SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Wednesday marks 30 years since South Dakota Governor George Mickelson and seven others were killed in a plane crash.

An event was held at the Sioux Falls Development Foundation to commemorate the lives lost and the work those aboard the plane were doing.

On April 19, 1993, a plane carrying Governor George Mickelson, three members of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation and others struck a silo and crashed in a field in Iowa, killing everyone on board.

The group was on an “economic development mission” to retain the state’s largest agricultural processing employer.

“They put their blood, sweat and tears, and ultimately their lives into economic development for the state of South Dakota and this community,” Sioux Falls Development Foundation chairman Steve Kolbeck said.

Dave Link and Jim Wilcox, who were both colleagues of men on board the plane, were at the event. They spoke highly of Governor Mickelson.

“He epitomized to me what it meant to be a political leader or actually a leader of any point or any type. He was thoughtful, well-spoken, persuasive, kind and considerate. He really epitomized those values for people in the state,” Link said.

“He was devoted to the betterment of the state and he worked tirelessly as a steward of the assets and resources that the people of South Dakota had entrusted with him,” Wilcox said.

Sioux Falls Mayor Paul Tenhaken also proclaimed the day as “Economic Development Leadership Day.”

“It feels like today, I’m the benefactor of a lot of great leaders who put things in place. That as Dave so eloquently said it, made Sioux Falls what it is today, so I’m humbled and honored to be able to remember some great men that served our state and the city in different ways,” Tenhaken said.

President and CEO of the Development Foundation, Bob Mundt, also spoke at the event and gives credit for the growth of Sioux Falls and economic development to the men who died that day.