About Us
Finance Division
Mike Youngberg
Mike is the Finance Manager for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Responsibilities include managing the various loan portfolios, other finance programs and finance staff.
Mike can be reached at michael.youngberg@state.sd.us
Travis Dovre
Travis is a Community Development Coordinator and the administrator of the Value-Added Ag Subfund program for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Travis’ duties include administering projects for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and the Value-Added Ag Subfund (VASF) program.
Travis can be reached at travis.dovre@state.sd.us
Ann Gesick Johnson
is the Workforce Training Coordinator for the GOED. Ann works closely with business leaders on the Workforce Development Program to provide grants to companies to assist with training employees. Ann also administers the Dakota Seeds program which helps businesses create internships and assistantships.
Ann can be reached at ann.gesick- johnson@state.sd.us
Charlie Van Gerpen
Charlie is a Loan Officer within the finance division of GOED. Charlie works with individuals seeking funding from the MicroLOAN South Dakota program. He also works with entities applying for loans from the Tourism Enhancement Program.
Charlie can be reached at charlie.vangerpen@state.sd.us
La Jena Gruis
La Jena is a Loan Officer in the finance division of GOED. LaJena works with businesses seeking funding from the SBA 504 program and the APEX loan program.
La Jena can be reached at lajena.gruis@state.sd.us
Kim Easland
Kim is a Loan Officer in the finance division of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Kim works with businesses seeking funding from EDFA bonding program and the REDI loan program.
Kim can be reached at kim.easland@state.sd.us
Jill Cotton
Jill is the Loan Servicing Agent for the finance division of GOED. Jill is responsible for maintaining the finance division’s loan portfolios, providing monthly and annual reports, and organizing and summarizing the monthly board meetings.
Jill can be reached at jill.cotton@state.sd.us
Dale Knapp
Dale is a Loan/Finance Specialist in the finance division of GOED. Dale performs internal accounting duties for the various loan portfolios, administers contracts for the Future Fund and serves as a project manager on various projects within finance.
Dale can be reached at dale.knapp@state.sd.us