BROOKINGS, SD (9-17-26) — The Brookings Regional Growth Alliance delivered a progress report to the Brookings City Council during this week’s council workshop.
Lori Frederick is Growth Alliance CEO… “We have been able to do about an 80 percent retention of membership. That is above industry standard for most chambers of commerce. So we’ve had the support of the community — of the businesses — and we’re very excited about that, and we’re continuing to work on that and to make sure that they have the benefits that are needed for them to continue to grow, to expand, and to start up.”
She said they’re also involved in an ongoing hotel development study… “What that has led to is the potential of a very large redevelopment project here in the community. By having that hotel study completed, we were able to reach out and have some conversations with some individuals who had an interest in Brookings — and so now we’re working on that at very early stages.”
Frederick said they’re also focused on improving area workforce development… “We have a very low unemployment rate, so we work with the South Dakota State University TRIO employee tours — and what that has done is connected South Dakota State freshmen with local employers, and it’s really introducing them to local careers. So we’ve had about eight to ten tours on that, really starting at that freshmen level of them thinking about where they can go, what they can do and how they can stay in Brookings after they graduate.”
She said the Growth Alliance will also be involved in this fall elections… “We also have looked at candidate forums for the upcoming elections, and then we did some candidate profiles. So our role in that is to be basically that voice of providing unbiased information regarding candidates. That’s really what we’re here to do and so we don’t take a stance on either side — just provide the information.”
Learn more online at https://growthalliance.org/
— Brookings Radio News
