BROOKINGS (9-16-26) — Last night, the Brookings City Council discussed possible funding cuts to the SDSU Research Park.
This year, the City of Brookings contributed $135 thousand to the Research Park. The proposal for next year is to cut that to $75 thousand.
City Council Member Lisa Hager said she’s not impressed by what she’s seen from the Research Park… “On August 31, we were emailed an impact report from the Research Park. In that report it says there’s 60 total tenants, but there’s only 40 on the website. There’s 101 new jobs that have been created — but where? Based on my research, I can’t tell if any of those are actually in Brookings. So where is the economic output? To me, the math isn’t mathing.”
SDSU President Barry Dunn urged the council to restore funding, saying it sends an important message of unified community support for the Research Park… “I have argued with the Board of Regents that the three legs of this stool — the university, the city and the county — are why this Research Park is doing as well as it is versus the other models that we have in this state with USD and School of Mines. It’s because the community is invested.”
City Manager Paul Briseno said if the council chooses to restore Research Park funding, they’ll need to cut from elsewhere, possibly from the proposed increase in Dacotah Bank Center funding… “The Dacotah Bank Center, as we look to transition it to a recreational, we’re currently going to look at not only keeping the activities — live events, curtailing the concerts but adding the recreational component — we assume about $450 to $500 thousand is going to be needed, at least for that first year. But once again, I would encourage you to look at cutting operations.”
The council discussed the possibility of restoring any cuts to Dacotah Bank Center funding down the road with 3B sales tax money that ends up coming in above current estimates.
Deputy Mayor Nick Wendell said he’d like to restore at least some Research Park funding… “I’m sort of inclined to think as an individual member of the council that I’d be supportive of restoring some of those dollars in the 2027 budget. I’d like to visit with my colleagues on the council about what that looks like. Do we go all the way back up to $135 thousand? Do we meet in the middle somewhere? I want to continue the conversation around what the impact might be to other line items in the budget if we restore the funding. But I’d like to see some of that funding come back. I value the work of the Research Park and do believe that it offers a return on investment to the community.”
Council Member Wayne Avery requested an accounting report from the Research Park, and Briseno suggested the city and the Research Park develop a Memorandum of Understanding as well.
The city will hold official first reading of their 2027 budget in late October.
— Brookings Radio News
