Elevate Magazine December 2022 | Rapid City South Dakota Business Stories

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HELPING OTHERS IS COOL

It’s said the meaning of life is to find the meaning of life.

A better way of saying it: meaning is found in purpose, a deep and abiding sense of service to something greater than yourself.

If it’s true, the holidays are a great time to find meaning. That’s because the holidays are a time when helping others is the norm.

Yeah, getting gifts is cool.

But helping others is cooler than cool.

Welcome to this issue of Elevate, where you’re a cool kid too. There’s the story of Journey On, which takes a new and novel approach to help the region’s most vulnerable populations find their way to a better way of life. Or the story of the Black Hills Toy Drive, continuing a tradition of making sure the area’s disadvantaged kids get toys for Christmas. Then there’s the tale of Great Plains Welding Academy, which local entrepreneurs started to fill a critical workforce gap in the Black Hills.

And finally, there’s a piece on the efforts of the Rapid City Police Department to engage the community of Knollwood to reduce violence and make residents feel safer and more secure.

Whatever your interest, these stories will inspire your holiday spirit and sense of service.

And that’s pretty cool.

Stay safe and God-speed.

Tom

Johnson, President & CEO

Elevate is a monthly publication produced by Elevate Rapid City. It is the premier business magazine for the Black Hills region telling the stories that make our area unique and vibrant.

PO Box 747, Rapid City, SD 57709 605.343.1744 elevaterapidcity.com

PRESIDENT & CEO

Tom Johnson

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Shiloh Francis

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Lori Frederick

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & TALENT ATTRACTION DIRECTOR

Samantha McGrath

INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP DIRECTOR

Mitch Nachtigall

INVESTOR ENGAGEMENT MANAGER Becky Knox

EVENTS & TRAINING MANAGER

Rachel Nelson

ECOSYSTEM SUPPORT & PROPERTY MANAGER Loni Reichert

PUBLIC POLICY MANAGER Garth Wadsworth

VISUAL CONTENT MANAGER Maggie Jean Wince

INVESTOR RELATIONS MANAGER Jason Wittenberg

OFFICE MANAGER & HR COORDINATOR

Liz Highland

HOUSING COORDINATOR Laura Jones

WORKFORCE & SUSTAINABILITY COORDINATOR Reese Niu

EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ashley Simonson

DESIGN AND LAYOUT

Maggie Jean Wince

PUBLISHED BY THE RAPID CITY JOURNAL Ben Rogers, President ben.rogers@lee.net

ADVERTISING

Kelly Kanaan 605.394.8472

Jaimie Mohler 605.8302326

Tom Eltgroth 320-583-284

Tom

JOURNEY ON 11

Journey On expands their services in Rapid City to help the houseless relatives in Rapid City.

BLACK HILLS TOY DRIVE 18

The thought of a child not having a present on Christmas morning brought a small group of community members together to ensure that all families have hope this holiday season.

GREAT PLAINS WELDING ACADEMY

Tommy and Brianna Myers open welding academy to prepare students for workforce.

THE WOODS OUTREACH 31

Tyler Read has embedded himself into the Knollwood community connecting with kids and families to make their neighborhood a home.

Cover photo by Shiloh Francis

December 3

SPEED DATING WITH THE DOGS OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE BLACK HILLS

Looking to add a four legged bestie to your life? Come meet the canine singles from the Humane Society of the Black Hills at the Bar K-9 Indoor Dog Park and Bar and take home your furever dog friend. https://www.hsbh.org/event/dog-speed-dating/

December 9

JINGLE BELL LEGACY RIDE

Sioux Park is hosting the jolliest ride of the season. This lunch-hour ride will be filled with treats, games, raffle drawings, and a 5-mile bike path ride. www.striderbikes.com/all-events/jingle-bell-legacy-ride-2022

December 11

HOLIDAY GIFT EXCHANGE

The Holiday Gift Exchange is your chance to make a difference this season! In partnership with the Black Hills Toy Drive, every toy brought in will be exchanged for a free Skate Pass and Skate Rental for the day during skating hours on December 11th. mainstreetsquare.org/calendar/ice-rink-hours-3-7j2kn-a6sxy

December

1880 TRAIN HOLIDAY EXPRESS

Experience the magic as you take a one-hour, round trip journey from Hill City to the North Pole where Santa will board the train and ride back to Hill City, taking time to visit with each child on the way. Passengers enjoy hot cocoa, a sugar cookie and a special story on the way to the North Pole. All kids will receive a bell to ring for Santa and be able to talk with Mrs. Claus and Santa. https://www.1880train.com/holiday-express.html

WE ARE ALL RELATED

MITAKUYE OYASIN

It wasn’t long ago when Toby McCloskey could have used the very help he gives today.

