The Flandreau Development Corporation held their annual meeting on Monday, March 27 at Mad Mary’s Steakhouse.
Representatives from Senators John Thune and Mike Round’s offices and from the office of Representative Kristi Noem’s office attended the meeting along with Mayor Mark Bonrud and a number of Flandreau city council members, Moody County commissioners and business and community members.
FDC President Emily Pieper welcomed those in attendance and Vice President Carleen Wild introduced notable guests, listed above.
Following a buffet dinner provided by Mad Mary’s, Secretary Paul Lewis and Treasurer Jessica Hovland recognized local businesses who are members of the FDC.
The business meeting portion of the night included approval of the 2016 annual meeting minutes, the financial report from Nathan Kinner and introduction of the board.
Board members Pieper, Wild, Karen Hageman-Snow and Dan Sutton each have expiring teams. No new nominations were received during the meeting, so this will be addressed at the FDC meeting in April.
Steven Dahlmeier addressed those in attendance as this year’s guest speaker. Dahlmeier works as the Events Manager for Downtown Sioux Falls. His wife Sarah works at the Flandreau Flower Shoppe.
Dahlmeier spoke about the over 15 events he helps to plan and coordinate each year, ranging from crowd sizes of 100 to over 23,000.
These events include the Parade of Lights, Rooftop Cinema, Riverfest and Moonlight Movies.
He also talked about upcoming developments in the downtown Sioux Falls area, like Washington Square, a mix of retail and office space, an amphitheater on north Phillips Avenue and an Arch of Dreams structure that will go over the river.
Through his work as a board member of Friends of the Big Sioux River, an organization created to bring awareness to the plight of the river and to inspire action those influenced by its quality, Dahlmeier is working to make the river swimmable by 2025.
He said they have talked with conservation districts, client groups and the South Dakota Corn Growers Association, among others, to come up with a variety of different components to improve the quality of the water.
When asked where the opportunities are for small towns like Flandreau to grow and attract businesses or residents, Dahlmeier said the biggest thing is to buy local and support those businesses so they can thrive.
