Come Grow With Us.

Aberdeen has experienced a 72 percent increase in retail sales in the last 10 years. Our growing community is the perfect place for new and expanding business opportunities. For more information on what Aberdeen can offer your business, contact the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce at 605-225-2860.

size of Aberdeen is a very large number,” she says.

Jim Barringer, executive vice president of the Aberdeen Development Corp., says the town’s housing growth stems from a city-led evaluation conducted several years ago that identified a lack of affordable housing as an issue impeding growth. At the time, developers were leery of building in Aberdeen at the rates necessary to make projects affordable for local residents, but as the recession began to take its toll on the rest of the country, they relented and began to build out Aberdeen, one building at a time. “Developers would build one and see how it worked. They had it rented out before they got it completed, so they built a second one, and a third one and fourth one,” he says.

To provide additional assurance to developers who were unsure of success in the community, Absolutely Aberdeen created a risk pool to guarantee developers’ holding costs in case newly built houses didn’t sell, but the pool was never used, says Julie Johnson, executive director of the group. “No one ever had to absorb any holding costs,” she says. “So we took down that risk pool and reinvested in helping some of the affordable housing projects.”

Barringer estimates the current population of Aberdeen exceeds 27,000 people. He attributes new growth to a number of factors, including farm retirees who are moving into town and new residents who are relocating for employment at organizations such as Molded Fiber Glass Companies, Wells Fargo and Sanford Health.

Wells Fargo employs about 120 people in Aberdeen but it is currently filling 20 new jobs as it expands its student loan group. Company spokeswoman Staci Schiller says that while Wells Fargo’s national student loan collections group is headquartered in Sioux Falls, the company chose to expand the group in Aberdeen for two reasons — available space at its existing building and the ability to attract workers to the location. “We’ve got a pretty good base there already,” Schiller says. “Aberdeen has also provided a fabulous workforce in the past.”

Economic Variety

Aberdeen’s diverse economy saved it from the recession, according to city leaders, and the region’s agriculture, ranching and hunting sectors continue to be strong performers.

From fall through spring, pheasant hunting dominates the local community and drives economic activity at retail and hotel outlets. The South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks estimates that hunting has a $42 million annual eco- nomic impact for Aberdeen and the surrounding area, according to Brenda Moore, chief administrative officer of the Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The number of out-of-state visitors to the area during hunting season is so large that Skywest offers three flights per day to the Aberdeen Regional Airport rather than the typical two, which Moore says is appreciated but that the community is working to make three flights the daily norm. “We think we have earned our way to a third flight,” she says.

Local businesses make the most of hunting season by offering special promotions and supplies for hunters. The Aberdeen Hotel Alliance runs a promotion known as the $1 Million Pheasant Hunt, which Moore says has become very popular. The alliance consists of 12 members including the recently opened TownePlace Suites by Marriott.

Now Hiring

Workforce is an issue to be dealt with in Aberdeen as it is in every community in the region. The town’s unemployment rate sits at or below 3 percent, and community leaders are continuously striving to attract new workers to the area. A semi-annual regional job fair held in September had a record 54 employers on-hand to meet with potential employees. In October, Advantage South Dakota, a regional economic development initiative of Northwestern Energy, the Aberdeen Development Corp. and Absolutely Aberdeen and local communities, held a job opportunities showcase designed to bring awareness to the area’s ample employment opportunities. “As we have visited amongst ourselves and with the power company, one consistent challenge for all of our communities is the availability and quality of the labor,” Barringer says. “We need to enlighten more people about the employment opportunities here and be able to do more training.”

Eight companies participated in the job showcase and many others attended, representing every industry sector and skill set in the area, according to Johnson.

Despite workforce concerns, a business friendly climate on the state and local level as well as a growing community are leaving local businesses optimistic for the near future and many entrepreneurs are continuing to expand and open new businesses at a steady rate, Ochs says. “They are doing well,” she says. “Every week we hear about something new.” PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561, kbevill@prairiebizmag.com