Jared McEntaffer is the CEO of the Dakota Institute. McEntaffer is a South Dakota native with years of experience in analyzing and communicating about the South Dakota economy. McEntaffer earned his bachelor’s degree at South Dakota State University and his PhD at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He began his career teaching Economics at Big 10 Universities but returned to South Dakota in 2017 to lead Benchmark Data Labs, an innovative data consulting and outreach organization. Now McEntaffer brings his experience and expertise to the Dakota Institute for Business and Economic Analysis. His research fields include economic impact modeling, economic forecasting, regional labor market assessments, and treatment effect estimation.