“I came here to improve my situation, but I was too young to get access to resources because I was a minor,” he described. “I lived on the streets for two years alone, and I know what they are going through. I know how they are viewed; I know the struggle to survive and because of that I can help them. I am living proof that you can come out of the other side, and I try to use that to help my houseless relatives.”

Toby is one of fifteen employees at Journey On, an organization that works to support vulnerable individuals experiencing, or likely to experience, houselessness in Rapid City through collaborative street outreach, case management, and culturally responsive programming.

Journey On was established by Tracy Sigdestad in 2018, initially as a youth mentorship program. At that same time the Rapid City Police Department had received the Collective Healing Initiative

STORY BY DOWNTOWN RAPID CITY PHOTOS BY MAGGIE JEAN WINCE

grant from the Department of Justice, allowing Rapid City to become one of five demonstration cities to engage in healing strategies.

“Chief Hedrick believed the support had to come from the community,” explained outreach director Rich Braunstien. “We were able to take his support as well as the teachings from Aqeela Sherrills and create a public safety program with an emphasis on putting public safety in the hands of the public, that’s what Journey On does.”

With this partnership, Rapid City was one of the first cities in the country to deploy an outreach program using this boots-on-the-ground model that formalizes relationships between city government, police departments, and community organizations to help the community’s most vulnerable. “A team of leaders in our community traveled to Newark, NJ this summer to learn from peer organizations across the nation, and it was great to see. Each city does things their own way, within its own culture and its own set of challenges,” added Braunstein.

Learning from Sherrills and the Newark Community Street Team helped Journey On the past ten months, but the most important piece to the organization’s success lies within its employees. All employees have experienced some of the

very trauma they encounter in their work with the organization. They are able to use their experience to make a connection. “It starts with a basic conversation,” Iva Roaneagle, street outreach team member explained. “We tell them our story because we may know the same people but it is all in an effort to help them improve their situation.”

Journey On recently received an Emergency Solutions Grant to continue and expand their services to help the houseless relatives in Rapid City. With the funds they have received Journey On recently launched a youth outreach team to address many of the issues that impact the houseless at a younger age, before they resort to the streets. “We never want to change our focus on street outreach, but we also see the need to extend into additional areas over time. But the growth must be responsible,” added Braunstein.

The work the group does may not see immediate results, but the goal of the organization was summed up by McCloskey: “We may see someone 100 times before they want to accept our help, it’s the idea that on time 101 that they finally want to improve their situation.”

“I AM LIVING PROOF THAT YOU CAN COME OUT OF THE OTHER SIDE, AND I TRY TO USE THAT TO HELP MY HOUSELESS RELATIVES.” TOBY McCLOSKEY

JINGLE BELLS

Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh O'er the fields we go Laughing all the way Bells on bobtails ring

Making spirits bright What fun it is to ride and sing A sleighing song tonight, oh!

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh, hey!

Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh

Now the ground is white Go it while you're young Take the girls tonight Sing this sleighing song Get a bobtailed bay Two forty for his speed And hitch him to an open sleigh And you will take the lead

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh, hey!

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh Oh, what fun it is to ride In one horse open sleigh!

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STORY BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI PHOTOS BY SHILOH FRANCIS

Santa’s Helpers

Local group unites to give hope to children this holiday season

Last year, 3,000 disadvantaged children throughout Pennington County received Christmas gifts collected through the local chapter of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program.

This year, however, the local organization disbanded, leaving uncertainty for hundreds of low-income families.

The thought of a child not having a present on Christmas morning brought a small group of community members together to ensure that all families have hope this holiday season.

“We just thought, ‘we can’t leave these kids behind’,” said Rachelle White, former Toys for Tots volunteer and owner of RWhite Events. “As a mom, especially, I think it really speaks to you when you realize the poverty that is happening and the homelessness of children in Rapid City. We just had to do it.”

Rachelle, along with Chris Cooper of Mission 22, Nick Rottum of Colt45 Entertainment, and Scott Eggleston of Affiliated Mortgage, formed Black Hills Toy Drive to make sure no child is left behind this Christmas.

The group officially launched the drive in late October and had nearly 700 kids registered in just two weeks.

Rachelle volunteered for Toys for Tots for five years, organizing the big “Breakfast with the Grinch” fundraiser. She realized there were no Toys for Tots this year after calling to place radio ads for the breakfast.

She didn’t believe the news at first.

“It really is a huge undertaking and can be taxing after doing it for so many years.”

Rachelle and Chris, who plays the Grinch at the breakfast, tried to become ambassadors through Toys for Tots. However, they were too late to join the program this year.

