Whether you are a visitor looking for information about Miller, South Dakota and the surrounding area, or you are a resident searching for the latest information about our community, you've come to the right place. This site has information on our local economic development office, the Miller Civic and Commerce Association, and the City of Miller. We also have a community calendar that highlights all of the upcoming events. Be sure to visit our Facebook page or check our blog to interact with others on all topics related to Miller, SD. Thanks for visiting our website - we hope you drop by again soon!
Why Hand County in the Summer?
Miller C&C Members
From the desk of Kecia Beranek
Leading with Patience
Last week, I tackled a task that took every effort of my patience. This task wasn’t business expansion, business retention, revolving loan fund, housing, or public speaking related. I successfully finished fixing On Hand Development email issues with Google. This may not sound like a big deal to many but for us it was a huge win. I am not techy…. not even a little. I waited on hold with google for over three hours, worked with techy people who didn’t speak my language, and lost several emails that I will never get back. The whole situation really got me thinking about patience and how effective leaders need to practice patience.
Last week, I attended my last session of fundraising school and graduated from the Indiana University Lilly Family of School of Philanthropy. I am now certified in fund raising management. I was honored with a scholarship from Dakota Resources for my tuition and I am so very thankful for their support in Hand County and On Hand Development Corporation. I was one of three Economic Development directors from around South Dakota representing rural communities. Representing Hand County and rural South Dakota is something I take great pride in and I jump at the opportunity to tell our story to people who have never heard of our community.
Since the fall of 2014, Hand County has enjoyed its Community Center. The theme surrounding the Center has been donations and volunteer work. It all began when the Miller School gave the land and the old elementary building complex to On Hand Development Corporation for $1 for the purpose of developing a Community Center. With that gift, the On Hand Board of Directors immediately went to work securing manpower and design teams to turn an old school into a beautiful, functional complex that benefits not only Hand County citizens but surrounding businesses and families.
Does anyone else feel like August flew by? Megan and I were talking and realized August is long gone. So, where did August go?
I think we feel this way because we had a crazy, busy month… Megan was busy working with brides on upcoming weddings and coaches on upcoming basketball schedules, Megan also is working on a new and exciting fundraiser for the Community Center (more on that later), I helped organize the Career Here Event, I worked with new business owners on ideas and resources to help them get started, we have a sale pending on Sommers Bar, our daily paperwork and bills, I attended 2 learning opportunities for my upcoming classes with Leadership South Dakota, started a new loan in our revolving loan fund, I submitted our grant application for the infrastructure for the potential new housing development, and I had 22 business visits in Hand County.
What is civic pride? Saying you are proud to live in Hand County? Attending a community event? Civic pride is defined as having pride in your community, but it’s so much more than just that. Civic pride brings a community together and makes us feel good about where we GET to live.
Do you remember that song? When I visit with any negative Nelly, I always sing that song in my head while I am listening to everything that is wrong in the world.
I was visiting with a concerned business owner the other day about how things are going in our community… or at least how he felt they were going at this point in his day. I listened to his concerns about our community and the businesses for sale. He went on and on about the bad and the ugly about everything he thought was going on but not mentioning anything good about Hand County.
A lot of people ask what my day-to-day duties all include. It’s a tough question because every single day looks so different than the day before. This week, I worked on a potential new housing development, a grant for infrastructure, a new business loan, business signage, website updates, several meetings with my board, and attended a meeting for one of my favorite events- the Career Here Event!
Not every week here at On Hand is rainbows and butterflies. This last week was not easy in any sense of the word. We dealt with our share of challenges this week just like we do lots of weeks. I visit with a cohort of others in the Economic Development world and we share our struggles and victories and this week, I shared our struggles and they brought me back up with everything I need to CELEBRATE! They also reminded me that this work is hard. Not only is it hard, but not everyone understands it and appreciates it.
I was visiting with someone last week and they asked me what On Hand is doing about ALL of the businesses currently for sale in our community. I took a second to count and all of the listed businesses for sale in Miller right now is at 4. I went to my reports back in May of 2019. When I started in May of 2019, the number of businesses listed for sale in Miller was 12. In the past 3 years, we have been committed to helping businesses find new owners for the future of our community. I have met with dozens of potential new business owners on ideas and plans.
Last week, I attended a conference about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and how it relates to Economic Development in rural communities. At this conference, I met with other Economic Development professionals as well as community leaders about the importance of making sure that everyone has a place in a community.
On the last day of the conference, we were challenged to tell our story and tie that story into DEI. You see… we all have a story.
