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More Brain Drain: Fargen Heads for California

Last updated on 2013.04.14

The brain drain continues: former District 8 Representative Mitch Fargen leaving South Dakota. After years of able service to both the South Dakota Farmers Union and the Democratic Party, love and California call his youth and talent away:

Now it’s time for the next adventure. I, and my girlfriend Erin McCarrick, am moving to the East Bay in Northern California. Erin is returning to the Bay Area to get her MBA and be closer to family, and I am seeking to expand my career [Mitch Fargen, e-mail, 2013.04.12].

I have to ask: how often do people move to South Dakota to expand their career?

Update 2013.04.14 10:53 MDT: Mr. Mercer suggests reversing the brain drain by renewing the Homestead Act and playing up our school Internet advantage. He also wonders what effect the nationalization of our sports recruiting might have on brain drain.

27 Comments

  1. Well, it worked for me.

    If you are looking for a job that will help you climb a career ladder, the chances of finding just what you want in South Dakota are limited. With a smaller population, we just don't have enough industries to provide ample options for every career path.

    But I really think, as I told my husband when we were trying to find a way to move back here, that South Dakota is a place where you can create your own opportunity. It's kind of like it was in pioneer days: The Dakotas are not as crowded as cities, so if you have good ideas and lots of energy, it might well be easier to find a successful niche here than elsewhere.

    I'm not trying to give false optimism—there's a lot we could do to make this a better place to live. But if you're looking for a place where one person can make a big splash—or more importantly, make a difference—I recommend the Dakotas.

  2. grudznick 2013.04.13

    I, for one, wish Mr. Fargen well in libbyland and hope he thrives there.

  3. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.04.13

    Heidi, are we more of a blank slate for career aspirations, not much here, but more chance to start your own thing? And is it easier to find a niche in an area with fewer players but also fewer customers?

  4. David Newquist 2013.04.13

    The grudgnic captures and expresses the attitudes which drive and keep aspiring talent away. There is a vast canon of literature about the flight from the rural and small town of the upper Midwest--Sinclair Lewis, Hamlin Garland, Sherwood Anderson, Willa Cather, and most recently Jon Hassler and Garrison Kiellor who remained in their home state. Those latter two take a very good-natured but defining look at why the culture has trouble with those who explore and aspire to different levels of realization.

    Those of us who watch generations of students and our own children join the flight see that the ignorance of and defensive attitudes toward the inevitable portrayals of the region supply motives and purposes which fuel that flight.

  5. G-Man 2013.04.13

    Cory, there were many reasons I left the Mount Rushmore State for the Beaver State. Your recent article is one of them. I wanted to be closer to the Coast, but, I also left South Dakota to get away from political intolerance I found in both my personnel life and career. South Dakota has sadly taken a far right turn to no where, which I can not understand. Well, as I've maintained, the rest of the nation goes on and has left South Dakota behind.

  6. G-Man 2013.04.13

    David, I often found the intolerance from others in South Dakota bizarre. I actually came across people who got very upset from the mere mention of any idea that differed from their narrow-minded look on things. You bring up anything that does not go along with the far right view on things in South Dakota, lightly entertain a differing view, or fail to go along then you are continuily suspect. Some of the people I had to deal with were always looking to start an argument, highly suspicious, and some of their talk bordered on paranoia of anything that differed from their perspective.

  7. mike 2013.04.13

    I still say he should have been SDDP Chairman.

  8. Douglas Wiken 2013.04.13

    "I wanted to be closer to the Coast,"

    One of the local wags says with global warming and melting polar ice exceeding predictions, that too soon, Disney East will be on the east coast of SD and Disney west will be on the west coast of South Dakota.

  9. Stan Gibilisco 2013.04.13

    Once more, my status as an anomaly rears its gnarly noggin.

    I moved to South Dakota in 2004 from Wisconsin, although prior to that time I had lived in such cultural melting pots as Florida, California, and Hawaii.

    At times I do miss the stimulation of the big city, and when I see some of those New York based sitcoms and realize that my publisher is headquartered there, I get to thinking (yeah, really!) ...

    ... and then I realize why I came here. As a "lone eagle" (one colleague who frequents this blog has called me that, and rightly), I derive my income from sources that do not depend on where I physically live. So it makes a certain amount of economic sense to live where the cost is low. South Dakota does pretty well in this respect.

    South Dakota is not too far from family (in Minnesota and Wisconsin and Nebraska), but far enough so that I can enjoy the glow without getting burned by the combustion.

    The Black Hills offer a slow, relaxed life pace, low crime rate, and considerable physical beauty (especially after two feet of April snow).

    Here in Lead, we do have the prospect of an evolving technical community, if the state and city political systems don't thwart or blow the opportunity.

    The people here are decent, if at times closed-minded about the right-wing things they believe in. But no more closed-minded than some of the most radical leftists I have known.

