500 E. Capitol Ave.

Pierre, SD 57501

(605) 773-3212

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, January 22, 2007

CONTACT: Roxy Everson, 773-3212 or Bruce Rampelberg, Moving Forward With Ellsworth Steering Committee at (605) 718-6004

 

PIERRE, S.D.--Gov. Mike Rounds and the Moving Forward With Ellsworth Steering Committee jointly announced today the receipt of a $500,000 community economic diversification grant from the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), a division of the U.S. Department of Defense.

 

The Office of the Governor and the Moving Forward With Ellsworth Steering Committee were informed that financial assistance was available to local, regional and state economies that were determined to be “defense dependant.” This type of assistance is also available to communities experiencing mission growth at their military installations. The recent announcement of Ellsworth Air Force Base (EAFB) becoming the new home of the Air Force Financial Services center will contribute to community growth challenges that need to be planned for now.

 

“The $500,000 OEA grant will be used in two ways to advance economic diversification within the local, regional and state economy,” said Gov. Mike Rounds. “Through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and in partnership with the Moving Forward With Ellsworth Steering Committee, $300,000 of the OEA grant will be used to fund the hiring of a master planning consultant to work with local developers and communities immediately surrounding EAFB. The consultant’s scope of work will seek to cast a future vision for the four square miles that surround EAFB in a way that is compatible for both local residents, land owners, developers, businesses and EAFB.”

 

“This effort will be referred to as the “Box Elder I-90 Corridor - Gateway to the Black Hills” planning project,” said Bruce Rampelberg, former Chair of the Ellsworth Task Force, and project coordinator for the Moving Forward With Ellsworth Steering Committee. 

 

In addition, $200,000 of the OEA grant will be used to fund the ongoing efforts of Black Hills Vision to develop a Black Hills Technology Corridor Roadmap. “This regional technology based economic development planning effort is intended to diversify the regional economy and create high paying jobs through technology based economic development,” said Black Hills Vision Chairman Mark Merchen.  A roadmap envisioned will take advantage of a National Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory at the former Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, the rapidly emerging role of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Black Hills State University, the medical community, and local industry, all helping to contribute to diversifying the local, regional and state economy and developing high paying jobs for South Dakotans. 

 

The Moving Forward With Ellsworth Steering Committee was formed during the threatened closure of Ellsworth Air Force Base (EAFB) in the summer of 2005. Working with Black Hills Vision, representatives of the Congressional Delegations and Gov. Rounds, the four local government jurisdictions immediately connected with EAFB – the City of Box Elder, Rapid City, Meade County and Pennington County – worked collaboratively to form the Moving Forward With Ellsworth Steering Committee.  Prior to the final August Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) determination of the future of EAFB, working behind the scenes, the Moving Forward With Ellsworth Steering Committee prepared for the worst case scenario, what needed to be done if the second largest employer in the South Dakota, the Department of Defense, declared EAFB surplus property.

 

During this same time frame, the South Dakota Department of Labor conducted an updated study of the economic impact of EAFB on the local, regional and state economy. That study determined that EAFB did in fact meet and exceed prior estimates as to its annual economic impact, determining that impact to be over $324,000,000 annually. In what is known as the Rapid City Metropolitan Shortage Area (MSA) of Meade and Pennington County, this economic impact is estimated to be slightly larger than tourism. 

 

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