October 26, 2021 • 9 mins
Chris Schilken is the Deputy Commissioner and the Director of Business Development in the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development. South Dakota has a growing Biotech community and Chris is key to helping businesses connect to state resources to help both startups and larger companies.
He joins us on this intermission as we learn more about him and how he can help.
Learn more or contact the Governor's Office of Economic Development here:
https://sdgoed.com/
goedinfo@state.sd.us
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Aaron Harmon (00:00):
Welcome to Inside Out quality intermissions, where
we give you a closer look at thepeople who make this podcast
possible, and short features oflocal professionals in the
biotech industry.
Chris Schilken (00:13):
Welcome to Inside Out quality
intermissions. For thisintermission, we are joined by
Chris Schilken, deputycommissioner at South Dakota's
Governor's Office of EconomicDevelopment. Welcome to Inside
Out quality, Chris. Thanks forhaving me. So inside out quality
is all about helpingentrepreneurs and quality
professionals. And you are ableto do that in your role as well.
That's correct. First, can youtell us about what your team
(00:34):
does? And how we can help thosestarting out in the business? Or
Hello, do you own a business?
You bet. So our organizationworks with local NGOs and
entrepreneurs within thosecommunities. So we provide loan
programs, low interest loanprograms, we provide some grant
dollars. And we also providesome planning services and
different tools that can helpstartup businesses or even
(00:56):
businesses that have been inplace already expand and add
more jobs or more capital to totheir organization already. So
it's a kind of a wide rangingprograms that we offer it, but
our our main goal is to increaseeconomic development throughout
the state of South Dakota. So ifsomebody wants money, I should
give me your phone number. Um,yeah, don't don't get mine. But
(01:18):
give Him our Finance Directorsnumber. Yeah. So but all good
programs, and a lot of goodhistory with God. Nice. If you
could change the year you wereborn in? What would you pick? I
don't know if I would change.
Okay, I'm born in 1982. I thinkfrom a standpoint, got to
experience pre technologygrowing up, and now, all the
(01:41):
technology now. So if I had topick a I kind of like that, that
range. So it's pretty remarkablewhat we have seen in our
lifetime. Yeah, I mean, fromfrom all the different changes.
And, you know, remember growingup where the bikes were, where
everybody was at didn't textanybody. So I like living
through that. But I also don'tthink I could have made it in a
different generation prior tothat, you know, look at your
(02:03):
grandparents, how they lived onthe farms and stuff, I probably
wouldn't be here to talk aboutit. So I remember thinking that
I would never need textmessaging on a phone. That just
seems strange to me. And now I'mprobably one of the worst. How
would you define quality? Oh,great question. This is what
happens when you get roped intoa call. Yeah, sure. So podcasts.
To me, I think quality would besomething that you're willing to
(02:25):
pay extra for. Okay, and buy atone time, we always have cheaper
versions of the product that arealways a little bit cheaper. But
thinking of buying those morethan once and spending more than
you would have feared or spottedfirst time. So to me quality is
willing to pay more. One timefor the best product, ice. There
are a ton of reasons to base abusiness out of South Dakota,
(02:48):
can you tell me one reason thatwould make a company want to
move out here? Move to SouthDakota or our setup? Yeah. And
so I think the best is our ourfreedom. I mean, you can do run
your business how you want,history has proven that. And so,
you know, your business is yourbusiness, right? So you can run
it however you want, with nobodyreally telling you what to do or
(03:08):
how to run your business. It'syour decision, your option. And
I think, of course, that's cometo light more now in the last
two years, and it probably hasbefore I mean, everybody knows
about the low tax environment orno tax environment. So I think
that stacked on top of thefreedom is, is a the two best
scenarios you could have.
Aaron Harmon (03:28):
Definitely one thing that I will kind of brag
about with this region is I canget you on this episode pretty
easily. That's true. It didn'ttake too many connections for me
to find you. I think that's agreat strength of
Chris Schilken (03:40):
weakness because you can find
Yeah, this is a very frighteningYeah, so well connected. And,
you know,I don't think as we visit with
people from not South Dakota,you know, other regions, it's,
we take it for granted. But it'sit's pretty remarkable when you
can say, hey, we'll get you tothis person, here's their cell
phone, and you call them andthey answer they call you right
(04:01):
back and people are just, wehave a rule in our office that
if we get a lead, it's follow upwithin 24 hours and you would
not imagine the feedback, we getthat. Oh, that was fast. Well,
that's how we work. You know, wewant to make sure we're
providing that that quality andcustomer service.
So definitely. Do you have agood joke?
