Early this decade Black Hills Community Economic Development supported Black Hills Vision, a campaign that raised $3 million to tackle five projects.
The projects were:
The campaign’s results speak for themselves. Ellsworth was saved from closure, new airlines fly into Rapid City, more housing options exist, the incubator took form on the School of Mines and Technology campus, and Lead won the national deep underground science and engineering lab.
As important as those gains are, says Black Hills Vision executive director Blaise Emerson, the way the region banded together during the campaign is equally significant. “The public saw the work as positive for the Black Hills as a whole,” he recalls, “not for just the individual communities.”
Now Black Hills Vision is preparing to launch a second phase of projects. Blaise and campaign chairman Mike Derby stress that the campaign’s direction hasn’t been predetermined, and they hope residents from all backgrounds will step forward to offer ideas at a series of town hall meetings.
Meetings are scheduled on these dates:
