Elevate Rapid City was formed in 2019 as a merger of the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Partnership, and Economic Development Foundation (Ascent Innovation).
As the premier western South Dakota economic development organization, Elevate is committed to promoting business and personal advancement through a targeted spotlight on jobs, infrastructure, and overall quality of life in and around the Black Hills region and the Rapid City metro area.
Together, we strive to embrace the heart and soul of our community through diversified growth and strong professional opportunities advocating the strengths of the Black Hills.
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CareerLIFT is a free online education platform comprised of courses, resume-building resources, interview preparation and job offer connections to uplift and empower individuals to achieve career success and improve their overall quality of life.
Rapid City saw record levels of low unemployment, wages growing twice as fast as the costs of housing (and triple that of overall inflation), and consumer spending last month was over $900 million.
Great Plains Welding Academy addresses a gap in the industry and brings passionate welders to the trade in Rapid City, South Dakota.
There are countless reasons we could answer "Why Rapid City?" But there's something extra special about when others realize how great a community is. Most recently, Rapid City was named on Livability’s Top 100 Best Places to Live list. Rapid City continues to get recognized as a great community alongside South Dakota's statewide rankings. Check out all of our latest rankings and accolades.
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When Elevate Rapid City was formed in 2018, we promised to deliver results to the Rapid City Region. We met our goals in our first five years. Now, we're chasing after even more. These are the goals we will achieve by 2027. You can see all our work and progress in our annual reports.
January 2023: 75,802 / December 2023: 77,544
2022: $9.47B / 2023: $9.36B
January 2023: $904 / December 2023: $981
2022: $364.6M / 2023: $463.5M