Broadcaster Press 5 May 2, 2017 www.broadcasteronline.com Home of Great Ideas since 1934 201 W Cherry St. • Vermillion, SD • Phone: 624-4429 Fax: 624-2696 • BroadcasterOnline.com Department Of Tourism Invites Travelers To Discover Their “Great Place” In South Dakota PIERRE, S.D. – In preparation for the upcoming tourist season, the Department of Tourism’s peak marketing “My Great Place” campaign has launched in key markets to promote leisure travel to South Dakota. “By helping people in these key target markets discover South Dakota, we expect that this will be a solid summer for both visitors and tourism-related businesses in the state,” said James Hagen, Secretary of the Department of Tourism. “We look forward to sharing South Dakota with visitors as they discover their own great place.” The department is continuing its “My Great Place” campaign, promoting both the great places found across the state and the state-of-mind one can experience in South Dakota. The campaign targets three main audiences: Young Families (ages 25-45 with children in household), Bucket Listers (ages 50+ seeking once-in-a-lifetime adventures) and Active Couples (couples ages 25-45 with outdoor interests and no children). These audiences are strategically tar- geted by the department through specific messages and imagery placed in highly visible and common forms of media including TV advertisements, magazines, direct-mail, email, online, social and billboard signage. “We won’t be surprised if people that once visited the state as a child become inspired to bring their children or grandchildren this year to experience the joy and wonder that South Dakota has to offer,” Hagen said. “It’s not unusual for the uniqueness of South Dakota to become a tradition that’s passed on to the next generation.” Primary cities that the department will advertise in this season include Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chicago, Ill.; Denver, Colo.; Des Moines, Iowa; Green Bay, Wis.; Kansas City, Mo.; Madison, Wis.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Minneapolis, Minn.; and Omaha, Neb. Secondary and third-tier markets include Fargo, N.D.; La Crosse/Eau Claire, Wis.; Lincoln, Neb.; Mankato, Minn.; Portland, Ore.; Spokane, Wash.; St. Cloud, Minn.; Quad Cities, Iowa; and Wausau, Wis. The department has worked to tailor its marketing and advertising efforts to the changing planning habits of travelers. Led by greater insights gained from recent department research, peak leisure efforts kicked off in November with most of the campaign launching in March. Efforts which started this winter included: participation in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; a President’s Day celebration event at the Mall of America; a season-long promotion with the Minnesota Vikings; South Dakota-branded entryways at the Southdale Shopping Center in Minneapolis; a highimpact, pop-up direct mail piece delivered to targeted Chicago homes; participation in travel and outdoor consumer shows such as the Pheasants Forever National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic; and billboards in Chicago, Ill.; Denver, Colo.; Madison, Wis.; and Minneapolis, Minn. This spring the department is hosting a “Good Times, Great Places” sweepstakes promotion. The promotion will bring social media influencers to the state to experience one of four specific itineraries developed for the campaign. Consumers can participate by entering for a chance to win one of these trips through an engaging online quiz that matches them with the itinerary best fitting their vacation interests. In total, the department’s peak marketing efforts are expected to generate more than 518 million impressions. Efforts will run through the third week of July. The goal of this year’s campaign is to continue the growth that the South Dakota tourism industry has experienced over the past seven years. In 2016, the state greeted 13.9 million visitors, resulting in visitor spending reaching $3.8 billion. Last year’s campaign generated $51 in visitor spending for every dollar spent marketing the state as a vacation destination. The South Dakota Department of Tourism is comprised of Tourism and the South Dakota Arts Council. The Department is led by Secretary James D. Hagen. Sioux Falls, SD - As host of the Governor’s Giant Vision Business Entrepreneurial Competition, South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry President David Owen announced the top winners of the 2017 business and student business competitions in Sioux Falls April 26th. After a preliminary judging process that reduced the field of applicants to nine qualifying business and eleven qualifying student entries, the competition concluded with day-long judging activities Wednesday, April 26 at the Sioux Falls convention Center. The awards were presented as part of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) banquet with Governor Dennis Daugaard presenting the top prizes in both competitions. The following were selected as this year’s winners. Each