SOUTH DAKOTA

"As leaders in your community it’s your job to find ways to make your community more presentable to prospects."

Critics say the situation appears to be financially lucrative for foster care providers, one of whom has ties with state officials, NPR reports.

South Dakota is home to several major credit card companies, including a subsidiary of Citibank. One of the main reasons is that the state, like several others, does not impose a cap on the interest rates that credit card banks can charge their customers. Former Governor Bill Janklow pushed for the no-cap policy in 1980, kicking off a race among states to lure credit card firms with attractive lending terms.

"We have everything here; we have the makings of a great biotech industry here."

Quarq, the brainchild of Dakota Rising Entrepreneur Fellow Jim Meyer, was created in 2006 when Meyer couldn’t find a bicycle power meter that met his requirements. So he invented his own.

The recent political flare-up raises questions about just what more South Dakota can do to lure new businesses or coax existing companies into expanding.

Leaders are building awareness of the company’s intent in a triangle-shaped market area that will be anchored by offices in the Sioux Falls-Brookings area, the Fargo-Grand Forks, N.D., area and Rochester, Minn.