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The 7th Annual Economic Gardening Conference was held June 17-19, 2009 at Prairie Sky Guest Ranch and Historic Fort Sisseton State Park.  The conference was attended by seventy entrepreneurs from three different countries and twelve U.S. states.
             Conference attendees started out their South Dakota experience at Prairie Sky Guest Ranch where they enjoyed a steak fry supper and entertainment from Grammy nominated flute player Bryan Akipa and a Native American dance and drum group.
             Thursday started early at Fort Sisseton with a group from the Rural Learning Center introducing the attendees to Ning, a social networking site.  Barb Fails and Christine Hamilton-Pennell then spoke about how librarians can help the process of economic development in communities.
The afternoon session featured speakers Beth Davis and Jael Kampfe explaining the Dakota Rising- Entrepreneur Development Systems program.  The nest two speakers, Michael Foster and Rob Pochert explained how their communities are using the Economic Gardening program.  The last presentation of the day was given by Julie Johnson and Jim Barringer from the Aberdeen Development Corporation.
             Later that night attendees could tour the Fort grounds and visit with re-enactors and take wagon rides.  A bit of weather brought everyone inside where they enjoyed some traditional Native American food such as buffalo, fry bread, and corn stew.  The night concluded with a performance from the Uffda Brudders.
             Day three included speaker Jacob Wipf, the founder of the Oak Lane Hutterite Colony in Alexandria, SD.  Jacob explained the Hutterite history and the entrepreneurial approach they use.  Takashi Yamamoto then spoke on “EG-like” activities in Japanese municipalities.  Speaker presentations concluded with host Chris Gibbons.  Chris talked about Maltego, a social network mapping software that quickly identifies hub people and ideas.
             The day finished with tour packages that included a tour of the Sunset Hutterite Colony west of Britton or the Coteau Heritage Package that included stops at the Nicollet Tower and the Stavig House Museum.