Graduating senior Rebecca Froelich bids Madison High School goodbye and offers some advice to incoming Bulldog freshmen:

Get to know Madison, South Dakota. Most of you want to get out of here. But as long as you’re here, why not? Go out into the community. Volunteer. It makes your time here more valuable, and you can be sure that you left something good behind [Becky Froelich, "My Final Farewell and Advice for Incoming Freshmen," Madison High School Maroon, 2013.05.15].

Engaging the community will help young people develop a healthy sense of place. But for Froelich, a healthy sense of place includes a willingness to leave that place:

Don’t get wrapped up in Madison, South Dakota. The drama that happens in this high school will probably have little to no impact on your life in a month, or maybe even a week. It’s hard to remember that in the moment, so take a step back and breathe. It goes both ways: if you’re having a great time here in Madison, don’t let it cloud your vision for future possibilities. You may be the best in your school here, but there are thousands of people who are also best in their own schools. Aim for success at MHS, but remember that there’s a whole world out there [Froelich, 2013.05.15].

But how willing should you be to leave? To graduates open to some deep thinking this capped-and-gowned weekend, Wendell Berry says, "If you don't know where you are, you don't know who you are." Tune out your commencement speakers (the odds are 100 to 1 against their saying anything new) and think about that.

When you get done signing the online petitions against South Dakota's ALEC subsidies, buzz over the Madison Chamber of Commerce and give them your two cents about shopping in Madison. The Madison Downtown and Beyond Taskforce is surveying local shoppers "to discover ways to improve your shopping experience and find ways to increase local purchases."

The survey is here; it remains open through May 18.

It's a pretty simple survey—two pages, fifteen questions—but apparently Madison needed to hire an outside group, Solution Mountain, to help tally the results. Really, folks? You couldn't just dump the data into a spreadsheet and count?

Survey Question #8 asks "Would you participate in a program if it was easy to use and helped shoppers and businesses buy goods and services from local companies?" I hope the downtown committee doesn't work too hard coming up with another consumer-targeting marketing program. Madison doesn't need to reinvent the Chamber Bucks program or exert itself further to tell locals about the shopping they already know is available in town. Madison needs to retain and recruit retailers who offer goods and services that people want to buy. It needs to restore and fill downtown storefronts to create an attractive and busy shopping environment. And it needs to support downtown events that bring people to town to spend money. Create real value, and downtown will market itself.

Once again, the South Dakota media drop Madison into a black hole. On Tuesday, the AP reported that two South Dakota students, Pierre Riggs senior Tessa H. Myren and Sioux Falls Washington senior Micah C. Shaffer, are among this year's class of 141 Presidential Scholars. KSOO noted the two award winners as well.

But there are three Presidential Scholars from South Dakota this year. Amy Shan from Madison is also headed to Washington, D.C., in June to receive a medal from President Barack Obama for being awfully darn smart. Usually each state gets two Presidential Scholars, one gal and one guy, but apparently South Dakota's applicants this year were impressive enough to win one of the at-large scholar slots. Well done, Amy!

Worth noting: like the last two Presidential Scholars from Madison, Amy Shan is a Bulldog debater. Micah Shaffer also has debate points under his belt. Way to represent, debaters! (And Pierre Riggs, how about getting that debate program going again?)

There I am in the paper again, acting like I know stuff. Gale Pifer writes a hefty feature for the Madison Daily Leader on technology's impact on the news business. Publisher Jon Hunter lets him print some of my observations on the role of blogs in your daily news diet:

Heidelberger readily admits his "Madville Times" is biased, slanted toward a "more liberal viewpoint. But everybody is biased. Every newspaper makes editorial choices. Editors and reporters pick stories that they think are important," said Heidelberger. "We impose an unfair expectation on newspapers, that they hide such political preferences in their reporting. Blogs labor under no such fakery. My biases and agenda are out in the open for everyone to see. Readers can take my reporting with as many grains of salt as they see fit.

"We'd be better off if newspapers and journalists went back to declaring their allegiances. Let Fox News drop fair and balanced and just say, 'Sure, we're Republicans'," he said.

Heidelberger believes blogs "fill a void with state news analysis. The mainstream press and the Internet offer lots of commentary on national issues, but very few thoughtful writers dedicate their efforts to analyzing state and local issues."

Heidelberger said that until newspapers, television and radio do more detailed reporting, "people will turn to online media to get those things they currently are not getting from the mainstream media" [Gale Pifer, "News Business Changes with Technology," Madison Daily Leader, 2013.05.02].

