Economy

Amazon is buying land in Sioux Falls, but the company is not saying exactly what it plans to do.

The company purchased 80 acres from the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, according to Bob Mundt, the foundation's president and CEO. The land is northwest of the I-29 and I-90 junction, along Marion Road.

Neither the foundation nor Amazon disclosed the purchase price. The public record of the sale is not yet available at the county courthouse.

Mundt said, “We’re excited to make the sale, and we’re anxious to see what it is that they build there.”

South Dakota businesses and nonprofits that have been hurt by the pandemic have a short time to apply for their share of $450 million in government grants.

Congress passed the CARES Act pandemic relief bill in March, and state government got $1.25 billion.

About half of the money went unspent through the spring and summer. Ian Fury, spokesman for Gov. Kristi Noem, said there were reasons for that.

The federal government is providing money to help develop a Sioux Falls industrial park that's the site of a long-rumored but unconfirmed project with Amazon.

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration announced a $1.9 million grant Wednesday to the Sioux Falls Development Foundation. The foundation will use the money at Foundation Park, a partially developed, 800-acre area immediately northwest of the I-29 and I-90 junction.

Government payments to unemployed South Dakotans during the pandemic have surpassed $300 million.

That’s happened in just the past six months. South Dakota Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman said it’s a historic figure.

“To put that in perspective, that $300 million is more than we’ve paid out in the last decade in benefits," Hultman told the state's Workforce Development Council on Wednesday.

Business improved for some hotels and restaurants this summer after pandemic-related disruptions during the spring, but representatives of the hospitality industry say they’re still suffering.

Bob Fuchs owns restaurants and a winery and brewery in the Black Hills, including the Firehouse Brewing Company. He testified virtually Monday to the Legislature’s Joint Commerce and Energy Committee.

In The Moment … September 15, 2020 Show 902 Hour 1

The South Dakota economy has been reeling from the impact of a global pandemic in ways were are only beginning to understand. SDPB's Seth Tupper has been following the money all year and he joins us with an economic update. 

Bullfighter Gus Kronberg said he lost jobs at 16 rodeos that have been canceled during the pandemic.

That’s cost him more than $10,000. And he said people throughout the rodeo community are reeling.

“It’s hard for me to understand and wrap my mind around the kind of loss our whole industry has suffered," Kronberg said.

South Dakota businesses affected by the pandemic could soon have another opportunity to get help. 

Gov. Kristi Noem wants to use federal money for up to $400 million in business grants.

The money would come from $1.25 billion in aid that South Dakota got from the federal government at the beginning of the pandemic. 

Noem has already designated large chunks of that money for schools and local governments. Spokesman Ian Fury said the governor is now asking legislators for feedback on her business grant proposal. 

Governor Kristi Noem says South Dakota has recovered most of the jobs it’s lost during the pandemic, but an analyst for the FDIC has different numbers.

Two weeks ago, Noem tweeted that South Dakota has regained 80 percent of its job losses.

Sioux Falls is abuzz with rumors about one of the world’s biggest companies possibly coming to town, but the company itself isn't talking. 

The South Dakota bank that issued stimulus debit cards on behalf of the federal government says about one-third of the money remains unspent. 

MetaBank, headquartered in Sioux Falls, issued 3.6 million cards loaded with a total of $6.42 billion beginning in mid-May. 

Governor Kristi Noem is trying an old South Dakota tactic: inviting companies to relocate from Minnesota to South Dakota for a better business climate. 

Noem is featured in ads running through Labor Day in Minnesota. 

New data from the federal government reveal more information about the Paycheck Protection Program, including some of the loan recipients. 

And that information shows the program’s deep and wide reach in South Dakota. 

The Noem administration said it would raise private money for a Mount Rushmore fireworks display attended by President Trump.  

Instead, taxpayers are footing the bill. And the money’s coming from a fund for research and economic development.  

When state Sen. Jeff Partridge urged his fellow legislators to approve the creation of a small-business relief fund at the end of March, he made a prediction. 

He said the money would be needed by the kinds of businesses “that we might not even be thinking of yet.” 

