Gov. Noem’s “Freedom Works Here” Receives Over 1,300 Inquiries

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Noem’s “Freedom Works Here” national workforce recruitment campaign is already shattering expectations. In five days since the campaign’s launch, over 1,300 people have submitted applications to find career opportunities in South Dakota.

“The state that has the workers will be the state that wins,” said Governor Noem. “It is my responsibility as Governor to make sure that South Dakota will continue to grow and thrive for our kids and grandkids. The results of this workforce recruitment campaign after just five days shows that folks all over America see that what we’re doing here in South Dakota is working – and they want to be a part of it.”

The top three states for inquiries are California, Texas, and Florida. We have received applications from within South Dakota as well. The Freedom Works Here campaign is helping lifelong South Dakotans and new residents alike. A map showing where applicants are from can be found here.

“We’ve never had a recruitment marketing effort that has captured this many people in this way for the entirety of the marketing campaign – let alone in less than seven days,” said Marcia Hultman, Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR).

Businesses like Terex have reaped the benefits of our booming economy, but they still lack the workers that are critical to their continued success. The over 1,300 people who have already shown interest in coming to work here in South Dakota will be their solutions.

“Since the 1970s, thousands of families have built a solid future with Terex Utilities and our direct suppliers in Eastern South Dakota by manufacturing equipment that enables the utility industry to supply safe, reliable electricity to our country. In the past five years, Terex has invested significantly to more than double the size of our manufacturing capacity in Watertown. South Dakota has much to offer, and Terex is proud to be one of the state’s leading manufacturing employers. Terex Utilities supports the Freedom Works Here initiative and commends Governor Noem for championing residency and employment in our state,” said Eric Kluver, Terex Utilities Vice President and General Manager.

South Dakota has grown consistently over the last few years. At 1.9%, we have the lowest unemployment rate in American history. But we still have 25,000 open jobs. South Dakota businesses need workers – that is why Governor Noem started Freedom Works Here.

“The next step is to get these folks plugged into our workforce and our communities here in South Dakota,” said Chris Schilken, the Commissioner of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “We need businesses to work with us so that we can make sure all of our open jobs are listed.”

If your South Dakota business has open jobs, find future talent here.

###

From the Argus Leader, Governor Kristi Noem is not looking at running for President and has her eyes set on South Dakota:

In a call with KWAT, a Watertown-based radio station on Monday morning, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem hopped on the airwaves and said she’s focusing on the state, rather than considering a presidential bid at the moment.

and..

“President Trump is in the race and right now, I don’t see a path for victory with anybody else with him in the race and the situation as it sits today, but I think people should saddle up,” Noem said.

Read the entire story here.

If you recall my post this last week on the talk that Sioux Falls City Councilman and former Representative Alex Jensen is looking at running at the District 13 State Senate Seat, things have immediately started to move forward in that contest.

On the heels of that post, the next day in a podcast promoted by local Sioux Falls ultra-conservative group Patriot Ripple Effect Representative Sue Peterson announced that she will also be running for the D13 Senate seat this next year.

Peterson has been a member of the House of Representatives for 7 years, and was a part of the LRC Executive Board as a member from 2019-2020.

While Sue did not have a general election in 2022, she did face a 4 way primary where she and then incumbent Richard Thomason were challenged by Tony Venhuizen and Patriot Ripple Effect candidate Penny Baybridge, where Venhuizen won with a vote of 2227, and Peterson came in second with 1911 votes.

That marked Peterson’s second primary, where she had previously faced fellow Republican challengers in 2016 after seatmate Mark Mickelson decided against running again, opening up the seat. With two challengers also running for the open seat, in the 2018 primary, Peterson was the top vote getter, with the second seat won by Rex Rolfing falling to a Democrat in the fall contest.

Since Peterson’s announcement, the initial drumbeat of Jensen getting into the contest have grown louder, further detailing that D13 Senate race will be a huge race to watch next June, with lots of activity in the interim while we wait.