    I got "stimulated to satiety" by places like Miami and Kona and Los Angeles, so now I find it tolerable to deal with a certain measure of what the more cynical among us might call boredom.

    A New York or Boston vacation would be a blast, though. Then I could come back to my little house in the hills and thank the Good Lord for what I have, and also for what I lack ...

    Yeah, I came here to expand my career. It's worked okay for me, but I'm an outlier, no doubt about it.

    With the evolution of the Internet Economy, I may someday soon be more of the maintream than the fringe. Will all those lone eagles want to live in places like New York, Boston, Frisco, and other big cities?

  10. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.04.14

    So Stan, can we sustain community by recruiting outliers?

    And on that technical community in Lead: city and state govt could thwart it... but it also won't develop without continued govt action and money, right? There's a dichotomy there: we sell ourselves as a state where govt will leave you alone... but it seems that our development depends all the more on effective govt action. Left to its own devices, the free market seems determined to kill South Dakota off.

  11. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.04.14

    Mike, in the unknowables column, would work as SDDP chair have kept Fargen here?

  12. David Newquist 2013.04.14

    Erin McCarrick was the chair of SDDP for a time. This is a double loss for the Democrats, and one that portends the future, political and economic, for South Dakota.

  13. larry kurtz 2013.04.14

    Perhaps think of South Dakota as an incubator for Sanford patients.

  14. Gee Gee 2013.04.14

    Erin McCarrick was the Executive Director of the SDDP, not the Chair. She was appointed by Cheryl Chapman of Rapid City.

    As to whether Mitch Fargen would have been a good SDDP chair, consider the fact that he resigned his House seat in rural District 8 which suited his full time role as Political Director of the Farmers Union and instead ran for the House in the most urban district in SD, District 15 in downtown Sioux Falls. One could argue it demonstrated a tin-ear which would not have served the SDDP well.

  15. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.04.14

    I don't think that decision demonstrated a tin ear so much as a simple recognition that he had to run in the district where he lived. He moved to Sioux Falls; he had to run in District 15. What's wrong about that?

  16. Here's the thing: Today it is easy to find customers in any corner of the world. My mom has a small weaving business and through her online shop she has sold her rugs to customers in England and Australia. I just returned from a rural policy conference in Dallas, Texas, in which we formed a working group with eight members from eight different states, and we are all going to work on our parts of the project virtually from our own zip codes. All of the regular writers for Dakotafire are scattered around the region, and we have additional freelancers in Kansas, Illinois and Ohio.

    Much of our work is no longer defined by our geography. Sure, there are adjustments that have to be made for not heading to a common office every day--you have to allow for small talk at the beginning of meetings, for example, since you need that connection to other workers, and it won't happen by bumping into one another in hallways when you live in different towns, states or countries. But great work can be done from anywhere.

    So, if work can be done from anywhere, why should anyone want to live here? That, I think, is what the Dakotas need to focus on: Instead of focusing on "jobs" (which bothers me anyway--give me enough money and I could create 100 jobs tomorrow, by having 50 guys dumping garbage down Main Street and 50 guys coming behind them picking it up--a "job" means little unless it makes the world a better place, I'd argue) we need to make our communities great places to live, so that if given a choice, people will want to live HERE.

    I absolutely chose to live here. Why? Because I appreciate the beauty here, the amazing "sky theater." And because of the sense of community and belonging I feel here. Part of that is nostalgia--I love the stories about the festivals, dances and common work that happened here years ago. But I also feel a calling to do as much as I can to shore up that community spirit and pride of place.

    City life is great for some people, and the city is where they belong. But I think there are many people who are in the city because "that's where the jobs are." But if jobs aren't located just in cities anymore, and not everybody feels like they belong in cities, and we have plenty of room--well, it looks to me like an opportunity. But we're going to have to adjust our mindset so we can take advantage of it.

  17. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.04.14

    Stop focusing on jobs, make communities great places to live—that sounds like a hard paradigm shift for Pierre and for every local economic development corporation that focuses on the big Toyota-lottery fish. Am I still too stuck in that paradigm if I ask what econometric data we could offer Daugaard et al. to show that your model of economic development works as well as theirs? How much more effort would we have to make to recruit/retain 100 new workers to a community with good roads, schools, parks, and broadband than we make to convince a CEO to plunk a factory or call center in that same community?

  18. Gee Gee 2013.04.14

    Cory,

    Regarding Fargen's move to Sioux Falls: his day job was located in Huron and centered on rural South Dakota, so he had to do a lot of commuting anyway you cut it. District 8 is located only 30 miles from Sioux Falls so if his job suddenly required more Sioux Falls time he was closer to his work than he was before. Many people travel that far to commute daily from Parker or Canton or Madison (which is in District 8 as you know). Besides, Minnehaha has a number of Legislative Districts which are partially rural and more compatible with his professed interest and occupation. He could have easily chosen any one of these options but he chose to move to District 15, the most urban District in South Dakota. It may have been for love but my bet is the move was more Machiavellian, with a tin-ear of course.

