Noem drops interim tag for South Dakota housing director

Chas Olson has been in the post since former Housing Development Authority head abruptly resigned this spring

The man who’s been leading the South Dakota Housing Development Authority since an abrupt departure of the agency’s former director this past spring will stay in the post permanently.

Gov. Kristi Noem’s office announced that Chas Olson will be SDHDA’s new executive director.

“As interim director, Chas has been very proactive in reaching out to communities and working to roll out funding as quickly as possible,” Noem said in a statement announcing Olson’s hire. “I am confident that he will continue to cut red tape and streamline state government for the people of South Dakota as executive director.”

Olson has served as interim director of South Dakota Housing since April, when Lorraine Polak resigned amid delays in the rollout of a $200 million workforce housing initiative first approved by lawmakers in 2022.

PREVIOUSLY: S.D. Housing director who resigned in March now advising Sen. Rounds