SIOUX FALLS – Discussions with two out-of-state political firms that were awarded contracts related to Gov. Kristi Noem’s workforce marketing campaign began weeks before the official requests for proposals were published, according to documents obtained by Sioux Falls Live.
The early conversations raise questions about the integrity of the State of South Dakota’s contract process and deepen the skepticism over Noem’s political allies doing taxpayer-funded work.
The Freedom Works Here campaign, which has come under the scrutiny of legislative leaders, features Noem in several high-demand jobs including welder, electrician and, most recently, accountant. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development supervised the effort and touts it as the most-successful workforce development initiative in state history.
It’s the political connections between the players and the inability to provide firm numbers on people who have moved to the state that has drawn the attention of lawmakers, however. The documents obtained by Sioux Falls Live indicate the governor’s office developed the plan in consultation with The Strategy Group, an Ohio-based consultant that worked on Noem’s 2022 re-election campaign, and eventually was awarded the $5 million contract.
The documents show that Ben Yoho, the CEO of The Strategy Group, and officials from the political polling firm WPA Intelligence pitched the GOED after the 2022 election on a plan to do market research to guide Freedom Works Here. The language of that proposal is nearly identical to the RFP that was published on Jan. 10, which was awarded to WPA for $100,000.
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That’s troubling for Rep. Chris Karr, a Sioux Falls Republican who sits on the Appropriations Committee and the Legislature’s Executive Board.
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“If a state agency is complicit in allowing a company to write the criteria for an RFP specific to that company for the purpose of that state agency to choose that company for that RFP, then the Legislature needs to look at our state's RFP process and modify it so that the Executive Branch avoids 'sweetheart deals' and allows for transparent government that results in a fair process and equitable use of taxpayer dollars,” Karr said in a statement to Sioux Falls Live.
Three days after the research RFP was published – Jan. 13 – a separate request was posted by the state for the production and placement of the advertising.
That $5 million deal was awarded to Go West Media, a company “doing business as” in South Dakota for a subsidiary of Yoho’s firm, The Strategy Group.
Six other firms also submitted proposals but Go West was selected.
The governor’s office and the GOED have denied there was any previous communication before the RFPs were public.
“The details of the response are proprietary,” said Sarah Eberling, spokesperson for the GOED, said of the research. “The results were not shared with the competitive bidders. They were provided to the winning bidder to be used in the development of the ad placement strategy.”
The documents appear to contradict that statement.
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WPA Intelligence sent a letter dated Dec. 23, 2022, to Steve Westra, who was commissioner of the GOED at the time, that outlined a proposal for market research that would become the backbone of the campaign.
That letter was from Chris Wilson, founder of WPA; Trevor K. Smith, the company’s top researcher; and Yoho, representing The Strategy Croup.
The document, prepared by WPA and marked confidential, was leaked to Sioux Falls Live by a source familiar with the discussions.
The language and scope of the December pitch by the two political firms is nearly verbatim with the state’s request for proposals published on Jan. 10. It is also strikingly similar to elements of the Go West proposal submitted for the marketing RFP on Jan. 13
In addition, the states that were ultimately targeted by WPA’s research and those identified by Go West were exactly the same. They were Nevada, Michigan, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
However, the results of the research – including the states that were targeted – weren't available until after Go West submitted the proposal.
Ian Fury, the governor’s spokesperson, said all rules and guidelines were followed.
“Our team executed this RFP process properly,” Fury said in a statement to Sioux Falls Live. “The process that was issued followed state statute. We can’t answer for people outside of state government.”
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That’s a question the South Dakota Legislature needs to address, said Karr, who sits on the Appropriations Committee and the Executive Board.
“There are laws that address the RFP process, and based on the information, the Legislature needs to look at that process and decide how to amend the law. If current law was broken due to the process that was used, then we need to rely on the attorney general to assess the actions of the agency and pursue further action,” Karr said.
Freedom Works Here Timeline
Dec. 23 - WPA Intelligence sends letter to GOED Commissioner Steve Westra outlining the research for Freedom Works Here.
Jan. 7 - Gov. Kristi Noem inauguration for second term.