first place winner listing includes the competitor’s “elevator pitch” that explains their business. BUSINESS COMPETITION: The first place $20,000 winner was NP SYSTEMS INTEGRATION, Daniel Stanton, Rapid City "NP Systems Integration, LLC (NPSI) is a South Dakota tech startup that was created in collaboration with university researchers. Our founders have extensive experience in supply chain management and the supply chain technology industry. Our research partner is The Center for Security Printing and Anti-Counterfeiting Technology (SPACT). Since 2009, SPACT has received more than $1 million in research funding to develop an innovative new system for securely marking products using nano technology. NPSI and SPACT have leveraged this research to create an anti-counterfeiting platform that is secure, flexible, and affordable. This technology will be marketed under the brand name SecureMarking™.” code. Using XpressRules technology, non-IT rule makers can easily create, modify or delete rules and policies for their organization with simple sentences and a few mouse clicks. This workflow automation generates significant savings, military-grade cybersecurity and transparent audits. XpressRules represents a rare opportunity for South Dakota: “Right product, right time and great jobs”! Fifth ($2,000): Health Workforce USA/ Connectushealth.org, Krista Marx and Sandy Williams, Sioux Falls Health Workforce USA, dba Connect US Health is a digital platform to engage and develop the healthcare workforce – the fastest growing employment sector in the United States. By mobilizing the 250+ AHEC network, Connect US Health is a national data system to support federal and business funding to enhance AHEC sustainability producing value for advertisers, colleges, employers, and governments. It connects healthcare students to professionals connecting them all to careers and communities. Connect Us Health facilitates audience groups into education, supports clinical training, data storage, mentoring and employment. Practicing professionals receive on-going professional development across the continuum of their career. The remaining qualifiers received $500 each to help with the expenses of participation. Sponsors of the Giant Vision Business Competition are Governor Dennis Daugaard; Black Hills Energy, Rapid City; Christiansen Land & Cattle Ltd., Kimball; Dacotah Bank, Aberdeen; Daktronics, Inc., Brookings; MidAmerican Energy, South Dakota; Toshiba America, Mitchell; US Bank, Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Rapid City; Wheeler Manufacturing, Lemmon, and Xcel Energy, Sioux Falls. The Giant Vision Competition is a program of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry, located in Pierre. SD Chamber President David Owen stated, “The goal of this program is to encourage people to explore being a business owner and to create an exciting future while also expanding South Dakota’s economy. We have worked hard to produce an event that will benefit all of the businesses participating. While the prize money will help the finalists, the contacts and rigor required to be a qualifier will prepare each entrepreneur to advance their business idea.” STUDENT COMPETITION: 2017 marked the eleventh year of a college student competition. Entries were received from across South Dakota. From the original applications, the top 10 were selected to compete April 26. The winners of the student competition were: Tie for first place $4,500 Ellen Schlechter, The Calving Book App, Faulkton High School and Henry Wegehaupt, Provender Technologies, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology The Calving Book App is an app for smart phones and tablets that keeps track of your calving records. All of your records are at your fingertips so you won’t ever be without your calving book. Plus, everything is cloud-based so everyone on your operation has live access to the calving records! Need to look up a calf? We’ve made it easy with a search tool. No network connection? Don’t worry, it works offline too. The app is available in the major app stores. Check out our website for more information: wwwthecalvingbook.com Provender Technologies is from Parkston, SD. Provender Technologies is working to provide automated feeding solutions for cattle operations. According to the USDA Census of Agriculture, sales from cattle and dairy products are increasing while the average age of U.S. farmers also continues to increase. Provender Technologies aspires to help farmers by saving them labor, time, and money and increasing their revenue. This is achieved through innovation and greater efficiency. Provender Technologies’ innovative feed bunk design provides an affordable and reliable automated feeding solution. Third ($3,000): South Dakota Refining Company, Scyller Borglum and J. Zack Malone, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology The South Dakota Refinery Company (SDRC) development is a local team bringing technical careers to SD. Over a threeyear period, SDRC will complete Phase 1 which