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Growing Places
Growing Places
Building the Bench with Berk and Hayley
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Meet the newest additions to the SMGA team, Berk Erhmantraut and Hayley Johnson
Welcome to Growing Places, a podcast about all things economic development right here in the Sioux Metro. Brought to you by the Sioux Metro Girl and our supporters. We're diving into the stories of progress that in our community as well as getting helpful partners that help make it all happen.
SPEAKER_04Welcome to Growing Places, your podcast for all things economic development here in the Sioux Metro. Today we are joined by two new faces here in the SMGA office, Burke Armin Trout and Haley Johnson. Welcome.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_04Thanks.
SPEAKER_00Good to be here.
SPEAKER_04I wanted to get on the mics today so we can introduce you both to the listen listenership of this podcast and really um all those that we interact with here throughout the region. There's a lot of different folks out there that are going to be seeing your faces. So uh Burke, if you don't mind, we'll start with you. Uh give us the the long or the short of it. Uh tell us a little bit about yourself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my name is Burke Erman Trout. I'm a new economic development specialist here at Sioux Metro Growth Alliance. I am coming here from Porch Light, where I was doing housing studies for uh many communities in the Sioux Metro, including places like uh Lennox and Harrisburg. I grew up here in South Dakota uh between Aberdeen and then graduated from high school in Beersford, just down the road from Sioux Falls. Uh went to college out in DC and came back and excited to be here. I'm going to be working uh a lot with Garretsen and with Hartford on their economic development.
SPEAKER_04It's exciting, and we're great. We're grateful to have you. Um we've had the, like you mentioned, had the pleasure of working you in the past in your previous role, and uh I've seen nothing excitement but excitement from the folks in those communities that you had uh the pleasure to work for, and we're super excited to have you on. Um Haley, I don't want to skip over you. You've been around just a hair longer than Burke has at this point. Uh tell us a little bit about yourself, uh where you came from and what you're gonna be doing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I uh came on about a month ago, so August 3rd was my start date. I uh came from the campaign of Dusty Johnson. So I started with him back in 2023. Prior to that, I was in financial services. I was a financial advisor for a couple different places in town and then graduated from SDSU, but originally grew up in Winter, South Dakota.
SPEAKER_04Go Warriors, I say begrudgingly, as a Moabridge Tiger in my former life.
SPEAKER_02Winter Warriors. Um But yes, I will be the director of operations here at Sioux Metro Growth Alliance. I'm here to help the ship run as smoothly as possible and step in really wherever it's needed.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, well, anybody that has worked with us knows that we could use a little bit of that. Um we've been a small but mighty team for the last you know two years and change since I've been on board. Uh and uh kind of as you guys may have seen, we've we do a lot of different things. Each individual does a lot of different things in this team. Um, and so we're really excited to have you on to help sort of lighten the load, but also maybe uh get us going on the right track, keep us keep us going on the right track, uh, because as much as we feel that we've been doing a good job, uh there's always that room for improvement. Um tell me about growing up in winter and how that uh kind of informs your experience here at Sue Metro working with these small towns that maybe aren't as rural as Winter, but certainly not uh the same feel as Sioux Falls.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I would say uh my biggest takeaway of growing up in winter is the small town feel that everybody cares about each other. And I think that that is one of the most beautiful things about being from a small town and living in a small town is that no matter how big or small uh uh the situation, the crisis, everyone is uh in it with you no matter what. And I also think that each small town has something completely different to offer. And uh what I'm most excited about is keeping all of the communities of the Sioux Metro Growth Alliance the places that they are now, but helping them continue to grow in a direction that they want to grow rather than try to bulldoze them and all become the next Sioux Falls. I think that each community has a lot of special things to offer and noticing those things, finding them and capitalizing on them and showing other people why it's such a special place to be.