Without the support of the national organization, the two doubted they could pull it off. “We thought about waiting until next year and then starting the process of getting approved and getting it back. However, we also knew how much it helps, so we jumped in and started to collect as many toys and fundraise as much as possible.”

The response has been unbelievable.

“It has been awesome to see the support we have had from the community. We have had a lot of people reach out and say they are thankful we are continuing and asking how they can help. Businesses are offering gift cards and discounts if you bring a toy into their location,” Rachelle said. “That has been so special to me. My fear at first

was that we were going to have all these kids registered and not have enough toys. We have an Amazon wish list, and I have already been receiving gifts.”

Another change this year is that children from all Black Hills communities can register. Toys for Tots was limited to Pennington County. Distribution day will be like past years. Tables are set up by age, and parents and guardians will be able to choose the gift for their child and get it gift-wrapped by volunteers from Affiliated Mortgage. “This really keeps humanity in the process. Allowing them to choose something they know their child will enjoy is important. You see all the gratefulness in the parents, aunties, and grandmas that have custody of the kids.”

The group has discussed whether to rejoin Toys for Tots next year or form Black Hills Toy Drive as its own nonprofit. They will likely make a decision after this year’s event. “There has been a lot of support from the community, and I think that when you are a big national organization like

I THINK IT REALLY SPEAKS TO YOU WHEN YOU REALIZE THE POVERTY THAT IS HAPPENING AND THE HOMELESSNESS OF CHILDREN IN RAPID CITY. WE JUST HAD TO DO IT.”

RACHELLE WHITE

Toys for Tots, sometimes people are confused about where the money goes and how it benefits the kids of our community. When you know it is someone who lives and works here and whose kids go to school with these kids, I think people have more of a sense of ownership.”

For more information on the Black Hills Toy Drive, including a list of drop-off locations and to register a child, go to https://www.facebook. com/blackhillstoydrive

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WELDING THE FUTURE

TOMMY AND BRIANNA MYERS

OPEN WELDING ACADEMY TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR WORKFORCE

The first time Tommy Myers picked up a welder, he knew he had found his path. Mostly self-taught, the Rapid City native spent the next 15 years perfecting his skill, including earning his Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) and Educator at the age of 26, a rare designation, especially for someone so young.

His passion for welding and helping others learn the trade inspired Tommy and his wife Brianna to embark on a new adventure. The two recently welcomed their first students to the Great Plains Welding Academy, the only customized training facility in the region.

“The idea behind this is just to help

all those people learn welding the way Tommy did in an accelerated time,” Brianna said. “You are finding kids who don’t want to go to school or don’t know what they are doing in the field. We want students to come out of here being experts.”

After completing the 240-credit hours, students will have four qualifications in two processes. “My curriculum is based on the D 1.1 Structural Steel Code,” Tommy said. “We are going to treat this more as a job than a school for them so when they get out into the field, it is not as big of a shock factor when they are told to do something.”

STORY BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI // PHOTOS BY SHILOH FRANCIS

Along with the hands-on class instruction, Tommy, who continues to run his own company, will take the students to job sites with him.

Creating their own welding academy has been a dream in the making for a while.

“When I was in school and working for True North is where I really got my true passion for teaching people what I know. What really sets us apart from traditional trade schools is the shortterm training. We don’t have elective classes. It is 100 percent shop time.”

Tommy worked as a welder for several local companies and spent four years as an instructor at a welding institute that has since closed. The couple started getting serious about the concept earlier this year and reached out to the South Dakota Department of Labor to get the process started.

Their hope is to train the students and get them back into the workforce as soon as possible. “It is a go-at-

“AS LONG AS WE CONTINUE TO HAVE JOY OUT OF IT AND ARE MAKING AN IMPACT AND DOING THE THINGS WE ORIGINALLY SET OUT TO DO THEN WE WILL KEEP MOVING FORWARD.”

your-own-pace style. The curriculum is based off the individual not the entire class,” Tommy said,

Brianna and Tommy have been contacted by high schools as well as local and regional companies looking to partner with them. With the program customized to the individual, students can continue to work while gaining the additional skills and knowledge from the academy.

As the only contracting CWI in Rapid City, Tommy sees the need for a program like this in the community.

He tests welders on their skills and knowledge and must fail some. “They are not up to par to take the qualification test that our students will take.”

And both Brianna and Tommy said qualified welders are highly sought-after employees and are needed in nearly every field. “There are a lot of jobs, especially in today’s world,” Brianna said. “You can take welding everywhere.”

While most of the program is in-the-shop training, the couple will also help students work on resumes and interviews. “We would hate for them to have the skills but be too unsure or afraid to do anything else,” Brianna said.

