PIERRE, S.D. – It took South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard less than two days to attract the attention of dozens of California companies.
Earlier this month, the Governor and Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) Commissioner J. Pat Costello made an economic development trip to theSan Diegoarea to meet business leaders interested in learning more aboutSouth Dakota’s business and regulatory climate.
The Governor and Costello were already inCaliforniafor a Western Governors Association meeting and used that opportunity to add a day and a half onto the trip to recruitCaliforniacompanies.
Three roundtable discussions were held Dec. 9 with more than 60 business leaders, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and attorneys. The Governor said he was overwhelmed by the positive response from theSan Diegoarea business community.
“Many company officials we met are very interested inSouth Dakota,” Gov. Daugaard said. “Our stable regulatory environment, low taxes, and financial health really caught their attention.”
South Dakota’s business climate is so enticing to some of those officials that GOED is already in discussions with more than one-half dozenCaliforniacompanies seriously consideringSouth Dakotafor new business opportunities.
“Moving or expanding a company is difficult, and business leaders don’t take these decisions lightly,” said Costello. “So to see the immediate level of interest from these companies is very encouraging. We’re excited about the contacts we made and are hopeful we’ll see some very real returns soon.”
Recent national rankings are adding toSouth Dakota’s economic development allure. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council namedSouth Dakotaas the No. 1 state in the nation for friendliness toward small businesses. The same study, the Small Business Survival Index, listedCaliforniaas one of the nation’s least business-friendly states, ranking it No. 46. The Index is based on 44 government-imposed or government-related costs affecting small businesses and entrepreneurs.
South Dakota’s economic development initiatives have targetedCaliforniafor several years, and nearly nine percent of South Dakota’s business prospects came fromCaliforniain 2010.
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