Editor's note: On Feb. 6, 2023, at 9:48 a.m. CST, this story was fixed to add the correct first name for Steven Pedigo, vice president of economic development at Resonance.

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BROOKINGS — At its meeting on Jan. 24, the Brookings City Council gave its approval, on a 6-0 vote, to the city’s first community economic development master plan — a plan that contains insights into the positives the Brookings area has, along with the challenges it faces.

The $125,000 plan, which was overseen by worldwide economic development consultants Resonance, covers a five-year period of time. It took 10 months to develop and will be used to provide $950,000 from the city budget to “progress Brookings’ economic efforts,” per a memo from the city. City Manager Paul M. Briseno said the funds will go to four entities:

• Brookings Economic Development Corp.
• Research Park.
• Visit Brookings.
• Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce.

Steven Pedigo, vice president of economic development at Resonance, was at the City Council meeting via Zoom and complimented Brookings and its residents while explaining the master plan’s findings.

“It has been a real pleasure … to work with your city,” he said. “This has been a process and a plan that really has been co-created together and it’s something that I think will guide the future of the community of Brookings in the years to come.”

Pedigo pointed out research findings from the 107-page plan, including:

• Home to nearly 24,500 residents, Brookings is a fast-growing community, with the city growing at a rate twice the national average.

• Brookings is attracting immigrant talent at a rate significantly higher than its peer communities in the state. Almost 12% of the city’s residents are people of color, growing 26% in the last five years.

• Brookings has a strong and growing knowledge workforce, which provides the city with a strong foundation on which to grow its economy. Specifically, the share of employment in knowledge occupations is 7% higher than the national average, with strong growth that is 75% higher than the state average.

• The city has a lower median household income of $57,471, which is also growing at a rate slower than most of its peers. The MHI in Brookings is $2,400 lower than the state average and $7,500 lower than the national average.

• The gender wage gap is closing in Brookings, and female incomes have been increasing at a higher rate in recent years than male incomes.

• Brookings provides a good quality of life with an abundance of cultural and recreational amenities, and those assets should be promoted.

The research findings also pointed out the key target clusters for Brookings:

• Advanced manufacturing: Home to Daktronics, Larson Manufacturing and 3M, Brookings has a “robust” manufacturing cluster. The cluster is the strongest in terms of competitive advantage — the advantage is more than 21 times the national average — and total employment, with more than 3,500 workers. It is also the largest contributor to the economy in terms of Gross Regional Product (GRP), generating $720 million in 2021.

• Ag innovation: This is the fastest-growing cluster in Brookings, growing by 27% over the last five years and surpassing the state’s job growth in the cluster. It is supported by a highly educated workforce, where almost six in 10 employees have a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Ag innovation is supported by South Dakota State University’s excellence in the field through the its Precision Agriculture program and also through robust work by the Research Park. Major employers in this cluster include Dynamic Concepts, Conference Technologies and Banner Associates.

• Agricultural inputs and services: This is the second-highest in terms of competitive advantage — the advantage is more than seven times the national average — and a major employer with a strong employment base of more than 1,400 workers.

This cluster is supported by Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce initiatives such as the Ag Teacher Resources Grant, ag scholarships, Feed the Farmer, and the Ag Appreciation Banquet. Major employers include Sterling Technology, Hill Top Dairy, and KC Dairy.

• Food processing and manufacturing: Brookings has a specialization in cheese manufacturing thanks to the SDSU dairy and food science programs, and Bel Brand’s cheese manufacturing plant is a major draw to further expand the cluster. The cluster is competitive — the advantage is more than six times the national average — and shows growth that is in line with the state average.

“You all are definitely a community that I’m excited to have had an opportunity to work with, but also follow in the years to come,” Pedigo noted.

Going beyond the research findings, the community economic development master plan also included seven goals for the city and strategies to help achieve those goals over a five-year period. The goals are:

• Goal 1: Attract investment to grow the economy in Brookings and create generational prosperity.

• Goal 2: Build Brookings into the premier entrepreneurial community in America’s heartland.

• Goal 3: Bring passionate innovators, academics and investors together to create an inclusive innovation hub.

• Goal 4: Invest in the diverse talent that will fuel the future of Brookings.

• Goal 5: Promote and celebrate Brookings as an extraordinary destination for families, professionals, students and visitors of all walks.

• Goal 6: Promote the story of Brookings.

• Goal 7: Build an economic development ecosystem that effectively supports the implementation of this strategy.

Questions and observations came following Pedigo’s presentation, including one from City Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne.

“Thank you for the hard work that was put into this, I think it’s a great plan and it gives us some really solid goals to look at,” she said. “Obviously, all of these are great goals, but won’t all be achieved at one time. Is there any priority that might be given to any of these or recommendation about which one, two, three of them that you would recommend that we focus on first or if there is perhaps a way to identify which ones might be easiest to attain?”

Pedigo replied that, “Under each of these goals there’s prioritizations … as we’ve noted in the implementation plan, we’re not going to achieve completion of each of these goals in Year 1. This is a plan that will scaffold upon (itself) as we go through years 1 through 5.”

The conversation wrapped up with an observation by Mayor Oepke “Ope” Niemeyer.

“Obviously, in the implementation (we’ll) jump at the low-hanging fruit right away and move on from there,” he said. “It is definitely over a five-year plan and we have economic development partners that will help us with the implementation of this also.”

The City Council’s next meeting is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Brookings City & County Government Center, 520 Third St.

— Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.