South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks on Sept. 23, 2026, at the David Lust Accelerator Building in Rapid City during the announcement of a planned addition to the facility that will house an office for defense contractor Northrop Grumman. Seated around Rhoden, from left, are Rapid City Mayor Jason Salamun, Northrop Grumman Vice President Nikki Kodama, Elevate Rapid City CEO Jack Valentine, Air Force Col. Erick Lord and Ellsworth Development Authority Executive Director Scott Landguth. (Photo by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
RAPID CITY, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — Getting Ellsworth Air Force Base removed from a closure list 21 years ago was the beginning of the work needed to secure the base’s future in western South Dakota, Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds said Wednesday.
“Once we knew Ellsworth was safe, we also knew that building up the base’s infrastructure and developing the region to attract others in the defense industry was the best way to prevent future threats,” Rounds said.
Over the past two decades, local and state officials have worked to expand the base’s training airspace, add a remotely piloted drone unit, clear potential crash zones of development, and make Ellsworth the first base to host new B-21 stealth bomber planes next year, among other initiatives. The goal is retaining the estimated 9,000 people the base brings to the area, including military members, their families and civilian employees, and the estimated $800 million annual economic impact they help generate.
The latest effort came to fruition Wednesday with the announcement that Virginia-based defense contractor Northrop Grumman — which is developing B-21s for the Air Force — will establish an office in an $18 million building to be constructed in Rapid City, less than 10 miles west of the base.
Elevate Rapid City, a local economic development partnership, will build the facility on undeveloped land next to its David Lust Accelerator Building, a business incubation complex in eastern downtown Rapid City’s Innovation District. The accelerator building hosted Wednesday’s announcement.
The announcement did not include an estimate of the number of jobs Northrop Grumman will bring to the city, but an executive said the company has scheduled about 50 interviews for the “first wave” of future employees. The combined number of the company’s employees at Ellsworth and the Rapid City office could ultimately number in the “hundreds,” said Elevate CEO Jack Valentine in an interview with South Dakota Searchlight. Elevate will work to recruit additional tenants to the facility.
Conceptual drawings of a planned addition to the David Lust Accelerator Building are displayed in the Rapid City building on Sept. 23, 2026, during an announcement that defense contractor Northrop Grumman will anchor the addition. (Photo by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
The state and the Ellsworth Development Authority will each contribute $1 million to help Elevate with the project.
State lawmakers created the authority in 2009 to help secure the base’s future, and Executive Director Scott Landguth told Searchlight the authority has been self-funded for about six years through land deals, federal grants and other sources.
Gov. Larry Rhoden announced that the state’s contribution will be a $1 million grant from the Future Fund, a pool of economic development money under his control. The money comes from a fee paid by employers when they submit taxes to support unemployment benefits.
“Northrop Grumman is sending a strong signal about their belief in the opportunities that are available right here in South Dakota,” Rhoden said.
Rhoden was among dozens of state, local and military leaders in attendance Wednesday. Rounds submitted his comments by video from Washington, D.C.
The state’s support of the project furthers Rhoden’s goal, which he announced nine months ago in his annual State of the State address, to make national security the next big industry in South Dakota.
In April, Rhoden awarded a $6 million Future Fund grant to create the South Dakota Defense Institute, which will work to attract more defense contractors to the state. The institute has since been organized as a nonprofit with a board that is searching for a CEO.
The institute will be housed in a former bank building acquired by Elevate at 14 St. Joseph St. in Rapid City, about a block away from the accelerator building.
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