Speaker sees great future for Sioux Falls

Technology, lower cost of living gives city an edge

PUBLISHED: October 19, 2007 - Argusleader

Cities such as Sioux Falls stand to prosper in coming years, the publisher of Forbes magazine told a group of area business leaders and entrepreneurs Thursday.

"I think you've got the mother of all arbitrage opportunities here," said Rich Karlgaard, a native of Bismarck, N.D., and author of the 2004 book "Life 2.0."

Karlgaard was keynote speaker at the 2007 Innovation Expo at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. The annual conference, sponsored by the Sioux Falls-based nonprofit Enterprise Institute, brings together entrepreneurs with public and private capital resource groups.

Karlgaard said advances in technology and higher education opportunities, coupled with lower costs of living and lower crime make cities such as Sioux Falls attractive for growth in the technology and biotechnology sectors, among others.

"All of these things you have in your favor," he said.

Karlgaard used his hometown as an example of how technology has virtually eliminated the communication gaps between cities elsewhere in the United States and beyond.

When Karlgaard left home for college at Stanford in the 1970s, Bismarck had two television channels, and the Wall Street Journal was delivered a day late.

"In terms of life access, you felt really out of it," he said.

Now, the dropping price of technology has made it possible to operate high-tech firms and communicate instantly from Bismarck to cities around the world, Karlgaard said.

But no matter how business-friendly a city or state considers itself, Karlgaard said, communities have to support entrepreneurs to expect future growth. Seattle, for example, had fallen on hard times in the 1970s before Bill Gates and Paul Allen moved their fledgling software company back to the Puget Sound area.

Microsoft's eventual success, Karlgaard said, sparked faith in the business that the city could thrive again.

"One great entrepreneur changes everything," he said.

Karlgaard's focus on supporting early-stage entrepreneurs hits home in Sioux Falls, said Dale Froehlich, former chief executive officer and co-owner of Business Aviation Services, which is now Encore FBO.

Froehlich serves as president of Prairie Winds Capital, a local investment fund created by the Enterprise Institute that helps entrepreneurs of local start-up firms get on their feet.

"The real challenge is to find the young entrepreneur with a good idea and fund them over that threshold," Froehlich said. "If they're encouraged enough, they can make a tremendous difference and have tremendous success."

Reach Megan Myers at 331-2257.