SDSPA Shares Local Food Resources at SDSU’s Energize! 2024 Conference
On May 21st and 22nd, leaders from across rural South Dakota descended upon Hot Springs for the South Dakota State University Energize! 2024 Conference. Energize! 2024 was created to empower rural South Dakota communities with the motivation, knowledge and skills to create stronger communities. Activities and sessions focus on leadership training, building small business, marketing, strategic planning and growing agritourism. South Dakota Specialty Producers Association served as a resource partner at Energize! 2024.
Many faces of SDSPA were in attendance. SDSPA Urban Agriculture Liaison, Malisa Niles, hosted the SDSPA booth and met with specialty producers and industry leaders about how SDSPA may assist them in developing local food networks. The SDSPA booth featured materials on SDSPA membership, soil health, pollinators, and equipment/tool sharing.
Members from Abb-Bee’s Honey and Black Hills Mushroom stopped in the booth to talk about their specialty operations. Makoce Agriculture Development team members Nick Hernandez and AJ Granelli hosted a session on their five business initiatives and their work developing local food infrastructure. SDSPA Board Member Bob Weyrich was attending, representing the SD Small Business Development Center.
All attendees spent time in breakout sessions, networked with other leaders in rural SD, and attended Michael Perry’s motivational speech entitled “Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time.” The Energize! 2024 gave rural leaders the skills and motivation to return to their communities and make a difference. Applications to serve as the host city for Energize! 2025 are being accepted on the Energize! Website. In keeping to the mission of Energize!, host cities must have a population under 5,000.