Noem appoints Joe Fiala to lead economic development office

Joe Fiala, partner relations director for the Governor's Office of Economic Development, speaks Sept. 21, 2023, at an Early Learner Summit in Brookings. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Gov. Kristi Noem appointed longtime economic development official Joe Fiala as the new Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) commissioner Wednesday.

The department is charged with recruiting, retaining and expanding business within South Dakota, including funding business projects in the state and incentivizing out-of-state businesses to relocate.

“Joe has been a great member of our economic development team for years. He has helped build the strongest jobs market in America, and we’ll keep that work going with him as our Commissioner,” Noem said in a news release.

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GOED came under fire during the last legislative session when the Legislature’s Executive Board questioned the department’s selection of an agency for Noem’s Freedom Works Here workforce recruitment campaign and when lawmakers questioned uses of the Future Fund , which is held by the department and controlled exclusively by the governor.

The commissioner position has been open since February, when then-Commissioner Chris Schilken stepped down to serve as deputy commissioner. The department website currently lists Schilken and Jesse Fonkert as deputy commissioners.

Fiala, who grew up in the southern Black Hills, worked in the software industry before entering economic development in 2007. He joined GOED in 2012 and has since served as a director in research, community development, business development and partner relations, working on projects totaling billions of dollars in capital investment in the state, according to the news release.

Fiala lives in Miller with his wife and two daughters.

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