Permit me to amend the record: that last modified quote came from a paragraph I titled "Hope". I wasn't speaking about a lack of detailed reporting, but about a media-market demand filled by blogs:

People turn to online media to get things they don't get from the print and broadcast media. They turn to the Madville Times because, according to the occasional thank-you notes I get, the Madville Times gives them hope. I hear from South Dakota Democrats, progressives, and thinkers who read the Madville Times because the blog gives them comfort to know they are not alone. The blog gives them inspiration to see someone speak up against the powers that be. The blog gives them hope that maybe we can find the people, the resources, and the courage to change what needs to be fixed about South Dakota [CAH, e-mail to Pifer, 2013.04.13].

But whether you're seeking hope or detail, Hunter follows up by telling Pifer that all that online stuff is mostly crap:

"Most people still want facts," Hunter added. "When they want news about a local event, for instance, they'll go to the media they come to trust. People know that much of what is put on talk radio, blogs or Facebook is rumor or opinion, not fact" [Pifer, 2013.05.02].

Hmmm.... I'm sure I've mentioned a rumor or two... but I humbly suggest that darn near every post on this blog is rooted in fact hyperlinked whenever possible to the original sources. I also offer a comment section that allows curious and informed readers to challenge my opinions, correct my facts, and improve the story by submitting verifiable facts of their own. In that regard, I provide Madison and South Dakota with better access to facts, analysis, and opinion than anything the Madison Daily Leader has done online or in print since the beginning of the Information Age.

Nonetheless, it's still fun to get in the paper.

*   *   *

Pifer's article mentions that the Leader "intends to offer a new paid site which would have all of the content. Hunter expects the new electronic version to be a hit with those who seek warmer climates in the winter." I predict big clunky PDF of the printed broadsheet that still won't have a comment section, a sensible little "Like" button, or a decent editorial.

Remember how some Madison parents whined in February about Madison High School administrators' ordering their kids cars towed for not following parking lot rules? At tomorrow night's meeting, the Madison Central School Board will consider their transportation committee's response to those parents: drop dead. As Chuck Clement reports, the board will consider the transportation committee's recommendation that the district eliminate its student vehicle use rules from the district policy manual. This revision reduced redundancy, as existing policy already says that the student handbook will list traffic rules and parking control.

But the kicker is the amendment of Policy JHFD to read that "All vehicles in violation with [sic] District policies may be towed without notice at owners [sic] expense."*

Rather than creating more due process to ensure that the school doesn't unduly oppress our precious little ones or their parents' checkbooks, this policy revision reinforces the high school principal's power to tow improperly parked cars from the school parking lot.

Remember, parents: the school can't tow your kids' bicycles. The high school has no policy on riding or parking bikes.

Eagle Creek Software Services announced last week that it is opening a new facility in Vermillion, where it hopes to offer up to 200 jobs in return for various forms of corporate welfare.

The Volante follows up with more information about why Vermillion was able to play the USD card to win Eagle Creek while Madison, with tech-focused DSU, failed for a second time to get Eagle Creek's attention.

Reason #1: The Beacom School of Business:

[Beacom School of Business dean Mike] Keller further explained his knowledge of past encounters with the software company by discussing his contact with Jeff Brusseau, vice president of Eagle Creek. Brusseau used to teach at the Beacom School of Business until he took his current position at Eagle Creek two years ago. Before leaving USD, Brusseau mentioned Eagle Creek was looking to expand its operations, and that a Vermillion and USD partnership might be a viable option, Keller said [Trent Opstedahl, "Business School, Enrollment Attract Eagle Creek," USD Volante, 2013.03.20].

Who you know matters. A past prof turned exec was in the right place to make this specific move happen.

But the USD B-school didn't land Eagle Creek just by personal connection. Eagle Creek appears to be looking for more business-oriented graduates. The three master's degree programs they'd like to sponsor for their USD recruits are in computer science, administration, and business. DSU doesn't offer any of those three options on its campus (DSU offers an MBA, but only at the Sioux Falls University Center). And Dean Keller insists that the tech angle of the USD graduate program will not duplicate or directly compete with DSU's graduate program.

Reason #2: Broader education. Eagle Creek appears to prefer less tech-focused undergrads. The Information Technology Consultant Academy USD will create in partnership with Eagle Creek will certify students who take just four courses—two in computer science, two in business, followed by an internship. That's hardly a minor. Students majoring in history, communications, art, or economics could easily squeeze this certification for some immediate post-graduation job security.

That diversity of academic backgrounds would fit the work Eagle Creek does:

“The types of jobs Eagle Creek will be bringing are referred to as IT programming and consulting services. They don’t do traditional programming like writing code from scratch,” [Vermillion economic development chief Steve] Howe said. “Most of the companies that they are dealing with are buying off-the-shelf software. They are adapting that software to their customers’ needs.”

...Eagle Creek’s services are used by a variety of companies, from healthcare, insurance and financial services, to communications, technology, and life sciences [David Lias, "Firm Chooses Vermillion," Vermillion Plain Talk, 2013.03.17].

