$20,000 awarded to South Dakota Center for Enterprise Opportunity West
January 6, 2025 // Grants, South Dakota Fund Grants
The South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) recently awarded a $20,000 South Dakota Fund grant to South Dakota Center for Enterprise Opportunity (SD CEO) West. Funding will aid in the implementation of an Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) process to help clarify and achieve their vision of empowering women and propel economic development across South Dakota.
“We appreciate the South Dakota Community Foundation’s investment in SD CEO West Women’s Business Center and the strong support this grant opportunity provides to help us advance our programs to best meet our client’s needs. This grant will allow us to focus on building and developing strategic initiatives to advance our work in the coming year to position us to best serve our clients,” said Elizabeth Freer, Director, SD CEO – West. “Our programs are available to everyone (men and women!) seeking to start, buy, or grow a small business in South Dakota. The SD Fund and grants awarded through the SDCF demonstrate their substantial investment in South Dakota and we deeply appreciate this investment in our work.”
SD CEO West is partially grant-funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and proudly grant-hosted by Black Hills State University. SD CEO West is a key partner in economic and workforce development by providing comprehensive training and business assistance for aspiring entrepreneurs and forward-thinking employees of organizations. The services provided are either free or low-cost and available to everyone, with a focus on women and other underrepresented entrepreneurs.
"By providing training and business assistance to the underrepresented entrepreneurs SD CEO West are working to build stronger and more sustainable businesses for South Dakota," says Ginger Niemann, SDCF Senior Program Officer. “We are proud to provide funding to SD CEO West to assist in the implementation of an EOS process to help achieve their goals.”
SDCF is a public non-profit organization established in 1987. SDCF, with offices in Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Aberdeen administers 1,200 funds benefiting hundreds of charitable organizations annually. The Foundation distributed nearly $31 million in grants in 2023 which made a tremendous difference in communities statewide. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors. If you have a specific cause you would like to support or would prefer to give for the general good of our state, please visit https://sdcommunityfoundation.org/giving to learn more or call 1-800-888-1842.