Just a couple of months ago, many of us attended high school graduation celebrations. We had the opportunity to congratulate them and wish them well as they continued on their life’s journey. During that conversation, how often did we encourage them to move back home where they could contribute in big ways to their community? Or were we more likely to ask them where they were going, implying that certainly they had somewhere better to be than where they grew up?
Craig Schroeder, entrepreneur and board president of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development, was the keynote speaker at the 2026 Energize conference. He has surveyed over 70,000 young people from rural areas across the country. Of the youth surveyed, about 50% could picture themselves living in the area in the future. Approximately 20% of high school graduates preferred to stay after graduation and another 20% prefer to return home in the future.
Let that sink in. That’s 40% of high school graduates that would prefer to live in their hometown. Do you have 40% of your high school graduates stay in or return to their communities? How different would your community look if you did?
While research shows that you may prefer returning to their hometowns, Schroeder says that many young people want to come back, but too few pathways are clear to them.
One avenue to attract young people home is entrepreneurship and local business ownership. During the Energize conference, Schroeder reminded us that our heritage is entrepreneurial and our future must be as well. Entrepreneurship should be a focus in our communities, in the schools and in our local organizations. Entrepreneurial activities can begin with young children taking field trips to area businesses, no matter how small. As students get older, they can be connected with local business owners as mentors. Communities can facilitate entrepreneurship by offering start-up capital and shared co-working spaces. Apprenticeships and internships are great ways to get young people involved in a local business. So often in our rural communities, when someone retires, the business closes because there is no one to take on that role. One these young people could very well end up being the person who purchases the business as the owner prepares to retire.
Are there gaps in your community that need to be filled? Does your community need an electrician, an accountant, a lawyer, teachers, etc.? How can those positions be promoted so that people who are now educated are encouraged to return home to fill those gaps?
While there still are communities in South Dakota who don’t have access to high-speed internet, there are many South Dakota communities that do. High-speed internet allows young professionals to maintain salaries available in an urban area or work as a freelancer while enjoying the lower cost of living and lifestyle of rural areas. If your community has high-speed internet, what are you doing to promote that so that young professionals who work remotely are reminded that they can make the decision to move home if they choose?
Each year our rural communities invest thousands of dollars in their graduates by offering scholarships. Scholarships are great, we want our young people to be well educated! But think about it. What is the return on investment when we give scholarships to students who leave the community after graduation to never return? What kinds of scholarships are available to the young people who choose to stay in the community and start a business and become community leaders? What kinds of questions are on the scholarship application that gets a student to consider how their future career may fit into their hometown?
Is your community ready to direct the investments in your youth to help them discover the career paths that lead home? Our young people are the future business owners and civic leaders of our rural communities. We need them.
In this article, I shared a few of my thoughts based on my experiences working with rural communities over the last 15 years. If you have additional thoughts and ideas, I’d appreciate hearing from you. Together, we can help make the path home a little clearer and easier. Contact me and together, we can help make the path home a little clearer and easier.