I don't I so he probably pickedone of the worst people podcast
(04:26):
because I have boringstraightforward as you know, but
I should have jokes with fourkids. You think I'd have all
like the dad jokes, but LaffyTaffy, right. So we actually
have some really good jokestersin our office, so we should get
some of them on to go throughall their jokes for you. So we
we kind of delegate that to thepeople that are really good at
(04:47):
telling jokes and I am not oneof them, unfortunately. So
Aaron Harmon (04:51):
there is an art and I get told that whenever I
try to tell mine, what is yourfavorite place to eat?
Chris Schilken (04:56):
Um, I like to. I do like to eat at home. So I
like home cooked meals, I likesimple quick meals being on the
road a lot, which, which is joband it just the restaurants and
fast food just kind of kind ofget old after a while. So I like
going home and making my ownmeal. Totally understand that.
And I've been there two hobbies.
What do you do for fun when youaren't working? I'm big into
(05:19):
sports. And of course, the kidsare in a sport. So I coach a lot
of their activities and like toplay golf, like to go play
basketball and, and do thingswith the kids. So I'd say kids
activities, if that could beconsidered a hobby, which has to
be or then I wouldn't have anyhobbies. So I consider that a
hobby. So it definitely works.
(05:40):
If you could pick the soundtrackfor today, what song would it be
for today? Today? Oh, my, um, Ithink I've always liked the ACDC
song, long way to the top if youwant to rock and roll. Because
it takes a long, you know, longsteps if you're going to be
successful in business,entrepreneurship, leadership,
(06:03):
whatever in it's like, you justwake up and your business is
successful. Right? So I'vealways liked that song is that
it just reminds you that it is along way to get from where you
started to where you're at.
Maybe we can get Johnny to comein here and sing, right? Well,
yeah, she probably seen it upout there.
If you could pick anyone to beon this podcast, who would it
be?
Well, I tried to divert this tothree other the other team
(06:26):
members. So I'm gonna pick thosethree. But I think from just an
overall standpoint of business,it would might be good to get
some of our businesses that haverelocated here to talk about
their success that they've seenfrom either always being in
South Dakota, or maybe moving toSouth Dakota, and then setting
(06:48):
up their business. So that mightbe some good stories. For any
follow up episodes you mighthave.
Definitely, I don't know if youknow this about me, but the
company that I worked for, wasactually based on the East Coast
and set up operation in SiouxFalls. And we've been building
the team here sinceOh, that's great news. And, you
know, a lot of that happens,where they say, What do you do,
right? Like, what's economicdevelopment? It's a lot of
different things. But I've triedto break it down to, you know,
(07:11):
some simple things like well, doyou know of XYZ company? Oh,
yeah. Well, we help recruit themor help them expand and, and it
kind of gets interesting to theamount of businesses that we
actually are able to impact andtouch through different
programs, or maybe they're asupplier of a company we help.
So it's very interesting to hearall the stories,
(07:32):
and our company has definitelygotten help from great one.
Great. If you can make any newbiotech product, what would it
do?
Well, that's really
Aaron Harmon (07:42):
only limited to your imagination,
Chris Schilken (07:43):
well see, above my paygrade, because I mean, I
have no idea. I maybe somethingthat would help. Yeah, I mean,
kids are always soft spot. So ithas to be kid related somewhere,
or child related. And that'sabout my extent of, of bio
science biome products. SoI would go with one that would
(08:05):
help kids listen, when you talkto him.
Oh, I don't have that problem.
Oh, so I've been already.
Greg, man, this is like, I wouldbe great to capture learning
your ways. Lastly, what is thebest part of your job?
I've always liked helping peoplelike helping businesses like
helping communities grow. But Ithink the best part that I
(08:27):
always try to say is it's, it'snever the same every day is
different. When the phone ringsor you get an email or text
message. You don't know what'son the other line, you don't
know what's gonna come of it. Soto me, that's the, that's the
best part is being able to help.
Then also it changes every day,sometimes every hour. So kind of
keeps you involved, excited. Andthe possibilities are endless.
Aaron Harmon (08:53):
Yeah, that makes it fun. Yeah, absolutely. So we
will put contact information inthe show notes. So that way, if
someone is listening, andthey're like, Hey, I've got an
idea for a business or you know,South Dakota might be a good
place to move by company. Youbet they know exactly where to
go.
Chris Schilken (09:07):
Sounds good.
Aaron Harmon (09:08):
Hey, thank you for being on the show.
Chris Schilken (09:10):
Thanks for having me.
Aaron Harmon (09:10):
And stay tuned for the next episode.
We hope you enjoyed thisepisode. This is brought to you
thanks to South Dakota biotechAssociation. If you have a story
you'd like us to explore andshare, let us know by visiting
www. SD bio.org. Also, if youlive in the Sioux Falls area,
check out quit a local QualityAssurance Professionals Network.
