“We talk about things like the diversification of taxes and capital spending and consumer expenditures and economic data, but at the end of the day, it goes back to the question of whether or not someone has a job. Does someone have a house? If they have a family, can they support them?” Tom Johnson is the CEO and President of Elevate Rapid City. He and his team deal with a lot of high level economic concepts while facilitating the sustainable growth of Rapid City and the surrounding areas. But for Tom and his team, all the numbers and all the economic jargon goes back to people.
For a lot of the public, they associate Elevate with large, national companies coming to the region. “But most of our work is spent with companies that are here right now,” Tom explains. “Whether that’s a downtown facade loan or a child care loan or helping a local tech company with incubator space, we’re committed to elevating the region for all.”
Tom says that his experiences as a child, in part, drive his work ethic today. Tom’s dad worked in oil in the mid-1980s. That industry cratered then, and Tom’s dad lost his job because of circumstances that were entirely out of his control. “After that, the bank came in and foreclosed on the house. So we had to pack up in the middle of the night and move out and go.”
Tom strives now to prevent moments like this from happening. Tom reflects, “By doing this work, is it possible to stop something like this from happening to another kid?” Tom and his team are going to continue to do their best and diligently work to find out.
18 E Main St
Rapid City, SD 57701
elevaterapidcity.com