Platte has been selected as the host town for South Dakota State University Extension’s 2025 Energize conference. The seventh annual Energize! Exploring Innovative Rural Communities Conference will be on May 6-7, 2025. The conference schedule and registration details will be announced in early 2025. Platte, a south-central South Dakota community of about 1,300, boasts a strong mix of retail, manufacturing, agricultural and tourist businesses, along with active nonprofit and volunteer community organizations. Peggy Schlechter, SDSU Extension Community Vitality Program Director, said Platte’s thriving business community and the application committee’s thorough preparation secured their selection. “They have a cool, vibrant downtown that we think other rural communities can benefit from seeing,” Schlechter said. “And you could tell they had really thought through what would work for the Energize conference.” Coordinated by SDSU Extension’s community vitality team and hosted in a different South Dakota town of 5,000 or fewer people each year, Energize is an opportunity for community and business leaders to gather, gain new perspectives and share ideas about revitalizing rural communities. A walking conference, breakout sessions are held at various locations around town. Through those breakout sessions, attendees get to interact with business owners and other community members. Previous conferences have been hosted in Hot Springs, Wessington Springs, Fort Pierre, Milbank, Lemmon and De Smet. One of Energize’s main objectives is to stimulate local economies by bringing visitors to South Dakota’s small communities. Based on what attendees spent on food/drink, shopping, fuel and lodging, the 2024 conference brought between $34,000-$40,000 to Hot Springs over two days. To be considered as a host community, members of that community must form a committee dedicated to organizing the conference. At least one committee member must have attended a previous Energize conference. Colette Mesman is executive director of the Platte Chamber of Commerce and Platte Development Corporation, and a member of Platte’s Energize committee. She first attended Energize three years ago in Fort Pierre, shortly after taking on the role of executive director for the chamber. “Instantly I loved that conference,” Mesman said. “It was such an opportunity to go up and down Fort Pierre’s Main Street. I met great people. The seminars and breakout sessions were all fun and very relevant.” When Mesman attended the 2023 conference in Wessington Springs, she thought, “why not Platte?” She noted Platte’s assets, from its varied types of businesses to its public spaces to its unique lodging and access to the Missouri River. “We’re proud of Platte; we’ve got just a little bit of everything,” she said. “I’m excited to share our community and showcase it. And if we can help somebody else and be the vessel that brings an idea to them, that’s wonderful.” For more information, contact Peggy Schlechter, SDSU Extension Community Vitality Program Director, at 605-394-1722 or [email protected].