Nathan is the Deputy Commissioner of the GOED. He assists Commissioner Costello in the day-to-day operations of the GOED and oversees all legislative issues that affect the department.

Nathan can be reached at Nathan.Lukkes@state.sd.us

Steve is responsible for coordinating the sales team’s efforts on local and statewide business development opportunities. He also oversees the agency’s community development efforts.
Steve can be reached at Steve.Watson@state.sd.us and at (605) 367-4518.

Dave works closely with local development corporations to assess community readiness. He can provide links to available resources and help rural communities increase the effectiveness of their development efforts.
Dave can be reached at Dave.Anderson@state.sd.usand at (605) 360-7669.

Ryan is the Business Development Representative assigned to South Dakota's Central Region. Ryan’s responsibilities include focusing on expanding job opportunities in both his region and the Value-Added Ag industry. In Addition, Ryan focuses on International Trade.
Ryan can be reached at Ryan.Budmayr@state.sd.us and at (605) 920-0147.

Joe is the Business Development Representative assigned to South Dakota’s Northeastern Region. Joe’s responsibilities include expanding job opportunities in both his region and the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Industry.
Joe can be reached at Joe.Fiala@state.sd.us and at (605) 216-6542.

Alex is the Business Development Representative assigned to South Dakota's Southeastern Region. Alex’s responsibilities include expanding job opportunities in both his region and the Professional Services industry.
Alex can be reached at Alex.Smith@state.sd.us and at (605) 280-7333.

Todd is the Business Development Representative assigned to South Dakota’s Southwestern Region. Todd’s responsibilities include expanding job opportunities in both his region and the Advanced Manufacturing Industry.
Todd can be reached at Todd.Tobin@state.sd.us and at (605) 381-4225.

Kim's responsibilities include managing the various loan portfolios, other finance programs and finance staff.
Kim can be reached at Kim.Easland@state.sd.us

Travis serves as the lead on the REDI (Revolving Economic Development & Initiative) Fund, as well as oversees the EDFA Bonds. In addition to his direct contact with borrowers, Travis also assists with management of the finance team.
Travis can be reached at Travis.Dovre@state.sd.us

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

La Jena works with businesses seeking funding from the Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 and the Agricultural Processing and Export (APEX) loan programs.
La Jena can be reached at LaJena.Gruis@state.sd.us

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

Ashley is responsible for maintaining the finance division’s loan portfolios, providing monthly and annual reports, and organizing and summarizing the monthly board meetings.
Ashley can be reached at Ashley.Moore@state.sd.us

Cherissa is responsible for administering the new Senate Bill 235/Building South Dakota Fund. She will be reviewing the grant applications which will be presented to the Board of Economic Development for approval.
Cherissa can be reached at Cherissa.Nielson@state.sd.us

Charlie works with individuals seeking funding from the MicroLOAN South Dakota and MicroLOAN Express programs. He also works with entities applying for loans from the Tourism Enhancement Program.
Charlie can be reached at Charlie.VanGerpen@state.sd.us

Mary coordinates and implements the office marketing efforts. She works closely with development directors, advertising agencies and staff to ensure effective internal and external communications.
Mary can be reached at Mary.LeheckaNelson@state.sd.us

Joe facilitates content posting and website maintenance, as well as design work with various multimedia.
Joe can be reached at JoeP.Kafka@state.sd.us

Jen edits and designs the monthly e-newsletter, coordinates trade show efforts, and schedules updates and creates content for both the GOED’s websites and social media outlets.
Jen can be reached at Jennifer.Lambley@state.sd.us

Alice is responsible for recruiting and retaining artists and vendors to MadeInSouthDakota.com. She provides technical support for website issues and monitors site traffic. Alice is instrumental in developing and implementing the marketing plan for this program.
Alice can be reached at AliceF.Wright@state.sd.us

Mary's duties include overseeing the data content and data use on the agency’s website, monitoring company proposals, database management, industry studies and supplying statistics and research for agency publications.
Mary can be reached at Mary.Cerney@state.sd.us