Small businesses in South Dakota may get an opportunity to apply for pandemic-relief grants. 

Gov. Kristi Noem said the money would come from the $1.25 billion in federal aid the state already received.  

Noem is busy finding ways to spend that federal money. This week, she’s on a tour of the state. The focus of her message is $200 million from that federal package that can reimburse local governments for pandemic expenses. 

South Dakota collected more sales taxes through May of this fiscal year than it did through May of the last fiscal year, despite this year’s pandemic and recession. 

That’s not what Gov. Kristi Noem expected in mid-April. 

South Dakota had fewer new unemployment claims last week than any other state, and it was the only state with fewer than 1,000 new claims. 

The number of new claims in South Dakota was 817. That continues a downward trend since weekly claims peaked at more than 8,000 in early April. 

In The Moment … June 9, 2020 Show 834 Hour 2

As we continue our conversations on the pandemic's consequences for the food supply chain, we look at the economic impacts of meat plant closures. The weaknesses we're seeing now were there before COVID-19...so what do we need to do after? Evert Vander Sluis joins us now, he's a professor of economics at South Dakota State University.

In The Moment … June 8, 2020 Show 833 Hour 1

The most recent jobs report seemed to give the stock market a shot of optimism after tanking in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. But things are still pretty bleak...and to be honest, I'm as confused as most people.  Luckily, Rick Kahler is here to help us out.  He's the founder and president of the Kahler Financial Group, a leader in the field of financial therapy, and the author of several financial books including 2009's Wire for Wealth. 

In The Moment … May 29, 2020 Show 827 Hour 1

This is a preview of SDPB's weeklong, multi-platform project on the meat supply chain.

Find us on: Apple, Spotify, and Google Play

Unemployment benefits paid to South Dakotans have totaled $87.8 million since the pandemic began affecting the state’s economy in mid-March. 

That’s according to Marcia Hultman, the head of the state Department of Labor and Regulation. 

“Eight weeks ago it was like a light switch was flipped, and claims instantly – and to a degree never before seen – began to hit our system,” Hultman said. 

In The Moment … May 14, 2020 Show 817 Hour 2

As the rest of the nation seeks ways to reopen the economy, South Dakotans were never on a statewide shelter-in-place order or lockdown. Many business owners and faith community leaders are seeking CDC and South Dakota Department of Health guidance to inform and support their individual decisions about what "Back to Normal" looks like. Governor Kristi Noem is with us today. 

One of the nation’s top bankers told a Rapid City audience not to worry about the federal government’s debt, at least for now. 

Neel Kashkari is president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He participated remotely in a live video discussion Tuesday as part of the Morning Fill-Up speaker series in Rapid City. 

All the money has been loaned out from a state fund that was created to help businesses get through the pandemic, and Gov. Kristi Noem said the state probably can’t replenish the fund. 

In The Moment ... April 27, 2020 Show 804 Hour 1

Unexpected. Unprecedented. Uncharted. Unconventional. We are living in unusual times and that means it's pretty hard to figure out what the future looks like, especially with the U.S. economy.  Joe Santos is the professor of economics and Dykhouse Scholar of Money, Banking, and Regulation in the Ness School of Management and Economics at SDSU. You can find his blog online at schooleddotblog.com. 

It’s taking several weeks for some South Dakotans to obtain unemployment benefits. 

The state Department of Labor and Regulation reports about 75 percent of the people who file for unemployment get their benefits in a matter of days. 

But Department Secretary Marcia Hultman said it takes the other 25 percent of people four weeks or more. 

The state fund that helps unemployed workers is paying out millions of dollars every week, and the fund could need help by the end of the year. 

At the end of February, before the coronavirus was detected in South Dakota, the balance in the state’s Unemployment Trust Fund was $132 million.  

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, unemployment claims were down last week in South Dakota. 

But the trend isn’t expected to last. 

State government is issuing a new weekly report on coronavirus economic numbers, and Gov. Kristi Noem wants people to get ready for bad news. 

“I want to prepare you for the coming days, where we will get numbers that will be shocking to all of you,” Noem said Tuesday during her daily coronavirus media briefing.