State Rep. Joe Donnell is a pretty nice guy, but when you go on internet broadcasts and claim Mt. Rushmore is a demonic freemason shrine, and a portal through which communism is being spread, that might be a problematic thing.

 

This is Joe Donnell. He is an elected official serving in South Dakota’s House of Representatives. He believes that Mount Rushmore is a demonic portal through which communism is being spread across the nation. https://t.co/Un4LjwKZjy pic.twitter.com/85p3rJsWoh

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) June 26, 2023

..Well, I got nothing. Legislators, please stay off of crazy internet broadcasts on Rumble.

Johnson Secures Prohibition of CCP-Backed Shipping Software in NDAA 

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) secured a provision prohibiting the use of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state-controlled shipping platform LOGINK at U.S. ports. Johnson’s amendment is a part of his larger effort to crack down on CCP influence at American ports and was included in the House Armed Services Committee 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

LOGINK is used at more than 20 ports worldwide and stores unrivaled data and visibility into global shipping container flows. It’s estimated the CCP and its state-controlled shipping platform have contact with at least half of the global shipping container flows. If LOGINK gained access to U.S. carriers and ports, the CCP would be at an extreme competitive advantage, allowing them to underbid foreign competitors and further increase dependency on Chinese markets.

“More 90% of traded goods are carried through ocean shipping,” said Johnson. “LOGINK provides massive amounts of monitoring, data, and logistics infrastructure to the CCP – it’s imperative we keep LOGINK out of American ports. China already competes unfairly in the global shipping arena. Blocking their access to American port data is one small step to keep this advantage to a minimum.”

The Armed Services Committee-passed NDAA awaits a vote on the House floor. Read the full amendment here.

###

Thank you for electing me last night, Watertown. Excited to get to work. pic.twitter.com/VkUhOWqPPl

— Kyle Peters (@kyle_a_peters) June 21, 2023

In the Watertown city elections that took place this week, newcomer Kyle Peters smashed the competition, including incumbent Colin Paulsen, who ended up bringing in the rear:

In Ward B, Kyle Peterson won a three-way race over former councilman Jason Redemske and incumbent Councilman Colin Paulsen. Peters finished with 361 votes. Redemske had 146. Paulsen was third with 105.

Peters is the son-in-law of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

In Ward E, Lynn Jurrens defeated Jason Buechler 276-207.

Read the entire story here.

If you recall, Paulsen who trailed in this weeks’ city election at 17% of the vote was the candidate that the hard right put up to challenge State Senate President Pro Tem Lee Schoenbeck in the 2022 District 5 Senate Primary. Only receiving 41% of the vote in that election, he later sued the city of Watertown, claiming the lack of sign ordinance enforcement hurt his election chances.

While the court case appears to be dragging on in limbo as “pending” at the moment (according to state records), as a candidate, Paulsen’s political career seems to have had a definite ending point on Tuesday night.

Attorney General Jackley Recognizes Historic South Dakota v. Wayfair Decision

PIERRE, S.D.  –  South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said five years after it was decided, the United States Supreme Court’s decision in favor of South Dakota in South Dakota v. Wayfair remains a major victory for small businesses and Main Street South Dakota.

Today (Wednesday) is the five-year anniversary of the Court’s 5-4 majority ruling in favor of South Dakota. The June 21, 2018 decision meant that states have the right to determine how to address out-of-state sellers of goods.

“It was my honor to stand before the U.S. Supreme Court as South Dakota’s Attorney General representing South Dakotans,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This was about States’ Rights and fairness for Main Street business across our State and the Nation.”

In his remarks to the Supreme Court during arguments held in April 2018, Attorney General Jackley argued that the State was losing large amounts of sales tax revenue because of Congress’ inaction. He said the disparity resulted in local businesses being hurt by “an unlevel playing field.”

South Dakota’s case was supported by local, state and national organizations as well as 40 States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands.

