The SME Business Fun Tour lived up to its name according to the consensus of the attendees who participated…FUN was had by all!!  Comments from the group included:  “I liked that we were able to visit businesses and see how they operate behind the scenes to learn more about their company.” Jessica Evans/Well Fargo Business Banking.  “I really appreciate the in-depth analysis the city of Sioux Falls conducts regarding development of our infrastructure, plus, all the details they examine before building compared to other cities I have lived in--Sioux Falls does it right.”  Karen Weith/State Farm Insurance.  “I learned so much about our city, especially the east side development, that I didn’t know about—it was extremely informative.”  Mary Hitzemann/FaceIT TOGETHER.

Guests boarded the Sunset Bus (thanks to Royal Limousine and Jerry our driver) where we  stopped at 4 area businesses for on-site tours and presentations given by Faini Designs Jewelry Studio (thanks Nic Faini); KELO Land Television (thanks Paul Farmer); Midco SportsNet (thanks Barry Buetel), and Montgomery’s Furniture & Decor (thanks Nita Flagwet).  The information shared by these companies, along with the networking between the business owners/personnel and tour participants, was invaluable!  Refreshments were provided by many of the businesses, which added to the social ambiance and FUN!!!

At each stop, participants rolled 5 dice in hopes of receiving “low score” for the grand prize of a 24” LED television (CONGRAT’s Rachel Weissenburger—big winner)!!!  4 runner-ups also received prizes @ the dinner/awards ceremony (thanks Ryan VanZee/ USF, for coordinating/overseeing game).  Donations were collected for the 50/50 split raffle drawing to benefit Ronette DuBois/Backyard Broadcasting undergoing cancer treatment (our thoughts/prayers, Ronette).

Finally, the group consensus was that Jeff Schmitt/Sioux Falls City Planner who narrated our tour, was an ACE speaker.  Not only did his commentary give us insightful, historical overviews about the past development of Sioux Falls, he also covered pertinent policies/details regarding development of the city’s future commercial/residential growth pertaining to topics such as billboards/signage; roadways; H2O projects; stoplights; sanitation systems, etc. (we learned a lot—thanks, Jeff)!

FUN, INFORMATIVE, INTERACTIVE, INSPIRING, INVIGORATING, INGENIOUS 

                                       THANKS TO THE COMMITTEE!!

Submitted by:   Lisa Uhlir