Sioux Falls Business Journal

Dean Buckneberg of Eide Bailly will be introduced as the 2007-08 chairman of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce at its annual meeting Oct. 16. (Inertia/for the SFBJ)

After graduating from the University of South Dakota, the Sioux Falls native and his wife, Marty, moved to Des Moines to start their careers. Five years later, the opportunity came along to move back to Sioux Falls. He joined Henry Scholten & Co., which is now part of Eide Bailly.

Sioux Falls has an attractive business climate and is a great place to raise a family, he said.

“When you start to move away, you start to see how good it is,” he said.

Buckneberg said one of his priorities as chairman will be recruiting young people back into the city.

“Young people look to where they want to live as opposed to where are the jobs,” Buckneberg said. “They don’t have that same mind-set. ... It’s more of a job-seekers market mind-set.”

Forward Sioux Falls, a joint venture of the chamber and the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, has launched the Opportunity City marketing campaign, which targets people ages 18 to 30 within a 200-mile radius of Sioux Falls.

Buckneberg said making the city an attractive place to live is important in luring that population. He points to downtown revitalization efforts to help improve the city, such as the business community’s next project in a neighborhood redevelopment west of downtown.

“Some areas have fallen to disrepair. ... How can we as a business community and chamber revitalize that? You can’t let your center of the town die,” he said. “Sioux Falls is a long ways from that, but it’s best to get ahead of the problem.”

It will be a cooperative effort with the chamber, city and private developers in creating financing methods to improve the area, Buckneberg said.

“I’d like to see some of those blighted areas taken out and put in some new affordable housing,” he said.

In addition to enhancing the city, investment in education and work-force development continues to be a strong priority. “We look at education as a huge economic tool,” he said.

One area that has been successful in hatching new businesses is the South Dakota Technology Business Center, Buckneberg said. The center announced this past summer it will expand by 7,000 square feet.

“It’s going to create a good area for students, young entrepreneurs and business development,” he said.

The nonprofit center nurtures new and expanding businesses and houses nearly a dozen businesses and 120 people.

Five companies have graduated from the center, which opened less than four years ago. “We as a chamber and business community want to continue on that path,” he said.

Buckneberg also would like to continue working with other area chambers, business leaders and people of all ethnicities. His overall goal as chairman is to move forward in a coordinated effort to continue making progress, he said.

Buckneberg gravitated toward his business community involvement after volunteering in many organizations in which his children participated.

His first involvement with the chamber came after he was encouraged to apply for the chamber’s Leadership Sioux Falls program, which he graduated from in 1989.

He later joined the chamber Ambassadors, a committee responsible for recruiting new chamber members. And in 2002, he joined the chamber board of directors, which is a seven-year commitment.

Cal Willemssen, current chairman of the chamber, said after looking back on the chamber’s first 100 years, it is important to start looking forward to lay the foundation for the next century.

“I think it’s time to look forward to how we’re going to make this a great, great community,” he said.

Willemssen and Buckneberg met more than once a month in the past year to discuss the current and upcoming year.

He said Buckneberg exhibited strong team building in his two years as the chamber’s chief ambassador.

“I think that’s what he’s exhibited before, and I’m confident he’ll do it again,” Willemssen said.

Larry Ritz, a retired partner with Henry Scholten & Co., hired Buckneberg more than 25 years ago.

Ritz, who served as chairman of the chamber board in 1985-86, said the firm always encouraged its partners to become involved in the community. Buckneberg will be the second CPA to serve as chair after Ritz.

Programs such as Leadership Sioux Falls build confidence for leaders to be more involved in the community, he said.

“He made contacts there and ... that was one of the strong points that got him involved and gave him some confidence to be involved,” Ritz said.

Buckneberg will bring level thinking, energy and credibility to the table, Ritz said.

“He thinks through things and speaks when he’s ready for things,” he said.

“He’s a good family, Christian man,” Ritz said. “He’s just a darn good citizen; at the same time, he likes to have a little fun.”

The Buckneberg file
Name: Dean Buckneberg
Position: 2007-08 chairman-elect of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce and partner and certified public accountant at Eide Bailly LLP
Hometown: Sioux Falls
Age: 54
Education: Received a business administration degree at the University of South Dakota in 1975
Background: Worked as a CPA at Ernst & Young in Des Moines for five years before becoming a partner of Henry Scholten & Co. LLP, now part of
Eide Bailly LLP
Community involvement: Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce
Ambassador, Junior Achievement of South Dakota, Sioux Falls Rotary West, Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Sales and Marketing Executives
Family: Wife, Marty; sons, Mike, 29, Matt, 24, and Andy 21
Hobbies: Watching football and basketball; golfing, hunting, fishing

101st annual Chamber meeting
What: The 2007 Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting with keynote speaker Gov. Mike Rounds
When: Oct. 16, with a social hour at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 and program at 8
Where: Sioux Falls Convention Center, 1201 N. West Ave.
Tickets: $65 per person with reserved tables of 10. For information or reservations, contact Sara Weber at 373-2006 or sweber@ siouxfalls.com.