The Question and Answer feature helps readers learn more about prominent people in the business community. This issue’s Q&A profiles Jay Huizenga, a 27-year employee of KELO-TV who was named the station’s president and general manager in February.
 For 16 years, Jay Huizenga and his daughter have made an annual trip to Fenway Park in Boston to see the Red Sox. (Inertia/for the SFBJ)
Name: Jay Huizenga
Title: President and general manager of KELO-TV
Background: Graduated from the University of Iowa in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing; started at KELO-TV in 1980; has served on various community committees but mostly involved with the Sioux Empire United Way; served as executive director of the South Dakota Golf Association for 18 years
Hometown: Born and raised in Orange City, Iowa
Age: 53
Family: Wife, Jane; daughter, Megan
Q: Tell me about your interests and hobbies.
A: “I enjoy listening to music, watching TV, riding my Harley and golfing.”
Q: How did you become interested in your field?
A: “In 1978, a friend of mine, Kevin Kroeze, told me that he was living in Sioux Falls and was really enjoying it. In 1980, I applied for a job at KELO-TV in the sales department. They had an opening, and I was hired. I was very lucky to find this opportunity.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about your work?
A: “I have so many things I enjoy now that I am general manager. The process of gathering news and the station operations are very interesting. However, for most of my career, I have been in the sales department. Meeting a new client, helping them be known through marketing and seeing them succeed is always a positive experience.”
Q: You spent a year in San Francisco before returning to Sioux Falls. What made you realize that this is where you wanted to be?
A: “We had always planned to come back to Sioux Falls. We kept our house, and that made the transition back very easy. I loved San Francisco! There was a lot to do, and we really enjoyed the Bay area. However, Sioux Falls is our home, and this is where we want to live.”
Q: How do you find time to balance your job and your family?
A: “That’s been very easy for me. My wife is a big fan of KELO-TV and helps me immensely with my job. I have always been able to leave my job at the office – with a few exceptions! I enjoy my career a lot, but to quote my brother-in-law, ‘I work so that I can go on vacation!’”
Q: Do you have a charity or organization that’s especially close to your heart?
A: “For my entire career at KELO-TV, my focus in this area has been the United Way.”
Q: What’s your favorite getaway?
A: “We sailed the Caribbean for 10 days last year. That was a great experience. Or a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.”
Q: If you could take a one-year sabbatical, what would you do?
A: “Easy. I would rent an apartment in Boston and would get a set of season tickets to the Boston Red Sox home games. I would go to all 81 home games, keep score and enjoy the summer. Boston is a great city, and that is where I would spend my time.”
Q: What’s something about you people would be surprised to know?
A: “Well, as you can tell, I am a huge Red Sox fan. For 16 consecutive years now, my daughter, Megan, and I have made a weekend pilgrimage to Fenway Park to see the Sox. We go to the games and enjoy the city.”
Q: What kind of music is in your car or what do you listen to on the radio?
A: “I am iPod only in the car. I am into jam bands and currently listen to a number of artists that play great music. The ones on my playlist right now are Umphrey’s McGee, The String Cheese Incident, Railroad Earth, Phish, Perpetual Groove andGovernment Mule.”
Q: If you could have dinner with two or three people, alive or dead, who would you choose and why?
A: “I would love to talk to Joe L. Floyd, the deceased founder of KELO-TV, to get his perspective about how our business has changed. I have recently read a couple of books by the author Ken Follett. I would love to talk to him and find out how his mind is able to write these details in such an entertaining fashion. Also, Bill Maher who is currently hosting ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ on HBO. Whether you like his politics or not, I think he is smart, insightful and very funny.”
Q: What do you think are the best and worst things about living in Sioux Falls?
A: “The best: I love the planned and active economic growth that Sioux Falls leadership has provided. The worst is the negative element that seems to want to stem the growth of culture and the economy in the name of populist themes like keeping taxes low. The fact that we don’t have things like an events center is incredible in a city that has so much going for it like Sioux Falls does.”
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