Bringing Talent Home

Bringing Talent Home: How Internships Are Strengthening Rural Communities in South Dakota

As part of the University of South Dakota Center for Career Design’s Internship Academy, Belle Fourche Economic Development Executive Director Hollie Stalder and USD student Sarah Juelfs partnered in summer 2025 to support community development in Juelfs’ hometown of Belle Fourche, South Dakota. 

For Stalder, the work at Belle Fourche Economic Development spans housing initiatives, industrial park development, marketing efforts, and community partnerships. When the University of South Dakota Center for Career Design’s Internship Academy first approached her about hosting a student intern, she saw both opportunity and challenge.

In a small, fast-moving organization, bringing on an intern is a meaningful commitment. But as conversations with USD continued, and after meeting now USD-sophomore Juelfs, that hesitation quickly shifted to confidence.

“After I met Sarah, there was no question,” Stalder said. “It was going to be a magical fit for her to be here. She wanted to learn, brought a great positive attitude to our environment and was willing to do the work at hand, which in economic development can change drastically every day.”

What followed demonstrated the impact of the right student-employer match. Juelfs contributed to marketing projects, supported leadership programming and helped streamline communications. She also introduced new ideas and tools, including AI, expanding how the organization approaches its work.

At the same time, Juelfs experienced a shift in how she viewed her own hometown, something many rural employers hope to inspire.

“I did not know that this place existed or the opportunities that would come from it,” Juelfs said of Belle Fourche Economic Development.

Like many students, she had grown up in her hometown without fully understanding the systems and strategies behind its growth. Through the internship, she began to see Belle Fourche differently.

“I always thought this was going to be the same small town,” she said. “Then I came back and realized, this is a town people want to come to and grow their businesses in.”

For Stalder, helping students gain that “perspective” is one of the most rewarding parts of the experience. It also reinforced the value interns bring to employers. 

“I love seeing students come back and realize what their community has to offer,” Stalder said. “The skepticism I had at the beginning quickly turned into a great assist.”

That impact extended beyond day-to-day work. Both emphasized the importance of mentorship and collaboration built throughout the internship. 

“I knew that this was going to be a good placement,” Juelfs added. “This was somebody that cared about me, who cared about the community that we were living in and that was going to put in work to make sure that I got something out of this in every possible way.”

For rural communities, these connections matter. Internships not only provide real-world experience; they expose students to career pathways in places they already call home, often sparking interest in returning post-graduation. 

“They understand the culture. They have connections. And they want to give back,” Stalder said.

Looking back, Stalder encourages other rural employers to consider participating. 

“There’s something in it for the student, but there’s also so much in it for the employer,” she said. “It’s an experience I would absolutely recommend.”