Governor Dennis Daugaard's South Dakota WINS plan was to spend $5 million on an out-of-state headhunter to bring a thousand new people to South Dakota.
It may have worked: a glance at our Department of Labor data shows that from March 2012 to March 2013, our state labor force grew by 1,250 and jobs grew by 1,755.
But Governor Daugaard is still looking for talent outside the state to come make their fortunes here. He's setting up shop in the Mall of America on Monday, May 13, to spend an hour trying to recruit workers to move South Dakota.
Hmmm... just an hour? It must cost a lot to rent a kiosk next to the sunglasses stand. Maybe the Governor is renting a spot next to the massage booth so he can talk to people while they're relaxed and impressionable.
And if he can only afford an hour in the Mall, why pick an hour when most of the people with talent are at their Twin Cities offices using that talent?
The news about Governor Daugaard's trip to the mall contains a couple of other head-scratchers:
State Labor and Regulation Secretary Pam Roberts says officials are targeting the Twin Cities because more Minnesotans have shown an interest in moving to South Dakota than workers from any other state ["SD Gov Heading to MN to Recruit Workers," AP via KELO, 2013.05.06].
Perhaps Secretary Roberts and I are reviewing different data, but the Census Bureau's data on state-to-state migration in 2011 showed South Dakota making more net gains in Iowans, North Dakotans, and Wyomingians than Minnesotans.
More than 3,000 Minnesotans have relocated to South Dakota since October 2006, when the state launched a website to connect out-of-state workers with in-state careers ["SD Gov..." 2013.05.06].
Not mentioned there is the number of South Dakotans who have relocated to Minnesota, which anyone with recent college graduates in the family knows is quite a few. The Census Bureau shows that over the past few years, the estimates of Minnesotans coming to South Dakota and South Dakotans leaving for Minnesota are roughly identical, within each other's margin of error. That suggests that percentage-wise, South Dakotans are more likely to see Minnesota as a preferable location than Minnesotans are to return the favor.
And why might they have that impression? For the same reason that Governor Daugaard is going to the Mall of America to recruit instead of spending April hanging out at student unions across South Dakota: Minnesota invests more in education to produce more skilled graduates and workers. And really, why bother? Pouring more resources into K-12 and university education only creates a larger, more powerful class of teachers, professors, and critical thinkers who might form a locus of opposition to Republican cronyism and foolishness in South Dakota. It's much cheaper to let Minnesota spend all that money on educating young people, then hop in the state Suburban, hang out at the mall, and pick the low-hanging fruits of their system.
Update 07:25 MDT: Mike Henriksen suggests that South Dakota ex-pats in the Twin Cities drop by the Mall Monday to explain to Governor Daugaard why they left South Dakota. I suggest that Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton drop by to debate Daugaard. Perpich-Janklow II!
So if a South Dakotan wants a job, we have to drive to the Mall of America to meet our governor? As Cory notes, nothing about this makes any sense. If anything, it's embarrassing to South Dakota, having the governor pleading from a mall kiosk, like somebody selling outdated calendars or condo time shares.
Will he be sleeping in the suburban - or are we footing the hotel bill?
What else is going on today there that he needed an excuse to use a state plane? One whole hour talking to people who will think he is nuts does not seem to be a good or evil reason to visit the frigid northlands.
Guess from now on instead of Governor Don't Guard, I will call him Governor Kiosk.
I really don't understand why he would be stumping for people to move to the state. Why should a state government be recruiting in any fashion? Does more people = better?
more people = not better
more Minnesotans = higher likelihood of liberal craziness
Don't go, good Governor!
This is a publicity stunt - geared to generate free media coverage. Most likely it's timed to coincide with another event of some sort in the Minneapolis area that is the primary reason he's going there. The governor can use the state plane for free for all the personal trips he wants as long as he schedules an official meeting of some sort wherever he's going.
Good luck trying to convince Minnesotans that the land of low wage is the place to be. I would rather Gov Daugaard set up a meeting with Gov Dayton on how to improve wages in SD. Until wages improve, this will be one of the main reasons that South Dakotans young college graduates leave.
I get home, read up, and learn that the state of South Dakota maintains a "Dakota Roots" booth in the Mall of America, right next to the Butterflies, Jewels, and Accessories booth, between Typo, Justice for Girls, Call It Spring, and Hot Topic near the North Garden entrance on Level 1. According to a three-year-old Entrepreneur.com post, Mall of America rented vendor carts for $2300 a month. ($2,300 x 12 = $27,600/year.) Plus, we've got to be paying someone to man or woman that booth for 77 hours a week... and we aren't getting good representation if we're paying some Twin Cities kid with saggy pants minimum wage. Even if we're getting personnel for $10 an hour, that's $40K in payroll per year.
Does Minnesota have a booth like this anywhere in South Dakota?
If they do it is in Aberdeen, Brookings, Madison or Sioux Falls. Probably 2 in Sioux Falls. And good for them to take some of our slackards over where the welfare is greater. I say, head east very young baggy panted man.
Tony, you do pose an interesting Kirkpatrick-Salian question. The Governor's logic is the same as the logic that leads all those expats to Minneapolis: more people mean more demand for goods and services, which supports more jobs. More people also mean more taxpayers... and we gamble that those people will pay more in taxes than they will consume in government services, thus allowing us to maintain our federally subsidized façade of fiscal conservatism.
It would be interesting to see Dakota Roots' numbers on where its successful recruitees have relocated. Have they all gone to places like Sioux Falls and Brookings that are already growing? Or have they gone to smaller places to reverse decline?
It'll be interesting to see how this stunt is covered by the Minnesota media. Will it be met with admiration, derision or nothing at all?