Q&A: Ben Snow, Rapid City Economic Development Partnership

The Rapid City metropolitan area is well positioned for future economic growth with the needed infrastructure already in place, a host of amenities and a thriving tourism industry, according to Ben Snow, the new president of the Rapid City Economic Development Partnership.

Snow, who started in his new position in late July, held a similar position in the Denver suburb of Parker, CO, before moving to Rapid City.

“The sky is the limit,” Snow says. “Rapid City has grown in a very stable manner and has done a phenomenal job of keeping pace with the growth it has had. That puts us in a good position. There is lots of land available for development and there are lots of opportunities for redevelopment downtown. We are poised for that next wave of growth. We are ready for it.”

Snow says he would like to legitimize Rapid City as a business location, building on the community’s success as a tourist destination. He says the area may also be able to capitalize on the trend of more business professionals choosing to move themselves and their businesses to smaller cities with amenities, escaping the traffic, pollution and crime of big city life.

“There is a huge upside potential,” Snow says. “The seeds of great things are already in place. There are already a good number of things happening. There is a huge opportunity over the next 15-20 years for Rapid City to emerge.”

Snow recently took some time to talk with Prairie Business about his new job, Rapid City and his economic development perspective. The following are excerpts from the interview:

WHAT IS THE STATE OF RAPID CITY'S ECONOMY?

It is extraordinarily good, especially when compared to the national economy. A lot of markets around the country are struggling with high unemployment and foreclosures. Rapid City has an unemployment rate of less than 5 percent compared to the national unemployment rate of about 9 percent. An unemployment rate of 5 percent is actually the long-term historical norm. If your unemployment rate gets too low, it is fortunate because you have so many people employed, but sometimes that creates problems with companies that need readily available labor. They need a good pool of potential workers to move to a community.

WHAT IS YOUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY?

My philosophy is centered on collaboration and partnerships between government, education and business leaders. There is a role for government to play in creating an atmosphere or environment for capital investment to happen. There are opportunities in higher education and K-12 education to work on creating the labor force needed in today’s environment. Then, the most important are the actual entrepreneurs, business owners and companies that will be deploying their capital. It is important to make sure we are working hand and hand with them to make sure they have everything they need. It’s kind of a three-legged stool using all three of those partners.

WHAT DO COMMUNITIES NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO STAND OUT?

Having a unified front is key. It needs to be legitimate. Companies kicking the tires on a region need to really feel and understand that the community leadership is on the same page. The partnership that the regions play with their states also plays an important role. It comes down to an intelligent leveraging of resources.

HOW MUCH OF A BOOST IS IT HAVING THE SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES AND TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR BACKYARD?

It’s unbelievable when you combine that with the DUSEL at Homestake up in Lead and the instrumental role that the School of Mines continues to play in advancing that project as a research facility. That project will put South Dakota on the world map in research and engineering. It is a huge asset having the School of Mines here in Rapid City.

WHAT ROLE DOES THE BLACK HILLS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER PLAY IN THE COMMUNITY AND HOW CAN THE FACILITY AID ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?

There are many economic development entities housed here in the BDC in addition to the Rapid City Economic Development Partnership. Representatives from the governor’s office and other economic development and small business consulting groups are here. We also have several exciting companies in our business incubator space. I would characterize it as a one-stop shop for economic development needs. We can collaborate with higher education and entrepreneurs. It is unique that all these groups are housed in the same facility. Instead of sending people across town, we can just send them down the hall.

HOW WILL YOU MARKET THE CITY?

There are 2.5 million people who come here for vacations every year. I would like to leverage that opportunity and embed some business-related messaging to our tourists so they can start thinking about running their business here instead of just coming here to play. We want to market ourselves at trade shows. We want to get Rapid City on the radar screens of more companies. It will take some time to start establishing those relationships with players in those industries. By having a concerted effort over the next one to five years, I am confident we will get there. We will also be improving our website. We need to make sure we have a real strong web presence, so we can sell ourselves to people who are doing preliminary research on our community and doing comparative analysis before they even pick up the phone to call us.

Tags: economic development, ben snow, rapid city