High-schoolers received special focus at a day-long workforce summit Wednesday at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation hosted the . The event featured guest speakers and community business leaders sharing insights, and opportunities for young people to build relationships with those leaders.

Approximately 70% of in-state students graduating from a South Dakota public university remain in the state after graduation. The other 30% leave. This means the state is investing tax dollars to educate some workers who don鈥檛 stay 鈥� an issue commonly referred to as 鈥渂rain drain.鈥�

Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, said students meeting with city leaders improves their likelihood of calling Sioux Falls home in the future.

鈥淪o it鈥檚 very important for them to socialize and get connected to business and community leaders,鈥� Guzzetta said. 鈥淓verybody has a role to play in the workforce. It鈥檚 not just the employers. It鈥檚 the community.鈥�

Guzzetta said the city has talented kids in the school system.

鈥淲e work hand-in-hand with students so they understand what鈥檚 possible here versus somewhere else,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is a generation that鈥檚 going to be entering the workforce in very large numbers. Baby Boomers are retiring and exiting the workforce. And so we need these young people here.鈥�

And the message is getting through to some.

Lincoln High School student Jesuit Munoz moved to Sioux Falls from Puerto Rico. He said events like the WIN Summit have shown him South Dakota is the right place to put down roots.

鈥淚 see many opportunities here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n Puerto Rico, there are not as many. So, I鈥檓 here. I鈥檓 good in Sioux Falls. I like this.鈥�

That鈥檚 what Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken wants to hear. He said the city still has an extremely low unemployment rate of 2 percent despite a record number of people moving to the city last year.

鈥淚f you ask me how this works, how 7,000 people move here yet we have record low unemployment, I don鈥檛 know. I don鈥檛 get it,鈥� TenHaken said. 鈥淚 do know that COVID has created a whole different set of options for people who had to go into the office. Now, they can be anywhere.鈥�

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