Yankton stemming brain drain

“'We are at a crisis stage,'” Baltic Superintendent Bob Sittig said."

District 18 Sen. Bernie Hunhoff said Onward Yankton's call for the 'Next Big Idea' comes down to attracting youth to Yankton.

“Yankton really has two choices because a town our size cannot grow without young people and young families,” Hunhoff said. “There’s really two ways we could (retain youth) in Yankton — we could build a fence around the town and tell you it’s scary outside beyond that fence. ... I don’t think that’d work so well anymore. Or we could build Yankton as the kind of town you want to live in, where young people want to stay or come back to, and that’s the idea behind the big idea. We want to find a big idea that makes Yankton the kind of town everybody wants to come to, everybody wants to live in, everybody wants to stay in.” Hunhoff said ideas like this are critical, not only for the city’s growth, but also for its very survival as well. “All cities our size are suffering a brain drain — especially rural states and rural communities like Yankton — and we’ve got to fight back,” he said. “Communities like Yankton serve a great value, not only to South Dakota, but to the nation.” [Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan]

Hunhoff knows the best way to keep young people is to ask corporations to pay their fair share to fund projects that build trust instead of instill fear.