As we are approaching our annual CRAZY days here in Miller, Buy Local or Bye-Bye Local is something we all need to remember and it shouldn’t be just for CRAZY days. As I am visiting with people around town, they don’t like to see local businesses close their doors or to see vacant buildings scattered throughout the community; however, it is rare that those community members consider that their own buying patterns may have attributed to those very losses.
What a great Independence Day Celebration we had in Hand County! I had so many people come up to me and thank me for a wonderful weekend and all of the fun events. I had to tell them that I didn’t organize a thing for the weekend celebration and they needed to thank the Miller Civic and Commerce, all of the businesses who join the Miller C&C and all of the volunteers who made it possible. My job was helping them put the pieces together and get the word out. I want to take my space in this article to thank the Miller Civic and Commerce and urge anyone or any business who isn’t a member to join!
Business Services from On Hand Development Corporation
I sat down with a business owner this week and he asked me to write about what resources we have for Hand County Businesses. Below is the “twitter” version of our services for any Hand County Businesses
SUMMER. IS. HERE. I was talking on the radio last week about all of the wonderful summer options we have right here in our backyard in Hand County…. we have SO MANY! Here are a few that I featured:
Last week, 25 people sat down with South Dakota Public Broadcasting and heard all kinds of stories about Hand County folks and stories from our area. We heard from kids, adults, and seniors about why they love this community and what makes it so special. We advertised this event in The Miller Press and our Facebook page so if you are upset you didn’t attend, that’s on you.
This week, I had the honor to speak to the newest group of NEW economic development professional’s cohort which is hosted by Dakota Resources. They traveled from Deadwood, Salem, Murdo and Platte and we sat down in Chamberlain to learn about our work together. I was asked to speak to this group as a “veteran” in the Economic Development world… I told them I am no expert and I am learning as I go.
A couple weeks ago, I sat on a panel for a local scholarship and had the opportunity to sit down with Miller High School Seniors to talk about their high school experience and their future. I was very pleased about their answers in how they are involved in our community, their work ethic, and where they see themselves in the “real world.” It was very encouraging to hear that most of them want to be in rural communities and back home someday.
Great Leaders Continue to Put Funding Behind Passion
Most readers already know how much passion for Hand County, On Hand Development has. I believe that most leaders in The City of Miller and Hand County share that passion for our community and they back that passion up with the necessary funding. I know that the Board of Directors for On Hand Development has passion for our community because they show up and do the work without any compensation. They volunteer their already limited time because of their passion for Hand County.
It’s hard to believe that I have been at On Hand for three years already. May 6, 2022 marks my official 3-year anniversary date here at On Hand Development. (It’s also my husband’s birthday so it’s a big day at the Beranek home.) This last year has been a wild ride, but I am truly blessed to be sitting in this chair and doing the good work I get to do every day.
Last Thursday night, the City of Miller, the Miller School District, On Hand Development, Miller Civic and Commerce, and Hand County celebrated 2021. This event was open to the public and we invited folks thru the Miller Press and Facebook. This is the official On Hand Development Corporation and Miller Civic and Commerce Annual Meeting. Looking at everything our community has accomplished; we take this opportunity to celebrate together because we have all worked hard together to make things happen in our community. This is also an opportunity for our community to come in and hear what is going on and visit with the leadership from several different entities.
Shopping Local is Supporting the People Who We Do Life With
I was visiting with a business owner last week about how business is going. He couldn’t say enough about how awesome our community support is. He went on and on about how wonderful our community is supporting local business but we need to continue to educate on what shopping local really is and what it means for our community. He said that people need to remember that shopping local is about supporting the people who we do life with. His words really stuck with me.
Last week, I was visiting with other Economic Development professionals around the state about our programs here at On Hand Development and they were so surprised in the success of our most significant program, our Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). I decided it might be best to gather some information on our most significant program, and let my community know what kind of impact it has on Hand County and how other communities envy having that option for businesses.
I truly love where we live. Some people have told me that I am the biggest cheerleader for our area and I will always take that as the biggest compliment. When someone asks me where I live, I always smile and say the greatest small town in South Dakota, Miller!
Have you noticed there are a lot of new faces around our area? Have you made an effort to put a name with those faces? I was visiting with a business owner the other day and they said, “I go to the grocery store and I don’t know anyone in there. It’s so awesome to see all those new faces!” Here at On Hand Development, getting those new faces connected to our community is a goal we take seriously.
We hear it all the time, “What was going on at the Center last night? It looked like a huge event. What would we do without that place?” When we drive by there is always something going on there!” And lately, that couldn’t be truer.
