Capital for South Dakota operators
from the Big Sioux to the Black Hills.

South Dakota runs one of the most distinctive small-state economies in the country. Sioux Falls has been a national credit-card and financial-services back-office hub since the early 1980s, when state legislation pulled Citi's card operation in from New York — a base that has since deepened into Wells Fargo back-office operations, fintech, payment processing, and a long tail of B2B services. The Black Hills run one of the most concentrated tourism economies on the continent: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Badlands, Custer State Park, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally drive a single-summer revenue spike for the entire region. East River farms corn, soybeans, and dairy; West River runs cattle and bison. Banks, by structure, cannot move at the pace these supply chains and seasonal cycles demand. Goliath was built to.

Our South Dakota pipeline reaches every region of the state. The Sioux Falls metro brings us deal flow from the downtown restaurant and hospitality base, the financial-services back-office economy, the Sanford and Avera healthcare anchors, the deep contractor base riding the metro's permanent build cycle, and the broader I-29 corridor. Rapid City and the Black Hills bring us Mount Rushmore-area hospitality, Sturgis-rally operators, Custer and Hill City tourism businesses, and the contractor base that runs through the West River. Aberdeen and Brookings anchor northeastern agricultural and university markets. Pierre and Fort Pierre run the capital and a meaningful West River ag-services economy. Watertown anchors a deep manufacturing corridor on I-29.

The bank-lending coverage gap in South Dakota

South Dakota has a strong community-bank tradition, particularly in Sioux Falls, and is home to large national back-office operations. The small-business credit gap, though, is wider than people expect. Community-bank consolidation has thinned the field outside Sioux Falls, and surviving regional and national institutions structurally favor commercial real estate, ag reserve lending, and high-net-worth lending over the $50K to $500K working-capital tickets that South Dakota small businesses actually need. The result: a Rapid City hotel operator, an Aberdeen ag-equipment dealer, a Brookings restaurant, a Mitchell contractor — strong, deposit-rich businesses — frequently cannot get a timely yes from a bank. We fill that gap.

We are deposit-based underwriters. We read your four most recent months of business bank statements, your ledger, and how you actually operate the company. We do not require two years of tax returns, audited financials, or a 720 FICO. That approach is well-matched to the South Dakota mix because it accommodates the highly seasonal Black Hills hospitality operator, the steady-cash Sioux Falls professional services firm, the cyclical West River cattle operation, and the project-based Aberdeen contractor on the same underwriting bench. We routinely fund operators in their first year as long as deposit patterns support the offer.

The South Dakota industry mix, the way we see it

Financial services and back-office operations anchor the Sioux Falls portion of our book — credit-card processing, fintech, payment processing, insurance back-office, and the long tail of B2B vendors orbiting Citi, Wells Fargo, and the broader financial-services cluster. Agriculture anchors East River and West River alike — corn, soybeans, dairy in the east, cattle and bison in the west. Tourism and hospitality drive our Rapid City and Black Hills book. Healthcare anchored by Sanford (headquartered in Sioux Falls) and Avera is a major pillar. Advanced manufacturing tied to Watertown and the I-29 corridor, construction, trucking, and restaurants round out the top.

South Dakota is best understood as two regional economies split by the Missouri River: East River, with Sioux Falls and the I-29 corridor through Brookings, Watertown, and Aberdeen, and West River, with Rapid City, the Black Hills, and the cattle country running to Wyoming. Below is how the major metros break down in our book.

Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls is the largest single South Dakota market in our book and one of the most economically diversified mid-sized metros in the country. Industry mix is anchored by the Citi credit-card operation, Wells Fargo back-office, Sanford Health's headquarters, Avera Health, and a deep fintech and B2B-services layer. We fund restaurants and bars across downtown, Phillips Avenue, and the 8th and Railroad district; contractors riding the south Sioux Falls and Harrisburg build cycle; healthcare practices around the Sanford and Avera campuses; and the long tail of professional services orbiting the financial-services cluster.

Rapid City

Rapid City anchors the Black Hills economy and is the second-largest market in the state. The economy mixes tourism (Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Custer State Park, the Sturgis rally), healthcare anchored by Monument Health, Ellsworth AFB-adjacent services, and a meaningful contractor base. We fund hospitality, restaurants, tour operators, retail, contractors, and healthcare practices across Rapid City, Keystone, Hill City, Custer, and the broader Black Hills. Deposit patterns are highly seasonal and we structure positions accordingly.

Aberdeen

Aberdeen anchors northeastern South Dakota and is built around agriculture, Northern State University, and a meaningful manufacturing footprint (3M Aberdeen, Molded Fiber Glass). The economy mixes ag-services, university and academic spending, healthcare practices, and the long tail of restaurants and retail. We fund contractors riding the steady residential build, ag-equipment dealers, restaurants and retail, and healthcare practices.

Brookings

Brookings is built around South Dakota State University and a meaningful tech and manufacturing layer (Larson Manufacturing, Daktronics, Rainbow Play Systems). The economy mixes academic employment, ag-tech, manufacturing, and the long tail of restaurants, healthcare, and retail. We fund contractors riding steady university-town residential demand, restaurants, manufacturing suppliers, and the professional services orbiting SDSU and the major employers.

Watertown

Watertown anchors a deep manufacturing corridor on I-29 between Sioux Falls and Aberdeen, with Terex, Persona, and a long tail of metal fabrication and ag-equipment suppliers. The economy mixes manufacturing, ag-services, healthcare, and a contractor base riding steady residential growth. We fund manufacturing suppliers, contractors, restaurants, trucking operators tied to the I-29 corridor, and healthcare practices.

West River — Pierre, Sturgis, and the cattle country

West River runs on cattle, tourism, and the Pierre capital economy. Pierre anchors state government with a deep contractor and professional-services base. Sturgis runs roughly 50 weeks of small-town economy plus one explosive week in early August during the Motorcycle Rally that drives most of the year's hospitality, retail, and food-service revenue. We fund cattle operators, hospitality and retail through the Sturgis cycle, contractors, and small-metro service businesses across the West River footprint.