We're going to find the cure for breast cancer in Sioux Falls, and for Type 1 diabetes. We are setting up labs and testing environments and other innovations in health care. They're not screwing around. Companies like Sanford and Avera are sincerely passionate about doing that work in Sioux Falls instead of at Mayo or on the East Coast. That fourth leg really helped catapult us during the recession, because they were investing in research, investing in facilities and people during that time. Even though banking was struggling and retail was down, ag and health care were going gangbusters.

It sounds boring, but it's very effective to create more legs on your economic development stool. We do it extremely well here.

How important was it to have Citi's presence and the reputation as a financial-services sector to bring other companies here?

Citibank taught us how to think big. It was an incredible training ground for so many young executives and future leaders, including myself. I started there in 1984 and worked there until 1999, spending five years in South Dakota, five in New York, five in Texas. Then I went to Europe and then came back to South Dakota to work at Premier Bank with Denny Sanford. I quit in 2009 to pursue my dream to be in public service.

Citibank taught us we could play with the big boys, and to be proud in South Dakota instead of being looked on as second-class citizens in the Midwest. I'll never forget being at Citibank and having these East Coast people from elite colleges who were reporting to this South Dakota boy from South Dakota State. We had folks from the East Coast who "had" to move to Sioux Falls, and once they got here, they were going, "why in the world didn't we come earlier?"

Looking at your unemployment numbers, with the exception of a brief spike in 2010 when the rate went up to 6 percent, it's surprising that more people don't move here.

I was just in Wisconsin, where some friends were talking about 9 percent unemployment, and I can't fathom that. Here in Sioux Falls, if we're over 5, 5.5 percent, we're wondering what we're doing wrong. Right now we're at 3.5, and actually struggling with that. It's a good thing if you need a job, but something to look out for if you're trying to hire people.

We do have between 3,000 and 4,000 people moving here each year, looking for a great place to raise their families and find jobs. This year, we will blow away the record for construction in a single year. We're already 150 percent of where we were last year, and last year was the second-highest construction year in our city's history.

What are the challenges in absorbing thousands of new people every year?

It's the one thing that keeps me up at night as mayor. You do have this responsibility to manage growth, to plan it and zone it right. Because if you mess it up, it'll impact this city for generations. Fifty years ago, whoever the leaders were decided to put two private country clubs side by side in what is now the heart of our city. Now we have a challenge driving from the east side of town to the west side of town because of that decision.