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The spread of COVID-19 has created significant challenges in delivering medical services. Fortunately, the expanding availability of broadband connectivity is helping people get the behavioral care they need to cope with the stresses of life.

Business divisions that operate as part of Kennebec Telephone Co. Inc. can do everything from tuning up a car to digging a grave for a horse.

Gov. Kristi Noem has revived a cross-border rivalry to recruit businesses from Minnesota, and one entrepreneurial coach doing business in both the Twin Cities and Sioux Falls believes South Dakota has the advantage.

When COVID-19 started hitting Avera Health’s regional market area, the Sioux Falls-based system set up a hotline to handle all the inquiries that began flooding in. Soon, virtual care was in high demand.

If you plan to compare internet options available in your market, that’s great. Times change. So do company offerings and your needs. Just keep in mind that there are variables to consider that go beyond the package price including the overall quality of service and longer-term costs.

Good, reliable, electronic communication systems will be more important than ever during the 2020-21 school year. That’s largely because of COVID-19. However, the use of technology in schools was increasing steadily even before the pandemic.

Two groups of behind-the-scenes employees at SDN have helped keep regional commerce flowing during the COVID-19 pandemic by maintaining a smooth flow of electronic information within and across the region.

For some researchers, the quick shift of massive numbers of American workers to home environments has been viewed as an experiment on the future of remote work.

In times of uncertainty, SDN Communications has relied on experienced leadership to keep the region connected. Its nine-member Board of Managers has played an integral part in improving communities in South Dakota amid a global pandemic.

As a member of SDN Communications’ network engineering team, Trevor Lawhorn knows the importance of being a good team member — collaborating, being able to listen and adapt to what those around you are saying.

Ryan Thompson, the general manager and CEO of Santel, was pleasantly surprised – and greatly appreciative - when both of the cooperative’s applications were approved recently as part of Gov. Kristi Noem’s Connect South Dakota broadband program.

The past four months have delivered plenty of change. Where better to turn for some lessons in coping than Dr. Seuss’s well-known book, “Green Eggs and Ham.”

Our member companies are helping lure experienced professionals back to their home state, a hiring practice that is good for the regional economy as well as employers.

SDN Communications and its 17 member companies across the state, which have been concerned about the issue for several years, have joined with three other regional business organizations to help address the housing crunch.

SDN is announcing a $1 million pledge in a housing-development initiative that is part of a revolving loan fund administered through East River Electric Power Cooperative of Madison.

Most SDN employees have been working from their homes since March 19, when COVID-19 was beginning to spread across the Upper Midwest. HR Director Amy Preator says the transition for SDN has gone extremely well and very smoothly.

Greg Robinson’s first two years with SDN Communications’ Rapid City office have been fun as well as challenging, and he’s upbeat about the future of the area.

SDN Communications is making substantial progress in upgrading its core transmission routes to serve customers’ future needs. It's going to enable SDN and its member companies to efficiently provide higher levels of broadband services.

It’s extremely important that the state and telecommunications industry continue to close gaps in connectivity that have left some rural areas of South Dakota underserved. A second round of grants from the Connect South Dakota broadband program will help plug some of the holes.

I was scheduled to connect with Brad Engbarth by phone recently. But an urgent cable-moving situation arose and his plans changed. When he answered my call, he was standing at the bottom of a 20-foot hole at a street-construction site in Sioux Falls.