Mark's area of expertise includes income taxes, excise taxes, economic analysis, and finance. He provides tax savings analysis to out-of-state companies that are considering locating in South Dakota. Mark researches tax and regulatory issues for internal and external customers.
Mark can be reached at Mark.Boehm@state.sd.us

Amy manages many of the office databases, including the 1,100-company Manufacturers and Processors listing, the Local Development Corporation Directory, and the county profiles database. She is also the lead person in the assembly of RFIs and RFPs for new and expanding companies.
Amy can be reached at Amy.Baker@state.sd.us

Jenny manages the available properties database on the GOED website and incorporates GIS technology into publications and presentations. She is the lead person in researching, developing, and assembling key industry packets of information for companies looking to expand into South Dakota, along with the information packets used at key industry trade shows attended by GOED staff.
Jenny can be reached at Jennifer.Ondell@state.sd.us

Mel is responsible for working with the S.D. Board of Regents and universities to oversee the Research Center and South Dakota EPSCoR activities and serves as a liaison between economic development and higher education.
Mel can be reached at Mel.Ustad@state.sd.us

Linda is the administrative assistant for the Office of Commercialization and GOED Office at the South Dakota Technology Business Center in Sioux Falls.
Linda can be reached at Linda.Smith@state.sd.us

Hunter serves as liaison on behalf of the Governor and department secretary to energy groups and recommends state actions and policies relating to energy production and development. Additionally, he is the Executive Director of the South Dakota Energy Infrastructure Authority. Hunter is an attorney and assists GOED in working to make South Dakota a net energy exporter.
Hunter can be reached at Hunter.Roberts@state.sd.us

Marty provides direction, coordination and supervision to meet the fiscal, human resources and office management needs of the Departments of Economic Development and Tourism.

Heather updates and maintains databases, and purchases the expendable supplies for the department. She coordinates conference and special event registrations, compiles and maintains special event records and documents.

Kay is the Administrative Assistant to the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the GOED, as well as to the State Energy Director.

Deenie is responsible for accounts payable, contracts and purchase order file maintenance. She also coordinates office efforts with Central Services agencies.

Amy compiles and maintains address and information databases. She coordinates conference and special event registrations, compiles and maintains special event records and documents, and provides computer assistance to office personnel.

Karen manages office vehicles (scheduling, maintenance, etc). She reimburses employees’ travel, processes and prepares non cash vouchers and vendor payments, and prepares cash receipt transmittals for the various divisions within the department.

Lorie answers incoming phone calls and directs them to appropriate staff. She receives and distributes mail and faxes, assists staff with special projects, provides updates for the State Phone Directory, processes fuel refunds and non-cash voucher payments, and assists with data entry.

Paul monitors federal requirements for CDBG, Arts, History and Energy grants. He maintains databases and prepares reports for the federal agencies, GOED staff, and requests from state citizens. Paul also processes grant payment requests for the state’s annual allocation for each federal grant.

Thad supervises the Creative staff, directs creative elements for campaigns and promotional materials, oversees the proper use of the South Dakota logo, proofs all creative produced materials, assists with GOED image direction in print materials and maintains the in-house graphic design computer system.

Michelle coordinates Creative staff project assignments, oversees progress and completion of projects and advertising campaigns, tracks Creative expenses and handles department’s promotional product needs. Michele also provides proofreading skills on most print pieces.

Angela is responsible for creating and designing various GOED collateral print projects including brochures, newsletters, reports, conference materials and other promotional materials.

Ashley is responsible for creating and designing various GOED collateral print projects including brochures, newsletters, reports, conference materials and other promotional materials.

Tara is responsible for creating and designing various GOED collateral print projects including brochures, newsletters, reports, conference materials and other promotional materials.

Chad photographs businesses, buildings and quality-of-life images as needed by the GOED. He also fills photo requests throughout the year from our digital database files. Chad provides photographic and creative input on many of the campaign materials.

Scott shoots video for a variety of GOED projects. He also fulfills requests from our in-house video library to state and private entities. He works to update files and digitize footage for faster editing on projects.