(09:31):
You can find out more aboutCOVID by clicking on the link on
our website too. Thanks forlistening
Welcome to Inside Out quality intermissions, where
we give you a closer look at thepeople who make this podcast
possible, and short features oflocal professionals in the
biotech industry.
Chris Schilken (00:13):
Welcome to Inside Out quality
intermissions. For thisintermission, we are joined by
Chris Schilken, deputycommissioner at South Dakota's
Governor's Office of EconomicDevelopment. Welcome to Inside
Out quality, Chris. Thanks forhaving me. So inside out quality
is all about helpingentrepreneurs and quality
professionals. And you are ableto do that in your role as well.
That's correct. First, can youtell us about what your team
(00:34):
does? And how we can help thosestarting out in the business? Or
Hello, do you own a business?
You bet. So our organizationworks with local NGOs and
entrepreneurs within thosecommunities. So we provide loan
programs, low interest loanprograms, we provide some grant
dollars. And we also providesome planning services and
different tools that can helpstartup businesses or even
(00:56):
businesses that have been inplace already expand and add
more jobs or more capital to totheir organization already. So
it's a kind of a wide rangingprograms that we offer it, but
our our main goal is to increaseeconomic development throughout
the state of South Dakota. So ifsomebody wants money, I should
give me your phone number. Um,yeah, don't don't get mine. But
(01:18):
give Him our Finance Directorsnumber. Yeah. So but all good
programs, and a lot of goodhistory with God. Nice. If you
could change the year you wereborn in? What would you pick? I
don't know if I would change.
Okay, I'm born in 1982. I thinkfrom a standpoint, got to
experience pre technologygrowing up, and now, all the
(01:41):
technology now. So if I had topick a I kind of like that, that
range. So it's pretty remarkablewhat we have seen in our
lifetime. Yeah, I mean, fromfrom all the different changes.
And, you know, remember growingup where the bikes were, where
everybody was at didn't textanybody. So I like living
through that. But I also don'tthink I could have made it in a
different generation prior tothat, you know, look at your
(02:03):
grandparents, how they lived onthe farms and stuff, I probably
wouldn't be here to talk aboutit. So I remember thinking that
I would never need textmessaging on a phone. That just
seems strange to me. And now I'mprobably one of the worst. How
would you define quality? Oh,great question. This is what
happens when you get roped intoa call. Yeah, sure. So podcasts.
To me, I think quality would besomething that you're willing to
(02:25):
pay extra for. Okay, and buy atone time, we always have cheaper
versions of the product that arealways a little bit cheaper. But
thinking of buying those morethan once and spending more than
you would have feared or spottedfirst time. So to me quality is
willing to pay more. One timefor the best product, ice. There
are a ton of reasons to base abusiness out of South Dakota,
(02:48):
can you tell me one reason thatwould make a company want to
move out here? Move to SouthDakota or our setup? Yeah. And
so I think the best is our ourfreedom. I mean, you can do run
your business how you want,history has proven that. And so,
you know, your business is yourbusiness, right? So you can run
it however you want, with nobodyreally telling you what to do or
(03:08):
how to run your business. It'syour decision, your option. And
I think, of course, that's cometo light more now in the last
two years, and it probably hasbefore I mean, everybody knows
about the low tax environment orno tax environment. So I think
that stacked on top of thefreedom is, is a the two best
scenarios you could have.
Aaron Harmon (03:28):
Definitely one thing that I will kind of brag
about with this region is I canget you on this episode pretty
easily. That's true. It didn'ttake too many connections for me
to find you. I think that's agreat strength of
Chris Schilken (03:40):
weakness because you can find
Yeah, this is a very frighteningYeah, so well connected. And,
you know,I don't think as we visit with
people from not South Dakota,you know, other regions, it's,
we take it for granted. But it'sit's pretty remarkable when you
can say, hey, we'll get you tothis person, here's their cell
phone, and you call them andthey answer they call you right
(04:01):
back and people are just, wehave a rule in our office that
if we get a lead, it's follow upwithin 24 hours and you would
not imagine the feedback, we getthat. Oh, that was fast. Well,
that's how we work. You know, wewant to make sure we're
providing that that quality andcustomer service.
So definitely. Do you have agood joke?
I don't I so he probably pickedone of the worst people podcast
(04:26):
because I have boringstraightforward as you know, but
I should have jokes with fourkids. You think I'd have all
like the dad jokes, but LaffyTaffy, right. So we actually
have some really good jokestersin our office, so we should get
some of them on to go throughall their jokes for you. So we
we kind of delegate that to thepeople that are really good at
(04:47):
telling jokes and I am not oneof them, unfortunately. So
Aaron Harmon (04:51):
there is an art and I get told that whenever I
try to tell mine, what is yourfavorite place to eat?
