Siox Falls Business Journal
More than 8,600 South Dakotans are employed by high-tech companies.

That’s among the tidbits pointed out by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a national report highlighting state’s contributions to the nation’s innovation economy.

“Innovation and creativity are vital to South Dakota’s economy,” said Mark Esper, executive vice president of the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center. South Dakota places a high priority on their high-tech industry, which employs more than 8,600, with average wages totaling $384 million in 2006.

The South Dakota State Fact Sheet and similar sheets for other states are intended to be a resource for legislators, policymakers and the public to identify successful companies, inventors, creative artists and innovators to better understand the role they play in the economy and society, according to the chamber.