Secretary's Biography

Richard Benda

Richard Benda serves as the Cabinet Secretary for the Department of Tourism and State Development, which is made up of six agencies: The Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the Office of Tourism, the Arts Council, the Office of Tribal Government Relations, the State Historical Society and the Housing Development Authority. He began his duties on June 1, 2006.

Before being asked by Governor Rounds to accept his current post, he was the economic developer for several years the in Watertown, South Dakota.  Prior to that, Richard left the state for a time to do economic development in upstate New York - Schenectady. He has more than 13 years experience working in South Dakota state government, having served as a business development representative for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the Bureau of Administration, the Office of Energy Policy, the Bureau of Intergovernmental Relations, the Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Revenue.

He is also involved with numerous national and state economic development organizations.

He has an eleven-year-old daughter, Claire.

Benda graduated from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion with a B.S. degree in Business Management.