For Immediate Release: Friday, April 29, 2011

Media Contact: Brooke Bohnenkamp, Governor’s Office of Economic Development, 605-773-3301

GOED Partners with South Dakota Companies to Create Internships

PIERRE, S.D. – Thirty South Dakota companies from across the state are receiving grants from the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development to create 80 internships through the Dakota Seeds internship program.

The overarching goal of Dakota Seeds is to provide South Dakota companies with a pipeline of well-qualified full-time employees, and provide students with solid job opportunities in South Dakota.

Of the Dakota Seeds funded participants who have graduated, 35% have returned to the business they interned with for full-time employment.

"We’re very proud of that statistic," said Commissioner J. Pat Costello. "It shows Dakota Seeds is doing just what it is supposed to do. It’s creating job opportunities that are keeping our young people here, and providing businesses with the talent they need to continue to prosper."

Employers receiving grants include:

•H.F. Webster, Rapid City

•Rock Hard Systems, Inc., Sioux Falls

•South Dakota Sports Buzz, LLC, Rapid City

•Linda’s Garden, Chester

•Sancom Inc., Mitchell

•Cleaner Greener Energies, Sioux Falls

•Hebda Family Produce, Mission Hill

•MASABA, Vermillion

•CHR Solutions, Mitchell

•Four Front Design, Rapid City

•CAPITAL Cards Services, Inc., Sioux Falls

•Premier Source, Brookings

•Buhler Industries, Salem

•Polaris Industries, Vermillion

•Lankota Group, Huron

•Black Hills Nanosystems, Rapid City

•Bell, Inc. Sioux Falls

•3M, Aberdeen

•Clark Engineering, Brookings/Aberdeen

•Avalon Capital Group, North Sioux City

•POET Design, Sioux Falls

•POET Research, Sioux Falls

•POET Plant Management, Sioux Falls

•Secure Banking Solutions, Madison

•DocuTAP, Sioux Falls

•South Dakota Discovery Center, Pierre

•Sencore, Sioux Falls

•G&R Controls, Sioux Falls

•Caterpillar, Rapid City

•RESPEC, Rapid City

Rosenbauer America, Lyons

Wildcat Manufacturing, Freeman

Trail King Industries, Mitchell

The grants provide funding to assist with the internship wages. The grants cover up to one-half of a position’s wages, with a maximum of $2,000 for undergraduate or graduate student internships, $8,000 for master’s degree students, and $10,000 for PhD students who are working as research and development assistants. Dakota Seeds grants are funded by a partnership between the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and approved quarterly by the Workforce Development Council.

The Workforce Development Council was formed to plan and evaluate job training and education programs in South Dakota and to advise the governor on workforce issues. Members represent various business, labor and education interests. A majority of its members are from the private sector. Council membership also includes representatives of the state departments of Labor and Regulation, Education, Human Services, Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and the Board of Regents.