  19. Kal Lis 2013.04.14

    I don't want to wade into this too deeply because I have a bunch of quizzes to correct.

    Some work is easy to from home. One can write or do art and never leave the house. Amazon can deliver books, groceries, and nearly everything else one could want.

    That fact doesn't change reality. I still need someone who can string the cable for high speed internet. I need someone to manufacture the computer. I doubt raspberry pi will cut it. I need roads and an UPS hub so that deliveries can be made.

    Unless one is living in communal situation with doctors, lawyers, plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, heavy equipment operators, et al literally living next door, there needs to be a community large enough to support people so that they can make a living in those "jobs." I'm glad that Cory can sell art on Etsy and that Heidi's mother can market her rugs internationally. Those sales are not going to help me when I need to take my cat to the vet.

    I'm all for the creative class. I'm glad Stan Gilbilisco has a career that makes it possible for him to live in SD. I'm glad Heidi returned to the Dakotas. Those careers, however, can't exist without a log of supporting jobs. They also can't exist without people who have jobs elsewhere to purchase the products that are being marketed.

    South Dakota's government and business leaders are too focused on bringing in businesses that will produce a lot of low paying jobs. They're also too quick to believe lies about the number of jobs pipelines will produce.

    They are, however, going to have a tough sell getting thousands of creative class people to live here. A few visits to the Weather Channel last week probably dissuaded more than a few creative folk from ever considering a move here. We're supposed enjoy Dairy Queen Blizzards in April not shovel snow produced by a meteorological blizzard.

    This may be a cop out, but the best we can hope for is balance. Ask the state not to sell its soul for the big and cheap and demand that there be a place for those who provide fuel for the soul. (I know that was a commercial, but it's a darn good tagline.)

  20. Jana 2013.04.14

    From your keyboard to God's ears Cory.

    I'm afraid that the old boy network in Pierre see communities as tools for the benefit of business and not the other way around...

    And are we really reduced to thinking that call centers and low paying manufacturing are a measure of economic development success?

  21. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.04.14

    GG's opinion still seems overly eager to criticize Fargen. People move for many reasons other than political. Without evidence to the contrary, it seems we ought to take his move for what it appears to be, not some political error.

  22. David Newquist 2013.04.15

    A few years ago, a small town in North Dakota launched a campaign to attract residents from urban areas out of state. A young family took advantage of the opportunity and moved into the community. The press was filled with accounts of how pleased the community was with its new residents and how the young family was so impressed with the small town friendliness and sense of community.

    But the new residents lasted only a matter of months before they suddenly left. The press accounts changed from the glowing accolades to accounts of resentment and mean judgments that quickly formed in the relationship between the community and the family.

    The same happened to our neighboring town of Ipswich when it was desperate to recruit a physician for the town and managed to get one from Chicago. The initial accounts were of how wonderful the people thought the physician was and how those sentiments were reciprocated. But that, too, lasted only a matter of months, when suddenly the physician left. The folks in Ipswich now have a part-time clinic run by Avera, but mostly drive to Aberdeen for their health care needs.

    In both cases underlying attitudes and cultural mindsets came into severe conflict.

    Another case was when major politicians from the Dakotas conceived of a think tank to study and make recommendations for development plans and policies for the northern plains. The purpose was to produce data and studies that were local, in contrast to the Buffalo Commons ideas that came out of Rutgers. The proposal reached the point where it had financial backing and sponsors were looking for a place to center the work. Aberdeen was among the finalists because, although it had less that optimal travel connections to other centers in the region, had all the other features that were considered essential--higher education institutions, advanced medical facilities, and fairly substantial cultural institutions. And its small size was considered an advantage. But when the market analysts came in to make a final recommendation, some prevalent attitudes set off alarms. On that basis Aberdeen was dismissed, but the whole proposal came under scrutiny and was abandoned on the basis that "the region is not receptive or conducive" to that kind of effort. Deeply ingrained attitudes and cultural patterns probably cannot be changed.

    (And re: Erin McCarrick's position with SDDP. She was executive director nominated for the role by Chapman. I got a bit slovenly with the SDDP titles.)

  23. DB 2013.04.15

    Get educated and the jobs are here, just don't expect them in marine biology or any liberal arts degree. Even at 60-70k salary for grads doesn't keep them around. It's not political, more about just getting out and seeing the world. Many of the people who I knew that left, have returned once they wanted to start families.

  24. DB 2013.04.15

    "And are we really reduced to thinking that call centers and low paying manufacturing are a measure of economic development success?"

    Those people won't qualify for much better even if other jobs are here.

  25. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.04.15

    $60K–$70K can't keep the grads, DB? Good grief! How many iPhones do these kids need?

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