Workforce recruitment: Sioux Falls' big employers join forces to find spouses jobs

Argus Leader

A group of Sioux Falls’ largest employers are working together to make it easier for new hires to move to the city with their families.

Created by a top recruiter at Sanford Health, the Employer Consortium brings together local banks, nonprofits and government agencies to find a job for the significant other of a potential hire.

Recruitment staff trying to draw a candidate to Sioux Falls will be able to collaborate with other businesses to find a job for the candidate’s spouse, even if there isn’t an opportunity in-house, said Jonathan Goehring, the Sanford employee who created the Consortium.

“With us growing the way we continue to grow, I want to get out in front of this,” said Goehring, Sanford’s lead executive recruiter.

Sioux Falls unemployment rate hovers well under 3 percent and various industries for years have raised concerns about a workforce shortage. In December, the city’s jobless rate was 2.5 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That makes employee recruitment and retention a pivotal piece of any company’s operations, Goehring said.

“Anything we can do above and beyond to help somebody,” Goehring said. “Let’s network folks as much as we can and let’s keep them here in Sioux Falls.”

Goehring brought together 10 local companies, working from information he found on LinkedIn and the Sioux Falls Business Journal.

Consortium members include:

Sanford
First Premier Bank and First Premier Bancard
Citi
Raven Industries
Lewis Drug
LifeScape
City of Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls School District
Wells Fargo
Midco

Goehring also opened lines of communications with business communities in other markets where Sanford operates, including Fargo, North Dakota, and Bemidji, Minnesota.

Taking a collaborative approach to his newly created Consortium, Goehring said he would welcome inquiries from other Sioux Falls businesses that want to join.

“We’re not limiting anybody out of it,” he said.