includes refinery siting near Mitchell, completion of environmental studies, acquisition of necessary permits, and actively seek investors for Phase 2 which includes the refinery construction and operation. Once built, the SDRC will create temporary jobs during construction and long term careers for operators, engineers and scientists, and everyone in between. Join our team. Invest in a profitable, environmentally responsible and socially developing business adventure. Invest in South Dakota. Invest in SDRC. Fourth ($2,000): The Knak, Sam Hummel and Tyler Frank, University of South Dakota The Knak is an app based e-commerce platform that is revolutionizing the way customers are able to access and buy goods and services. Currently, millions of people are using social media platforms to share ideas about custom goods but no current marketplace solution is able to monetize these ideas. Our goal is to be the bridge that connects makers of handmade goods and services to those demanding them. This will be feasible by creating a community of makers, on our app, that will bid on each project and only complete the projects where the buyer accepts the bid. Fifth ($1,000): 305 Bucking Stock, Jack Stark, South Dakota State University 305 Bucking Stock headquartered in Brookings SD, will serve most of SD, MN, and the other surrounding areas to provide outstanding bucking stock for every level of competition. Starting with the purchase of older rodeo stock, gives us time to create a name for ourselves by having consistent stock that performs day in and out. From there we will start with both breeding and purchasing younger stock that has the potential to be the best. By breeding and raising the younger stock within our company, the industry can see what our potential is and what we have to offer. The remaining qualifiers will receive $500 each to help with the expenses of participation. Governor Dennis Daugaard supported this program financially, along with Citibank N.A. of Sioux Falls and South Dakota EPSCoR of Brookings. The Governor’s Giant Vision Business Awards and Governor’s Giant Vision Student Awards were established to help citizens realize that South Dakota is the very best place to start a successful business. The program was designed as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to compete for seed money and a chance to achieve their dream. This South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry program is chaired by Brad Wheeler, President of Wheeler Manufacturing in Lemmon. Wheeler commented “We are fortunate to have successful entrepreneurs take time to be judges and really work hard to examine all of these new ideas. This is an exciting day with high energy people working hard to share in the American dream.” Governor’s Giant Vision Business and Student Competition Winners Announced Second ($10,000): Primary Manufacturing, Ladd McCluskey, Humboldt Ladd McCluskey is owner of Primary Manufacturing. We manufacture highquality small plastic parts using the latest additive technology. This process uses light and oxygen to build the desired solid shape out of liquid resin. Once this shape is formed it is baked to fully cure the resin into a finished part. This process creates a highly detailed, non-layered part with incredible physical properties. If your dream invention or process needs 10 to 10,000 parts, we can build your production jobs from a drawing or 3D rendering in as little as a day. What possibilities do you see? Tie for Third ($4,000 each): Ease, Travis Kiefer, Aberdeen and XpressRules LLC, Lanny Turner and Ron Turner, Yankton Ease is a technology company that provides customized hardware and software solutions for senior living. Ease’s flagship Repair & Remodel product is an intelligent passive sensor network that can Carpentry, Decks, notify caregivers or family Interior & Exterior Painting, members in the event someRefinishing, Drywall, & thing is amiss in the senior’s surroundings. Whether it’s Ceramic Tile forgetting that the stove was 18 Years in Business left on or receiving a notification that the time spent walking is below a risk threshold for falls, our technology allows seniors to age with dignity and live with Ease. XpressRules: A market opportunity “Quality Service with Reasonable Prices.” has recently emerged with “Serving the Vermillion Area Since 1993” a potential of over $15B. Vermillion, SD 57069 • 605-624-9140 XpressRules recognized this, Our Services Include: creating a patented technol• Furnace and A/C Replacement/Repair ogy to replace manual IT • Hot Water Boiler Replace and Repair programming in multiple busi• Air Duct Cleaning ness environments. Natural language sentences—simple • Window Replacements to implement and easily • In Floor Heating Systems understood— automatically Licensed & Insured • Call for a FREE Estimate create executable computer Romsdahl’s Free Estimates Your Eye on Ag for 85 Years 605-670-2161 James Heating & Cooling ® Raise your expectations. 101 W Main St | 605.624.4461 | cortrustbank.com ID 405612