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Story from Pigeon605

Seventy miles separate Brookings, home of South Dakota State University, and Milbank, a community of 3,500 people to the north.

The miles melt away, however, when looking at the impact the school has had on the town and the town has had on the school.

Milbank residents who are proud SDSU graduates often travel down Interstate 29 to support Jackrabbits graduates. And Milbank’s Main Street and primary industry is populated with current SDSU students and alumni determined to see the town prosper.

“We just feel, you know, that desire to give back to the community and do what we can to make it a better place,” said Mark Leddy, who received a master’s degree in economics from SDSU in 1987. “The dollars we’ve invested on Main Street, I can see the impact of those, and I would encourage others to do it.”

Susan Leddy also graduated in 1987 along with her husband, Mark, but from SDSU’s College of Nursing. She returned to SDSU several years later. The Leddys had returned to Milbank after living in the Twin Cities and in Connecticut for several years.

She thought there was something more she could do to help her hometown, Susan Leddy said, so she enrolled in SDSU’s new Master of Science in Nursing program. The program has a particular focus on rural health care, but it also meets nurses and potential students wherever their interests lie, from emergency-room care to working in large teaching institutions, she said.

Susan Leddy retired after working as a nurse practitioner for 27 years.

Well, not exactly retired. Intrigued by an empty building on Milbank’s Main Street that just needed what she called “a little lipstick,” Susan Leddy and a health-care coworker who also is an outstanding baker opened The Bank coffee house in 2021. The Bank is one of 10 storefronts that Mark Leddy has restored on Milbank’s Main Street.

About a block away from that business is a gift shop and independent bookstore that two SDSU graduates opened in 2015 at another location. Sisters Sara Snaza and Amy Thue attended a seminar where the local economic development corporation sought input on possible Milbank improvements. An ice-skating rink was opened because of that meeting, and Snaza and Thue received an economic development grant for two months’ rent.

After remodeling a century-old building, their shop Whimsy on Main opened in 2017, completing the transition from a pop-up shop to a storefront.

Thue, a 1999 SDSU graduate who majored in advertising, said she has moved full circle and now uses the marketing skills she learned at college.

“It gives us a lot of joy and happiness. Our mission statement is to foster creativity literacy and community, and we can do all of that just with our little store,” said Snaza, who graduated in 1996 with a degree in sociology. 

Returning to their hometown was always a goal for Snaza and her husband, who would come back to Milbank every summer during their years at SDSU. They returned permanently 22 years ago.

Thue also sampled other cities before her return to Milbank. It’s an ideal location for a small business, she said, since any big-box store is at least 45 miles away.

“A big part of why we do what we do (is) because we want Milbank to just thrive,” she said.

Perhaps the deepest SDSU-Milbank connection is apparent at Valley Queen Cheese, which was founded in 1929 by two Swiss immigrants named Alfred — Alfred Nef and Alfred Gonzenbach. Mark Leddy served as Valley Queen’s chief executive officer for many years before focusing on development projects that would ensure Milbank’s vibrancy and future growth.

Economic development efforts established the GrandStay Hotel and Suites Milbank in 2018. Mark Leddy’s current focus is spearheading the construction of a day care center. Its target construction date is 2027.

Nathan Bass said Valley Queen makes an impact on Milbank not only as an employer but through the foundation it established to contribute to the community. Programs the foundation has supported range from educational tools to recreational activities that will draw people to Milbank, he said.

Bass, now Valley Queen’s vice president of operations, graduated from SDSU in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. While he left that field for management, his education at SDSU prepared him with analytical skills and the ability to think outside the box.

“It’s a great university to grow and get yourself set up to be successful in the future,” said Bass, one of four siblings to graduate from SDSU.

Valley Queen and SDSU share a long history, Bass said. The cheese plant offered significant financial support when SDSU needed a new dairy plant. Valley Queen can use that plant when new product development is in the trial stages.

SDSU also has supplied Valley Queen with numerous interns over the years, some of whom have stayed to become leaders at the company.

“I think it’s going to continue for a lot of years, too,” Bass said.

Raul Berrones is currently an SDSU student majoring in dairy manufacturing with a microbiology specialization. His internship offers him the opportunity to apply what he has learned and put it into what he calls “a real job.”

“With the knowledge and skills I’m getting at SDSU, I can make a difference, whether it’s saving water or making a new product,” said Berrones, who said he was “born an inner-city kid.” That could be one reason SDSU’s small-community feel appealed to him, as does Milbank’s actual small-town size.

“It’s important for me to show kids it doesn’t matter who you are, anybody and everybody can be involved in agriculture,” he said. “For me, post graduating at SDSU, I’d love to work at Valley Queen, on the cheese side or any place.”

Lance Johnson understands Berrones’ enthusiasm. He has spent almost 30 years of his working life at Valley Queen, but despite a degree in dairy manufacturing, he graduated in 1984 thinking he was going to enter the insurance field. When he realized within weeks that it wasn’t what he wanted, he called his former adviser at SDSU and within 30 minutes had two interviews lined up.

By 1985, he was at Valley Queen. He had inspected the plant while working for the United States Department of Agriculture, and an impressed Johnson knew that’s where he wanted to work.

“Milbank wouldn’t be what it is today without Valley Queen,” Johnson said. “I’m blessed to have worked here.”

In addition to work skills, Valley Queen taught him the meaning of philanthropy and the importance of giving back to a community with no need for recognition, he said.

SDSU taught Johnson and the other alumni who work at Valley Queen the importance of taking chances, he said. The business’ willingness to invest in research and development comes from what its employees learned at the Brookings university.

At SDSU, Johnson said, he had a professor who told his students not to memorize their textbooks but to understand the lessons.

“I still use some of the old formulas I learned back in the day,” he said.

To Milbank’s good fortune, it has other industries, a thriving health-care system and a school district that is an ideal size, Thue said. It offers many professional opportunities while retaining its small-town assets.

“It’s amazing the young families that have moved back in the last year,” she said. “A lot of them have been in Sioux Falls, and they’ve realized they want to raise their families here.”

Mark Leddy’s family moved to Grant County in 1881 when great-grandparents bought land and started a farm. His wife’s grandfather, Valley Queen founder Alfred Nef, moved to Milbank in 1929. Both Leddys graduated from Milbank High School and appreciate the deep roots they have in the community.

They also appreciate that the chance to advance their education was just down the road.

“I can honestly say we need SDSU,” Susan Leddy said. “The Board of Regents has made wise decisions on the programs they will allow SDSU to award and how to attract students into those fields.”