California couple follows their kids to college – in South Dakota

This paid piece is sponsored by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

After a lifetime on the West Coast, Gina Rau estimates that there were at least 20 areas she and her husband, Justin, considered in making their next move.

“We had all the requirements listed out – from weather to friendliness, access to nature, access to bodies of water, politics, crime, at least 20 columns and probably 20 cities on our list,” she said.

“We took two years, and Sioux Falls kept rising to the top.”

In many ways, it was an unlikely destination for the family. Rau spent most of her life in Southern California, then moved with her family to Portland, Oregon, and spent two decades raising her son and daughter there. Daughter Marcelena was looking to go to college in California, and Rau’s parents needed some help, so they moved back there.

But her son, Patrick, decided to enroll in the cybersecurity program at Dakota State University in Madison, giving the family its first exposure to South Dakota.

“DSU was always top of his list,” Rau said.

“He got into many other schools, and I wasn’t sure because this was a kid who only knew life in Portland, and I thought it would be super-different.”

But the family visited, “and he said: ‘This is my place. This is where I want to be.’ He was impressed with the cyber program and liked the small school,” Rau said.

“He was comfortable in that environment, and he said, ‘These are my people.’ It’s been really good for him. He had a great internship this summer at Daktronics, and he felt like he’s been prepared well.”

Something clicked in her son in South Dakota, she added. He participated in soccer and basketball intramural teams, as well as the esports team.

“And it was like, wow, you’re living your best life in Madison, South Dakota — a kid from Portland, Oregon.”

For Rau, the entrepreneur community in Sioux Falls captured her interest.

“I was very involved with the Portland startup community and helped grow that 15 years ago, and I love working with entrepreneurs, so I found Startup Sioux Falls when I was downtown having coffee before we’d even decided to move here, and I said I need to learn more about that.”

And, in an added twist, Marcelena decided she actually didn’t want to go to college in California – and enrolled at South Dakota State University in Brookings.

“She decided to go to SDSU before we decided to more here,” Rau said. “She realized a lot of California schools are commuter schools, and she wanted the college experience. When we went to SDSU, she loved downtown Brookings, and it was the right size and had all the programs she wanted.”

She’s now studying graphic design with an interest in film studies and animation.

“And then, we realized they both would be here, and a lot of cities on our list were in the Southeast. One visit in the summer made us realize this is not our weather,” Rau said of that area of the country. “Of course, we have not been here in winter yet, but Portland does get some winter, and the people here were really nice. We like the slower pace, and it’s been fun to check out cities nearby like Omaha.”

Without kids, the couple decided they wanted to live downtown and recently moved into a new loft.

“I love that we can park our car on Friday and walk all weekend long,” Rau said.

Justin has been a stay-at-home dad who more recently is focused on investments, while she has built a career in public relations and marketing, currently remotely working for a California-based global tech company.

Rau has connected through Startup Sioux Falls as a place to work and meet new people.

“And I’ve met so many people here just by showing up,” she said. “I didn’t need office space but came here for the sense of community.”

The Rau family’s experience is a full-circle example of what newcomers find in Sioux Falls and the broader state, said Denise Guzzetta, vice president of talent and workforce development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

“I love hearing how their children first realized what incredible universities we have here, and that Mom and Dad now are finding the quality of life in Sioux Falls is outstanding as well,” she said.

“We can’t wait for Gina to become more involved in the startup community and to see what kinds of education and career experiences her kids are able to continue enjoying at our state universities.”

Rau also sees herself ready to put her skills and experience to work helping support other small businesses in her new home.

“I am ready,” she said. “I want to dig in and put my time and energy here.”

To learn more about growing your career in Sioux Falls – at any stage – email [email protected].