SOUTHEAST

     ENTERPRISE

     FACILITATION

     PROJECT

     Nancy Larsen, Facilitator

      501 South Broadway/ PO Box 106

      Marion, South Dakota 57043

      (605) 648-2909 or (888) 233-1239

      (605) 648-3778 Fax

      email: sefp@sunrisenet.com

 

 

      June 1997— 2002

          538 Inquiries

          290 Clients enrolled

             15 New Businesses

              5 Expanded Businesses

              12 Retained Businesses

          84.5 New Jobs Created                   51 Jobs Retained

 

      In 2002 calendar year:

          88 Inquiries

          42 Clients enrolled

      4 New Businesses Est.

          ŸChancellor Café (Chancellor)

                ŸFurry Friends Pet Grooming

                (Turkey Ridge area)

                ŸParty Time Catering (Freeman)

                 ŸDakota Wigglers (Menno)

          1 Expanded Business

                  ŸJim’s Farm & Sporting Supply                 (Parker)

          1 Retained Business

          ŸRays Auto Service(Hurley)

              ŸFreeman Motel (Freeman)

         8 New Jobs

      4 Retained Jobs

 

      Historical cost of SEFP per job

      is $2076.66 while the cost of top-      down Economic Development is       traditionally $10,000-$15,000 per       job created.

 

 

 

 

Transitioning….

 

Passing the torch and recognizing David’s five years of service to SEFP

Curt Lukes, David Lambert, Philip Svartoien, Nancy Larsen

 

Transitioning….

by Philip Svartoien, SEFP Board President

 

   2002 was a year of transitions for SEFP.  Initially, the board needed to adjust to Past President Sharon Schamber finishing her two-year term and to myself moving from Vice-President to President in January.  As the year got underway SEFP geared up to not only continue business as usual, but to also try to incorporate other communities that had expressed an interest in the Enterprise Facilitation® model and its successes.  However, June had another transition in store as David Lambert, SEFP’s Facilitator since inception in 1997, decided to pursue a new career opportunity with Broin Companies.

   Fortunately, we were able to choose from several qualified candidates for position, but one candidate, Nancy Larsen, stood out from the others and she joined SEFP on August 5th.  Nancy had been the Facilitator of Badlands South Central Enterprise Facilitation® for the past five years, serving nine counties.  Nancy’s experience, professionalism, personality and ‘can-do’ attitude made this transition as smooth as we could have possibly hoped for; not only for the board, but also for the communities SEFP services.

   Although change can be difficult, I believe the board made the best of the facilitator transition by viewing it as an opportunity to examine the past and seek out increased efficiency and accountability for the project.  One result of that search, led to the transition of SEFP’s office location from the Parker Courthouse to South Eastern Electric’s headquarters in Marion.  Even though the location and facility advantages were similar in both options, the cost and availability of support staff for the facilitator tipped the scale with a projected savings of more than $5000 annually.

   Presently, it appears the major transitions for SEFP have subsided.  Nancy has made great strides in getting to know the communities we serve and has been very busy as documented in the rest of the annual report.  As board members, we individually strive to be a good liaison to the communities and groups we represent and together we look for new opportunities to expand our success regionally.

   I’d like to thank each of you for your continued support and close with this quote by Charles DuBos.

The important thing is this:  to be able at any moment

 to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.