Ryan Oines is the Chief Operating Officer at the USD Discovery District in Sioux Falls, SD. In this role, he leads the business and financial operations for the planned future development of 26 privately developed buildings with facility construction estimated to exceed $314M. Additionally, from 2020 to 2022, he worked with the Technology Readiness Acceleration Center (TRAC) at the University of South Dakota. As a TRAC mentor, Ryan assisted in developing a program that paired USD graduate students with faculty and industry inventors and supported the development and commercialization of novel technologies through education, innovations, and entrepreneurship.

Prior to his role at the USD Discovery District, Ryan was the Interim Vice President at the Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship where he led facility and program operations, and strategic partnerships. Before accepting the role of Vice President, he was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Zeal where he led Zeal’s initial participation in Falls Angel Fund I in 2016, a fund dedicated to helping promising, early-stage companies in South Dakota scale into successful businesses.

He has spent the last 25 years launching and assisting multiple start-up companies in the region and has a special interest in financial operations, strategic business development, and working with entrepreneurs. In 2002, Ryan worked with the Seattle-based start-up, Monet Mobile Networks, to launch North America’s first CDMA wireless data network in Sioux Falls, SD.  In 2010, he co-founded Logical Energy Solutions, LLC, a wind energy repairs & maintenance provider based in Sioux Falls, SD leading business and financial operations. Mr. Oines has proven experience in business operations and raising start-up capital.