In first months on the job, GOED commissioner recasts conversation around economic development

Bill Even was days into his newest job when his previous one became unexpectedly timely.

Even, who served as CEO of the National Pork Board for nearly a decade, got a call from Shane Smith, CEO of Smithfield Foods.

“He said, ‘We need to talk. I’d like to bring you up to speed on something we’re talking with South Dakota and the city of Sioux Falls about,’ and we visited,” said Even, who began serving as the commissioner of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development in May 2025.

From there, the head of economic development for the state began meeting regularly with the head of economic development for the city, Sioux Falls Development Foundation CEO Bob Mundt, Mayor Paul TenHaken and Mark Cotter, the city’s director of public works.

“We went into it palms up, and it was literally let’s just be honest about what we’re trying to do, what we can do and what we can’t do,” Even said. “If every project had leadership involved with this collaborative mindset, this job would be really easy.”

Smithfield’s announcement last month of plans to build a $1.3 billion state-of-the-art fresh pork and pork processing facility at Foundation Park in northwest Sioux Falls represents the largest single private investment in South Dakota’s history.

It comes less than a year into Even’s term as GOED commissioner and illustrates the globally competitive nature of the work involved in economic development.

“Bill has been an incredible addition to the governor’s Cabinet,” TenHaken said. “I can say with confidence that I don’t believe the historic partnership with Smithfield would have happened without him in the chair. He’s been the right leader at the right time.”

For Even’s part, “I commend the leadership of Shane Smith and Smithfield. They had options. They could go to other states in the Upper Midwest and start over fresh,” Even said. “They could invest in Mexico. They could invest in Vietnam. They could invest anywhere in the world where there’s a growing population and people who need to eat pork, which is Latin America and most of Asia.”

Combine that announcement with the start of CJ Schwan’s new Asian food production facility in Sioux Falls and the High Plains Processing plant in Mitchell — each valued at more than $500 million — and the state’s niche as a place where agribusiness and food production can thrive begins to take shape.

“The dairy industry has grown dramatically. … The pork industry is doing the same thing,” Even said. “You have a multinational company putting the newest, most modern plant in world … in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. That’s not happening by accident. That’s telling you something.”

Livestock production and by extension agribusiness are growing in the Dakotas and regional states “because you have a lot of feed, a lot of open space, and there’s a lot of opportunity,” he continued. “We’re going to continue to grow as a state that feeds people.”

Even also is a co-owner of Even Farms in Humboldt, a fifth-generation crop and livestock operation homesteaded by his great-grandfather in 1884.

He spent his first six months as GOED commissioner criss-crossing the state, meeting with both the public and private leaders who form the foundation of the state’s business community and the governmental entities that support it.

Even takes over the role at a time when the very function of economic development has been under fire — from the state Capitol to council chambers in communities of all sizes as citizens push back against new business activity, from data centers to pipelines, and the limited tools available to incentivize business development.

“As citizens, we all have the opportunity to get involved … frankly it’s our obligation if you want to be an informed citizen to be engaged,” he said. “But the second part is everybody has a right to their own opinion. No one has a right to their own version of facts. And sometimes, I think we get wrapped up in emotion and opinion, but we have to come back down to reality and the facts and the law.”

While it’s his first legislative session in his current role, it’s his sixth overall. He previously ran the economic development office in 2006 for a year and served three years as secretary of agriculture, among other roles in state government.

“Last year in talking with legislators and staff and the governor’s office, there was a sense of ‘just shut it all down.’ Shut down the Future Fund, shut down the economic development office, shut down these programs. It was kind of that mood,” Even said. “And a lot of that didn’t happen this year. This session, a lot of it was building relationships, getting to know some of the legislators, and I would say there was some acknowledgment, some awareness, that maybe these projects have some merit. The REDI loan fund has merit. The Future Fund has merit. The programs the Legislature built and created that we use have merit.”

The conversation has shifted more to “oversight and governance and transparency,” he continued. “I spent a lot of time sharing information, demystifying things, and we provided all the data. … My approach has been to talk to anyone, let’s make sure everybody understands all the moving parts and needs and positions, and often that solves a lot of problems.”

His conversations with business leaders reflect an adjustment period to “this new plateau of what everything costs,” he said. “But things, I think, are starting to stabilize. …. At some point, businesses can’t wait anymore. They have to pull the trigger and make the investments, and I think they’re moving into that space.”

He estimates that 80 percent of the business activity in the GOED office revolves around retaining existing businesses in South Dakota and attempting to support their need to grow. The other 20 percent includes businesses overseas, in partnership with South Dakota Trade, and working with site selectors assisting clients that might be looking at locations nationwide.

“All these projects are different … and have different issues and scale and scope,” Even said. “Our office doesn’t site projects anywhere. I’ve talked to so many legislators that think we’re the ones picking and choosing communities, towns, counties, and no, we don’t.”

Ultimately, decisions are made by companies and approvals are done locally, he said.

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