, this year’s event will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Sanford Event Barn, 2510 E. 54th St. N.

“A lot of people are already signing up and interested,” SMGA president and CEO Tyler Tordsen said.

“Although we decided on the topic a couple of weeks after our last summit a year ago, these subjects have gained even more steam in the last year, so it’s nice to be super-relevant as we focus on all things energy and power.”

What to expect

The SMGA Growth Summit is structured so you don’t need to choose among breakout sessions.

“We alternate between hearing from different experts in keynote presentations and moderated panels,” Tordsen said. “We have a lot of speakers partnering with us this year, so you’ll hear from a wide range of voices.”

Like all SMGA events, there also will be plenty of time for networking.

“We want to provide networking opportunities and education at all our events,” Tordsen said. “What I love about SMGA is that we continue to bring more and more people together regardless of your industry or the size of your community. Everyone has similar ideas, questions and needs, and the whole point of the Growth Summit is to pick one pillar of economic development and do a deep dive.”

Past programs have focused on housing and water.

“It’s people who care about growth coming together to learn, and a year later, we’re still getting comments about how educational it was,” Tordsen said. “It’s the same with power and energy as it is with water — you can’t grow without them. It’s important to have education around how you can do that in a way that’s both efficient and achievable.”

The program

The 2025 Growth Summit will kick off with a Power 101 session from some of SMGA’s partners, where you’ll hear from investor-owned utilities, as well as municipal electrics and cooperatives.

“These are partners we work with closely, and they’ll explain how even though they’re all energy companies, there are similarities and differences among them,” Tordsen said. “We also want attendees to know just how much our utilities give back to communities. They’re committed partners year after year with generous grant programs that support a huge range of projects that can be a game-changer for small towns.”

Another session will cover renewable energy, with an emphasis on wind and solar.

“And then we’ll have a dedicated presentation on nuclear energy,” Tordsen said. “We’re in a modern age of nuclear, with small, modular reactors, and there’s a greater appetite among states and communities to consider it. This is not your granddad’s nuclear, so we’ll explore how efficient and effective nuclear energy can be in America.”

A panel discussion also will cover the growth of data centers and the demands for energy related to artificial intelligence.

“That’s, of course, a popular topic, and we want to bring in different perspectives on it because we see it as a chance to educate and for communities to understand the opportunities and needs of the energy industry,” Tordsen said.

“Not all data centers are hyper scale. Some can build on a 20-acre site, so it’s a constantly evolving conversation. It’s not a fit everywhere, but there are certain sites and communities that should be open to it because if the fit is right, it’s a tremendous opportunity.”

The Growth Summit also will preview the 2026 South Dakota legislative session, and a number of state lawmakers are expected to attend.

“This is going to be bigger than last year’s conference,” Tordsen said. “We will have government officials from all levels and representatives from all industries, so it’s going to be a good event with really strong networking and content. It will be worth the day.”

Early bird ticket sales end Nov. 9. To learn more and reserve your seat, click here.