PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — There was welcome news Monday for two state government groups that loan money to South Dakota businesses.

The state Department of Legislative Audit found nothing financially amiss during the past year in the lending programs that the state Board of Economic Development and the South Dakota Economic Development Finance Authority oversee.

Seven of the board’s 13 voting members also serve as the authority’s directors. Jeff Erickson, a Sioux Falls banker, chairs both panels. They operate under the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

“Seriously, an audit is taken for granted until you get a bad one and then all hell breaks loose,” Erickson told the authority’s directors.

GOED finance director Travis Dovre (DOHV-ray) said the board approved $6.3 million of low-interest loans from the state’s Revolving Economic Development Initiative to five different companies with a projected total job creation of 516.

The REDI fund since its creation during the Mickelson administration in 1987 had generated approximately 34,000 jobs, according to Dovre. “That’s a pretty impressive figure,” he said.

The Legislature added four lawmakers to the Board of Economic Development as non-voting members in 2013.

The latest audits covered the state 2023 fiscal year, which began July 1, 2022, and ended June 30, 2023.

Loans made by the state board during that period:

M.A. Murphy, LLC, doing business as Murphy Company, Inc., was approved for $969,741.20 to use on the construction of a $2.3 million building in Sturgis. The company, headquartered in North Sioux City, provides insulation and construction services.

Phase Technologies in Rapid City was approved for $583,500 toward a $3 million purchase of equipment. The company manufactures various types of electronic technology.

Watertown Development Company was approved for $2.5 million that was used for a $5.6 million expansion of Sentry. The company provides a variety of construction services.

Roto Mold, doing business as Ruff Land Kennels at Tea, was approved for $1,085,000 that was used for a $2.7 million expansion. The kennel-maker had also received a REDI loan in 2017.

TTL Holdings, LLC, doing business as Engineered Concrete Products in Rapid City, was approved for $1,192,500 as part of a $6,815,000 expansion.

The Board of Economic Development annual report and audit can be found here. The Economic Development Finance Authority annual report and audit can be found here.