As several national leaders from the Small Business Administration visit South Dakota for Small Business Week, local business leaders are taking a closer look at business conditions in the state.
Between the awards and sessions at the SBA meeting in Rapid City, there were chances to learn more about the current economic outlook.
Jamie Wood is the South Dakota district director for the SBA. She said small business might be more of a driver than you’d expect.
“We have approximately 90,000 small businesses in the state of South Dakota that are bringing the goods and services to all of us who depend on them every day, but many of our products and services are in the supply chain for the federal government, but also the international supply chain,” Wood said.
Wood said this is a great opportunity to support your local small businesses.
“We’re really pausing this week to make sure we’re really amplifying all the goodness that’s coming out of South Dakota from our small businesses, and we’re really excited to be celebrating national Small Business Week across the state,' Wood said.
But beyond that, Wood said there’s genuine interest in ensuring the health of rural business.
“The fact that our senior leaders are making time in their very robust schedules to come to South Dakota first says a lot about how our senior leadership all the way up in Washington DC views rural America,” Wood said.
Wood said the state is seeing a strong post-COVID economic recovery as the state looks toward the future.