To meet the needs of that diverse range of customers, Eagle Creek appears not to want all tech specialists. They appear to want generalists who can interact intelligently with their clients in a wide range of fields.

Reason #3: One big happy family. Eagle Creek didn't say no to DSU's tech expertise. They're still getting it:

Concerning the graduate program, [USD graduate school dean Laurie] Becvar said USD is partnering with Dakota State University to develop and facilitate the curriculum and program.

“When we get to the graduate level, we are going to partner with DSU, because it’s true, they do have more resources simply because it’s their distinctive niche,” said Becvar [Opstedahl, 2013.03.20].

Eagle Creek doesn't have to move to Madison to get DSU's tech knowledge. The Regental system can act like one big happy university family, share DSU's tech knowledge around the state, and make it possible for Eagle Creek to pick Vermillion for its other apparent advantages over Madison.

Eagle Creek and Vermillion managed to put together a best-of-both-worlds deal. They get the tech expertise of Dakota State University that we assume would tantalize any tech company. But Eagle Creek get to use our Regental system to transfer that academic support to the university community that offers a more diversely educated workforce to support their business model and bottom line.

Eagle Creek Software Services must be getting tired of working so hard trying to convince prospective employees to move their families out to Pierre. Company president Ken Behrendt says he'll bring 200 jobs to a new center in Vermillion and maybe—maybe, a word left out of the headlines—1,000 jobs around the state in the next five years.

Past performance does not guarantee future results, but when Eagle Creek opened its Pierre office a few years ago, it said it would create 200 new jobs. Eagle Creek currently has 100 employees in Pierre (that 100th hiring happened last August).

As in Pierre, Eagle Creek will save money in Vermillion by moving into a building the city will build for it for $4 million. The University of South Dakota will share the cost of training workers. In further corporate welfare, USD will also create a master's degree program to feed Eagle Creek's labor pipeline...

...a program that attentive observers may find looks a lot like programs already active at Dakota State University. Did no one think of Madison, with its already significant state investment in IT training, as a logical location for Eagle Creek's next expansion?

Daugaard noted that Vermillion came to mind shortly after state economic officials began formal discussions with Behrendt.

“When you are in the business of attracting industry to your state, you find out what they want and try to fill those needs,” the governor said.

Daugaard noted that after he and other state officials had initial conversations with Behrendt about his desire to expand Eagle Creek in South Dakota, it became apparent that Vermillion could fill the company’s needs.

“Vermillion has lots of high-caliber students at the University of South Dakota ... and if there is opportunity for them right here in Vermillion, how much better will it be for many of those students who can seize that opportunity? This is going to be something quite unique,” he said [David Lias, "Vermillion Ready for Onshore Opportunity," Yankton Press & Dakotan, 2013.03.14].

You think site for IT jobs, and you think Vermillion first? Or Pierre? How does Madison not come to mind?

Four years ago I asked Madison City Commission candidates how, with Dakota State University's programs and skilled IT students, Madison could have lost to Pierre in recruiting Eagle Creek. This year, Madison's mayoral candidates must face the same question.

The glass is half full, says the City of Madison. City Finance Officer Jennifer Eimers reports that Madison's sales tax revenue increased 5.4% in 2012.

But the glass is half empty, Chuck Clement ends up saying it:

Looking at some other communities in the region, Howard's 2012 sales tax revenue decreased by about 17.5 percent from the previous year, dropping from $438,000 to $361,000. Colman's revenue increased by 18 percent from $150,000 to $177,000. Arlington received a 10.8 percent increase collecting $585,000. Salem benefited from an 8.6 percent increase that brought in $513,000.

The 10 largest cities in South Dakota also saw positive growth in their sales tax revenue during 2012. Mitchell led with the largest percentage increase of 9 percent, providing the city with $11.5 million. Watertown had an 8 percent increase in 2012 that amounted to $14.4 million in sales-tax revenue.

Sioux Falls collected $103.6 million in sales-tax revenue last year, a 6.3 percent increase from 2011. Rapid City collected $52.6 million in 2012 municipal sales tax, a 6.7 percent increase [Chuck Clement, "City Sales-Tax Revenue Increases by 5.4 Percent," Madison Daily Leader, 2013.03.07].

Sales tax revenue grew faster in every town Clement mentions except for Howard. I have friends in Howard, but if "We beat Howard" is your benchmark for success, you need a new benchmark.

Let me help Clement balance the story and buoy Julie Gross's spirits: Madison still beat Spearfish. Out here, our sales tax revenue grew just 3.85%. I'm obviously not buying enough stuff. But Spearfish also had $6.96 million in total sales tax revenue, compared to Madison's $2.90 million.