DUPREE - Mid-morning coffee drinkers drift slowly into Alan Bakeberg's Ranch House Café. The crowd isn't huge, but because they value a hometown café, they are loyal.

Bakeberg, 25, has operated the café for almost two years, serving daily specials and enticing customers through his door with homemade cheesecake.

From Faith to Eagle Butte, a 40-mile stretch of U.S. 212, the Ranch House is the only place Sunday diners can find a sit-down, full-service meal.

Rural communities need young men such as Bakeberg, a husband and father, willing to invest in his hometown, according to Megan Bickel, economic development director of the Tri-community Economic Enhancement Initiative.

The initiative was formed in 2006, after teams of people from the member communities completed an intensive leadership training program called Horizons.

Bickel works closely with people in Dupree, Isabel and Timber Lake to sustain and improve the region's economy.

She helped Joe Locken of Locken Oil, LLC in nearby Mobridge find the financing to reopen his grandfather's business. Not only does the station mean jobs for six people in a town of 200, but folks now have the luxury of buying a few grocery items on Sunday or after 6 p.m., said Bickel, who lives in Isabel.

With the town's second gas station for sale and the owner talking about closing, Isabel residents faced the possibility of not having a gas station.

The reopening of the Locken station was a relief for people who thought they might have to drive 30 miles for gas, Bickel said.

Locken is also remodeling a garage bay to handle a line of clothing and a few tack items.

The Ranch House and Locken Oil are good examples of the opportunities and hope that exist in small communities, Bickel said.

Operating a business in a small town can be a struggle, "but at the same time, it's a good struggle," she said.

That is where Bickel comes in. She is there to help identify financial resources and help with tasks as simple as finding a sign maker.

Married to a rancher, Bickel is a rare find on the isolated prairie of north-central South Dakota.

A business and communications graduate of St. Cloud State University, she is completing a master's degree in business management through the University of Mary in Bismarck.

Although Bickel was hired after Bakeberg went into business at the cafe, she considers him a client and stops by regularly.

Bakeberg also serves on the economic initiative's tourism committee working to encourage travelers passing through the area to stop.

And with all three towns located within the confines of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reser-vation, Bickel stays in contact with tribal economic development representatives.

A $138,000 grant, spread over two years, from the Minnesota-based Bush Foundation, made it possible for TREE to hire Bickel.

In South Dakota, the Horizons pilot program was funded by the Northwest Area Foundation and supervised by the Cooperative Extension Service at South Dakota State University.

The Tri-community Economic Enhancement Initiative and Bickel's position are products of the bonds of leadership and teamwork formed during Horizons training, according to Mark Stevens, loan officer for 1st Financial Bank in Dupree.

After the Horizons program ended, Horizons members from the three pilot communities resolved to continue working together for their region.

The Bush Foundation was attracted by the concept of the communities' teamwork and was willing to support the grant to hire Bickel, he said.

Working from vision statements developed during Horizons I, the communities have started tackling projects to make them attractive to residents and businesses.

Each town wants to capitalize on agri-tourism ventures such as hunting and entice more travelers off the highway to spend a few dollars in local businesses.

In Timber Lake, Horizons members organized spring and fall community clean-up days.

The city has since assumed responsibility for scheduling the clean-up days, making them a permanent tradition, said Sister Pegge Boehm, a member of the Horizons team and a board member of the tri-community initiative.

An effort is also underway to revitalize Timber Lake, which resembles a slough more than a lake, she said.

Isabel and Dupree initiated their own clean-up days, bringing new attitudes to their communities, according to Stevens.

"I see a lot more community pride," he said.

About the time the Horizons training was offered, Isabel and Dupree each built pavilions. This spring, a grant will assist Dupree with the creation of a city park next to its Pioneer Hall pavilion, Bickel said.

Bickel hastens to add that many of the visible changes in each community were not specific Horizons projects but frequently involved someone touched by Horizons.

"Horizons was to find our leaders in the community," Bickel said. "We found through Horizons that everyone is a leader."

The recent opening of a community fitness center in Faith represents more than a commitment to healthy living. The center is visible proof here that goals can be achieved.

The center's location on the second floor of a downtown city building is not ideal, but it's a first step, according to Debbie Brown, a member of Faith's Horizons committee.

Eventually, Brown and Faith's Horizon's committee want to see the fitness center moved to a more accessible site.

For now, having a place for adults to work out and more equipment for high school athletes is a step forward, Brown said.

Faith is one of 21 South Dakota communities nearing the end of their 18-month commitment to a second round of Horizons training, which began in 2006.

In South Dakota, the Northwest Area Foundation allocated about $1.7 million for the current Horizons Project, which concludes in June, according to project supervisor, Kari Fruechte, of the South Dakota State University Cooperative Extension Service, the grant supervisor.

Horizons is one of several programs the foundation developed to teach people how to develop the leadership necessary to change their communities.

It's not easy, for example, to talk about poverty in your hometown, according to Extension associate Dan Oedekoven of Rapid City, who coaches Horizons groups in Hot Springs, Murdo, Philip and Presho.

"There is a reluctance to accept the idea that we have poverty and that we have poor people," he said.

The Horizons process gave people from all economic backgrounds the opportunity to be heard and express their needs.

"Poverty is more than dollars and cents," said Carolyn Hendricks, an Extension educator at Sturgis and the coach for Bison, Faith, Newell and Whitewood.

Poverty can also be considered a lack of resources that community members want, she said.

For Bison, it's the absence of a lumber yard and hardware store, and the need for after-school activities.

Presho started a community clothing bank that offers gently used clothing.

Members of Murdo's Horizons group are supporting local teens' efforts to restore the long-closed movie theater with funding from the Ted Turner Foundation.

Several communities identified a shortage of adequate housing as an obstacle to their future growth, Oedekoven said.

When community communication surfaced as a concern in Whitewood, a committee asked an area newspaper to devote a page to their community each week. The result was coverage in two local papers.

For some, it's a big leap to connect a community clean-up project with economic development, Stevens said.

But making a community more appealing for those who live there also demonstrates to newcomers that people care and are optimistic about their town's future.

There are still naysayers who believe that a new building and business on Main Street are the only visible signs of successful economic development, he said. Stevens believes time will show these efforts will pay off.

"When we started this, we knew it wasn't going to be a one-year project," Stevens said. "Economic development doesn't come in one year - it comes in 3-5-7- and 10-year plans."

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com.