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I agree. One thing that I've kind of taken away from my two years at Sioux Metro is it's really a symbiotic relationship. Um Sioux Falls needs these communities that we serve, and of course they need Sioux Falls. Uh, you know, I've been working in Lennox for the last couple of years, and we have about a 50-50 m migration pattern during the day. For daytime workers, we lose about half of the population. Um to Sioux Falls uh and half of our workers come in from somewhere else that's not Lennox. And so we're the the close relationship. I definitely see where you're coming from. Uh they we need to avoid forcing Sioux Falls or whatever that feeling is on our small towns and allow them a chance to retain their own unique identities while also providing that opportunity. What does the next hundred years of Lennox look like? Um, because it's most certainly going to be different from the past. Um Burke, how about you? You like me, grew up in two different communities or spent time in two different communities in your youth. Um tell us a little bit about that and tell us how that will maybe uh inform your work at Sioux Metro.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So my dad's a pastor, so we moved around quite a bit when I was a kid, but uh spent many of my formative years up in Aberdeen, where it's much colder than than down here in in Sioux Falls, and then uh spent high school and graduated from high school in Beersford. So I got to go from a town of about 25,000 to a town of of 2,000 and experience both sides of that. And you know, as a a high school sophomore who found out I was gonna be moving to Beersford, I didn't know what to expect going to uh a town of that size. But when I got there, it was really amazing and getting to meet everyone, and the thing that's really cool about arriving in a small town as the new person is uh everyone quickly knows who you are. And I found that out uh working in the subway line where people were coming up and saying, You must be Burke. Uh and there's just something really special about that, and something I've loved about rural communities is that ability to quickly get to know people and depend on people in that way that you can only do in a small town.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I hear you there. Moving in high school, I definitely had a similar experience of uh you're the I don't want to say talk of the town sounds like a salacious thing, but uh it's really a lot more innocent than that. And I still have a lot of those friends that I I met on the first couple of days of being the the new kid in school. So uh good memories there. Um what excites you? Tell me a little bit what excites you about small town living uh and what are you excited to bring to the table for these communities you're planning to serve?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think one of the things that is really awesome about the Sioux Metro communities is that you can have that small town lifestyle while still being able to access everything that Sioux Falls has to offer as well, but you get to go home to the small town with everything that's great about that. And you know, I think one of the things that's really cool about small towns is larger communities are always trying to make their downtowns walkable and make it so that you've got this special feeling that you can pop in and be everywhere. And that just happens naturally in a small town. You know, you can go where you need to go, you can get things done. If one restaurant's closed, you walk to the other end of downtown in a couple minutes, and you're off into the races. And so that's something that I'm really excited to get to know these communities and work with them. Something that one of my close friends likes to say is if you've been to one small town, you've been to one small town. And every community has something that makes it special. And so I'm really excited to learn that about our many communities. Of, you know, I I have my perspective having visited them and you know, gone to do things in those communities, but getting a chance to work closely with the leaders in the communities, the business owners in the communities, and really understand all the things that that make those communities great and what the residents love about where they live.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I love that. If you've been to one small town, you've been to one small town. Definitely all of our 17 member communities have their own unique identity. Um it's easy to paint a small town with the same brush, but you you can't really do that. If you've actually spent time in in these in these communities, you know that uh there's different characters, there's different personalities, there's different opportunities in every single small town, and they all want something maybe a little different. So it's it's exciting to be a part of that growth and uh be a part of that change and work with those people to get that done and and leverage having Sioux Falls close rather than have it be a barrier to what that town would like to be. Haley, what are some of the things that you've been working on in your in your brief but impactful month here at Sioux Metro?