“This case could not have been brought forth without the support of former Gov. Dennis Daugaard, legislators, the South Dakota Retailers Association, education leaders, and others,” said Attorney General Jackley.

The court’s ruling can be found here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/17-494_j4el.pdf

-30-

Sounds like a rough day at the office, as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Laura Boebert have words on the House Floor:

According to two sources that saw the exchange and a third familiar with the matter, the back and forth began when Boebert approached Greene—then seated in the chamber—and confronted her over “statements you made about me publicly.” All three of the sources said Greene called Boebert a “bitch.” One of the sources said Greene called her “a little bitch.”

According to two of the sources, Greene then stood up and alleged that Boebert “copied my articles of impeachment,” to which the Colorado lawmaker fired back that she hadn’t even read Greene’s resolution.

“I’ve donated to you, I’ve defended you. But you’ve been nothing but a little bitch to me,” Greene told Boebert, according to a source who witnessed the exchange. “And you copied my articles of impeachment after I asked you to cosponsor them.”

Read it all here.

Why can’t we all get along?

Starting with the last election, the South Dakota Canvassing Group has been active in promoting several election conspiracies, leaving a lot of people to scratch their heads as they weave their theories, and try to put candidates they favor in County Auditor positions as well as other offices.  But as you read the first posts on their newly launched website, they don’t leave you scratching your head as much as going “Jesus.” Because as they weave quotes from the bible and Ronald Reagan together with claiming laziness comes with watching Netflix in their first post, the level of paranoia goes completely off the rails in their second time at bat:

Early into our research, we realized the Federal Election Laws like the NVRA and HAVA weren’t for the good of the States, or the integrity of the vote. Neither was the Patriot Act. Federal interference comes with Federal funds, which come with strings attached. Then, pick your favorite three letter agency and how they meddle in United States (s)elections. You may or may not know that the US perfected the election steal on other countries before using it on us. More on that later.

and..

One look at South Dakota’s government officials and we understood why things are the way they are. Many of the state’s republicans call themselves republicans, while bearing no allegiance to the republican party platform, conservative values, or the Constitution. This was shocking at first; now it is expected. The true conservative republican government officials in the state can be counted on two hands. Thus, the state of our elections today.

South Dakota has lost control of it’s elections. It’s death by 1,000 cuts.

Read the bag of lunacy here.

Really, what do you do with that?  When your group is so far off the rails that you’re actually claiming that “three letter federal agencies are meddling in US Elections…” I don’t think those are any people you want dictating anything about elections.

Stay tuned. Unless you’re being watched. 

Governor Noem Launches Nationwide Workforce Recruitment Campaign

“Freedom Works Here”

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem launched a nationwide workforce recruitment campaign. The focus of the campaign, entitled “Freedom Works Here,” is to recruit Freedom-loving people from all over America to live and work in South Dakota.

“We have the best economy in the nation, our unemployment is the lowest in American history, and South Dakota work ethic has never been stronger. Even so, South Dakota has 25,000 open jobs,” said Governor Noem. “We need to recruit more workers to fill these positions. We are going to show America that South Dakota is the best place to live, work, and raise a family. I look forward to continuing to build our winning workforce by welcoming new families to our great state.”

In the “Freedom Flows Here” ad, Governor Noem talks about the fact that South Dakota was the first state to bounce back from the pandemic, the strength of our economy, and our growing apprenticeship programs.

In the “First Day” ad, Governor Noem says that “in South Dakota, you’ll never pay a penny in personal state income tax. And we accept most out-of-state professional licenses.”

The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation will also provide job search assistance to individuals who express an interest in looking for a job in South Dakota.

In addition to the television ads, the campaign includes direct marketing that will take place over digital ads and direct mail. The campaign is being guided by research that was done to identify people who would be likely to move to South Dakota to best target the ads to the identified demographics.

More information about the Freedom Works Here campaign can be found here.

###