Chris Schilken (04:56):
Um, I like to. I do like to eat at home. So I
like home cooked meals, I likesimple quick meals being on the
road a lot, which, which is joband it just the restaurants and
fast food just kind of kind ofget old after a while. So I like
going home and making my ownmeal. Totally understand that.
And I've been there two hobbies.
What do you do for fun when youaren't working? I'm big into
(05:19):
sports. And of course, the kidsare in a sport. So I coach a lot
of their activities and like toplay golf, like to go play
basketball and, and do thingswith the kids. So I'd say kids
activities, if that could beconsidered a hobby, which has to
be or then I wouldn't have anyhobbies. So I consider that a
hobby. So it definitely works.
(05:40):
If you could pick the soundtrackfor today, what song would it be
for today? Today? Oh, my, um, Ithink I've always liked the ACDC
song, long way to the top if youwant to rock and roll. Because
it takes a long, you know, longsteps if you're going to be
successful in business,entrepreneurship, leadership,
(06:03):
whatever in it's like, you justwake up and your business is
successful. Right? So I'vealways liked that song is that
it just reminds you that it is along way to get from where you
started to where you're at.
Maybe we can get Johnny to comein here and sing, right? Well,
yeah, she probably seen it upout there.
If you could pick anyone to beon this podcast, who would it
be?
Well, I tried to divert this tothree other the other team
(06:26):
members. So I'm gonna pick thosethree. But I think from just an
overall standpoint of business,it would might be good to get
some of our businesses that haverelocated here to talk about
their success that they've seenfrom either always being in
South Dakota, or maybe moving toSouth Dakota, and then setting
(06:48):
up their business. So that mightbe some good stories. For any
follow up episodes you mighthave.
Definitely, I don't know if youknow this about me, but the
company that I worked for, wasactually based on the East Coast
and set up operation in SiouxFalls. And we've been building
the team here sinceOh, that's great news. And, you
know, a lot of that happens,where they say, What do you do,
right? Like, what's economicdevelopment? It's a lot of
different things. But I've triedto break it down to, you know,
(07:11):
some simple things like well, doyou know of XYZ company? Oh,
yeah. Well, we help recruit themor help them expand and, and it
kind of gets interesting to theamount of businesses that we
actually are able to impact andtouch through different
programs, or maybe they're asupplier of a company we help.
So it's very interesting to hearall the stories,
(07:32):
and our company has definitelygotten help from great one.
Great. If you can make any newbiotech product, what would it
do?
Well, that's really
Aaron Harmon (07:42):
only limited to your imagination,
Chris Schilken (07:43):
well see, above my paygrade, because I mean, I
have no idea. I maybe somethingthat would help. Yeah, I mean,
kids are always soft spot. So ithas to be kid related somewhere,
or child related. And that'sabout my extent of, of bio
science biome products. SoI would go with one that would
(08:05):
help kids listen, when you talkto him.
Oh, I don't have that problem.
Oh, so I've been already.
Greg, man, this is like, I wouldbe great to capture learning
your ways. Lastly, what is thebest part of your job?
I've always liked helping peoplelike helping businesses like
helping communities grow. But Ithink the best part that I
(08:27):
always try to say is it's, it'snever the same every day is
different. When the phone ringsor you get an email or text
message. You don't know what'son the other line, you don't
know what's gonna come of it. Soto me, that's the, that's the
best part is being able to help.
Then also it changes every day,sometimes every hour. So kind of
keeps you involved, excited. Andthe possibilities are endless.
Aaron Harmon (08:53):
Yeah, that makes it fun. Yeah, absolutely. So we
will put contact information inthe show notes. So that way, if
someone is listening, andthey're like, Hey, I've got an
idea for a business or you know,South Dakota might be a good
place to move by company. Youbet they know exactly where to
go.
Chris Schilken (09:07):
Sounds good.
Aaron Harmon (09:08):
Hey, thank you for being on the show.
Chris Schilken (09:10):
Thanks for having me.
Aaron Harmon (09:10):
And stay tuned for the next episode.
We hope you enjoyed thisepisode. This is brought to you
thanks to South Dakota biotechAssociation. If you have a story
you'd like us to explore andshare, let us know by visiting
www. SD bio.org. Also, if youlive in the Sioux Falls area,
check out quit a local QualityAssurance Professionals Network.
(09:31):
You can find out more aboutCOVID by clicking on the link on
our website too. Thanks forlistening
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