SPEAKER_02Well, my first week I jumped in and we had our inaugural uh cohort first session for our leadership, Sioux Metro. Um that went very well. And as we are recording today, we actually have our second session tomorrow and we are super excited about it. We're gonna be in Brandon. But our first session, we have 32 leaders from the surrounding area. About half is from Sioux Falls, half are from the surrounding Sioux Metro areas. So instead of it being the typical everybody from Sioux Falls type leadership program, we're really tying in how we are working in our communities with how our communities are working with Sioux Falls to build those connections and build those bridges. Uh the other things, we have a lot of events coming up. We have the Clay Classic, which actually the proceeds for the Clay Classic are going to help with the Leadership Sioux Metro program. We're raising funds to help with scholarships for people who are applying for Leadership Sioux Metro, so that's exciting. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, get your team of four, or we also still have sponsorships available. If you're looking to sponsor either a pheasant station or drinks or lunch, all of those are still available if you would like to sponsor for the clay classic. We have uh other events coming up too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we have our uh growth summit coming up at the end of the year, just like we've done successfully over the past few years. So we're excited. More details on that coming soon.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the clay classic has to be one of my favorite events uh that Sue Metro puts on. Uh because it's it's guns and it's economic development, too. My favorite things. So uh we're raising money for a great cause in leadership, Sue Metro. Um, and you know, if you listened in two weeks ago we had Tamian Dye start on the on the podcast, and he's been helping us out with the curriculum for that program. Um I'm really excited to see what that becomes and proud of what it is already.
SPEAKER_02Um but will this be a good time for me to mention my poll that I've been taking?
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. What is it? I'm not aware of this poll.
SPEAKER_02So you took the poll. The poll is which are there more of in the Sioux Metro? Do people have do more people have golf clubs or guns?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, get back to us on that. If you're listening right now, shoot Tyler a text, shoot me an email. Uh what do you think?
SPEAKER_01Haley J at Sue Metro.com. I am dying to know.
SPEAKER_04That's right. Last week we did have a probably longer than it needed to be conversation about whether more people in the Sioux Metro have golf clubs or guns. So get back to a sound off about that. Uh to wrap up, even though you guys are gonna be some long-term guests, we don't let any guests get away without answering. What is your hidden gem in the Sioux Metro? So just a little context. Answers have ranged. Anything from parks, uh retail shopping, bars, anything in our footprint, what is what is something that people need to get out and go check out maybe this weekend or whenever they get some free time. Burke, let's hear from you first.
SPEAKER_00I have really been enjoying getting to know Garretsen as I've started working in the community. And one of the things that's really cool there is at 529 North Main, they have the Quartzite Coffee House and the Study Dessert Lounge. So you can get coffee, you can get ice cream, they've got all kinds of desserts and pastries and all this stuff. It's it's really awesome. Really enjoyed it. And they've done so much great work to take uh an old building and revamp it and really turn it into an awesome community space. And so that's a spot that I stopped by and I said, I I need to come back here when I'm not working. And so that's a great spot. If you haven't been there, just stop by Main Street in Garretts and then you won't regret it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I feel that a lot when we get out in the communities, and you know, this is a place I need to get back to when I have a little more time, not to not on the company time to to enjoy, whether it's a restaurant or in Garrettson specifically is the Sportsman Club. That's one of my favorite uh places to go on the weekend, spend a lot of time there. Uh enjoying the amenities they have for trap shooting um and long and short gun ranges. So just another maybe hidden gem for me, get out to the Garrison Sportsman Club. Haley, how about you?
SPEAKER_02Uh well, I would say my first hidden gem of many probably hidden gems would be uh Zooks in tea. I love their coffee shop. They are the only place that I know that has coffee flights that you can get. It is such a cute little place in tea, and they're always busy.
SPEAKER_04Zooks Coffee Shop. So we got some coffee drinkers in the house. That's good. We've uh we're kind of an office fueled on Red Bull so far, as in my experience, so maybe it'll it'll be better to have a little bit of that in the house.
SPEAKER_02Well, maybe that'll be my thing. I'll just start trying all of the coffee shops in the Sioux Metro.
SPEAKER_04That's a good reason to get out in our communities and do a little bit of outreach. We'll call that outreach. Yeah, exactly. Scoffee stops. But uh either way, thank you both for taking a moment out of your busy onboarding schedules to uh sit down with me, talk about your backgrounds and uh what what you're gonna be doing here for Sioux Metro Growth Alliance. Uh just wanted to say thank you and then really excited.