New Sylvan owners to open satellite centers

The new owners of Sylvan Learning Center in Sioux Falls are working to expand the business into other South Dakota cities.

Bill and Connie Kiecksee bought the franchise from Darice and Keith Huber, who owned it for the past six years. Sylvan’s tutoring focuses on math and reading for students of all ages, study skills and college test preparation.

The first satellite location is expected to open in June in Brookings, said Bill Kiecksee, who is serving as Sylvan’s director.

Other centers are planned for Mitchell at the end of the year and Yankton in the middle of next year.

“Each site will have its own center director, and then we would have teachers from the local market that we employ that do the tutoring,” Kiecksee said.

In Sioux Falls, the center, at 4816 S. Technopolis Drive, has five full-time staff members who set up the individualized instruction, and 31 tutors, most of whom are teachers in the Sioux Falls or Harrisburg school districts, Kiecksee said.

Sylvan has been in Sioux Falls for 18 years. Kiecksee and his wife are South Dakota natives who moved back from Texas.

“I grew up in Brandon, and she grew up in De Smet,” he said. “We worked for 25 years in global jobs and found an awesome opportunity to come back with a family-focused business.”

Kiecksee’s background is in manufacturing, and Connie Kiecksee worked in clinical psychology.

She is managing another business the couple bought in Sioux Falls, Prometric Testing at 4700 S. Technopolis Drive. It administers national certification tests for professions such as insurance, real estate and health care. Prometric has nine part-time employees.