Jan. 10 - State publishes $100,000 RFP for market research for Freedom Works Here.
Jan. 11 - Strategic Media Placement, a subsidiary of The Strategy Group, registers in South Dakota.
Jan. 12 - Go West Media files documents “doing business as” in South Dakota for Strategic Media Placement.
Jan. 13 - State publishes $5 million RFP for production and placement of advertising for Freedom Works Here.
Feb. 3 - Deadline for proposals for research.
Feb. 10 - Research contract signed by Westra and Trevor K. Smith, chief research officer for WPA Intelligence.
Feb. 17 - Deadline for proposals for production and placement of Freedom Works Here advertising.
March 21-23 - WPA Intelligence conducts polling for audience targeting.
March 29 - WPA Intelligence forwards analysis of research to GOED.
April 12 - Ben Yoho, CEO of The Strategy Group, signs a $5 million contract with the state to produce and place the advertising for Freedom Works Here.
May 3 - Westra signs the contract with The Strategy Group.
Further complicating the political calculus is the connection between Yoho and Corey Lewandowski, the one-time campaign manager for Donald Trump and informal advisor to Noem. The pair sat together at Noem’s inauguration on Jan. 7 in Pierre.
Noem has said she cut ties with Lewandowski following a 2021 incident in Las Vegas where he was accused of groping a woman. A year later, though not admitting guilt, he agreed to undergo eight hours of counseling, serve 50 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 fine.
Then in September, The Daily Mail of London and The New York Post published stories alleging a romantic relationship between Noem and Lewandowski.
Fury has rebutted the reports, calling them inflammatory tabloid rumors.
But Noem and Lewandowski continue to appear together at Republican events, most recently at a conservative gathering on Nov. 10 in Paris, and again on Dec. 1 in Columbus, Ohio, at the Republican Party State Dinner, where Noem was the featured speaker.
The governor’s office stresses the success of Freedom Works Here, citing hundreds of thousands of impressions from the ads, 8,000 people expressing interest in moving to the state and more than 1,200 who are making plans.
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“The Freedom Works Here campaign has been the most successful in South Dakota’s history, and we are proud of the results,” Fury said.
But some lawmakers, specifically on the Executive Board, remain skeptical.
PAUL VERNON / For Sioux Falls Live
PAUL VERNON / For Sioux Falls Live
The board questioned current GOED Commissioner Chris Schilken about Freedom Works Here during a meeting on Nov. 14. The board voted 14-0 to send a letter to the GOED with a series of questions about the campaign.
In a response on Nov. 22, Schilken offered to let lawmakers view all seven proposals, but only in executive session because state law does not allow public release of the documents.
That meeting is scheduled for Jan. 8, the day before the legislative session opens.
“We’re just doing our job,” Senate President Lee Schoenbeck, who serves as co-chair of the Executive Board, said earlier this month. “The questions have been asked and the department has provided some answers that we are going to explore in a public setting. Hopefully that answers people’s questions.”
The Go West proposal stood out from the other six because of its research and analytics to target people likely to move to South Dakota for jobs, according to Travis Dovre, the finance director for GOED.
“Go West was extremely well prepared to answer the question of how they would gauge success,” Dovre said in a statement in November. “They had a sophisticated plan to target individuals who were likely to move to South Dakota, and they had numerous metrics to gauge the effectiveness of those efforts. Frankly, we’d never seen anything like it.”
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Video from South Dakota Public Broadcasting
But Go West didn’t provide any details on how they would do the research in its initial proposal for the work or in a subsequent interview, according to sources close to the process.
That information was produced by WPA Intelligence and, according to the GOED and the governor’s office, should not have been available until well after Go West submitted its proposal.
“There was no specific detail provided from Yoho in his interview when it came to Strategic Media Placement,” said a source familiar with the discussions. “He not only didn’t bring anything new, or specific to the interview session, but he actually provided a few random ideas that seemed to be as though he was thinking of it, on the spot.”
Messages left by Sioux Falls Live seeking comment with Yoho, Smith – who signed the contract for WPA — and Westra were not returned.
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