The last year has been a whirlwind for Brianna and Tommy.

The young couple sold their house, moving their family of five to a small cabin outside of Sturgis. Brianna quit her successful career in

marketing to spend more time with her family and now the two are opening the Great Plains Welding Academy.

Brianna and Tommy see a lot of potential in the academy and tweak their business plan often. They are excited to see the growth of the academy and its benefit to the community’s workforce.

“As long as we continue to have joy out of it and are making an impact and doing the things we originally set out to do, then we will keep moving forward.”

For more information or to enroll in the Great Plains Welding Academy go to www.greatplainsweldingacademy.com

“THERE ARE A LOT OF JOBS ESPECIALLY IN TODAY’S WORLD, YOU CAN TAKE WELDING EVERYWHERE.”

BRIANNA MYERS

TYLER READ

“THE SPIRIT OF THE GRANT WAS TO BUILD RELATIONS BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WITH THE SOLE GOAL OF CREATING SAFER NEIGHBORHOODS.”

STORY BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI PHOTOS SUBMITTED AND BY MAGGIE JEAN WINCE

OUTREACH BRINGS SENSE OF COMMUNITY BACK TO KNOLLWOOD AREA

Violent crimes had become a common occurrence for residents of "The Woods," a group of three apartment complexes in North Rapid.

Criminals, most of who did not even live in The Woods, overtook the area.

Parents took their kids to other parts of the city to play.

Others did not sleep at night.

A sense of community did not exist. However, that is starting to change.

An effort by the Rapid City Police Department and other community partners is reducing crime, building trust, and giving residents pride in the place they call home.

The Police Department has increased its presence in the area by adding a substation and hired a community outreach specialist to connect with the residents and improve overall relationships.

The effort is working.

“We were seeing at least one to three significant violent crimes, shootings, stabbings, homicides, a month here,” said Brendyn Medina, media/community relations specialist with the Rapid City Police Department. “We have brought those critical events down…The residents tell us things like this is the first time they can ever remember that they feel comfortable getting a full night’s sleep.”

Sergeant Ryan Phillips, who is based out of the Knollwood substation, said this North Rapid neighborhood is not unlike others across the nation where one percent of the people cause most of the problems. “We want to really try to let that 99 percent take back their neighborhood and build those bridges through whatever barriers exist here – poverty barriers, racial barriers, historical trauma barriers.”

Sgt. Phillips said they are using a trifecta model to their policing: increased enforcement, community engagement, and city engagement including working closely with apartment owners and management. Added lighting in the area and oversight by apartment management has helped the effort.

“Working hand in hand with managements is really important,” Phillips said. “You have to have

SERGEANT RYAN PHILLIPS

TYLER READ

people that are in touch with inspecting places and not letting them become slums and evicting the people that need to be evicted so it is a safe place for the people that want to live there.”

The management of the complexes have been great, Phillips said, working closely with the department and even adding security systems.

The increased police visibility has not only annoyed criminals who once found the area a sanctuary, but has improved the relationship between the department and those living in the neighborhood.

The officers have become a part of the community. “We are getting to know people by name and that is really good. They love us on foot patrols.”

Aside from increased police presence, the department received a four-year grant focused on community engagement.

“The spirit of the grant was to build relations between the community and the police department with the sole goal of creating safer neighborhoods,” said

Tyler Read, the community-based crime reduction outreach specialist with the RCPD or as Read says community engagement.

Read has done that and much more. In just a year, he has embedded himself into the community connecting with kids and families and asking them what they want for their neighborhood. “When I first got here, we had the parameters of what we wanted, but didn’t know what the work was going to look like in full. We had some ideas, but we didn’t know how quite to implement them, so it was a learning process.”

And it was not an easy process at the beginning.

Read said he had to start with those willing to work with him and that was the kids. Using his background as a graffiti artist, Read set up a space outside his office at the Knollwood Apartment Complex with a plastic canvas, paint, and of course cupcakes. Although hesitant at first, the kids started to slowly warm up to Read. “Consistency and reliability to the kids in

the neighborhood was the best way to build that relationship. Once you make that relationship and you’ve been recognized as an asset to the youth, you have a much greater impact on the family.”

Read built his connections from there, spending much of his time hanging out with the kids at the game room in the ABC Apartments, partnering with the nearby Renewal Church, and getting neighbors to know each other. “Once we got that engagement going, we went in a number of different directions.

Read and Sgt. Phillips started the North Side Community Coffees on Tuesdays. While slow at first, Read said they now get 15 to 30 people each week. “It took awhile for that to get going. What we saw is that there were a lot of good ideas we wanted to plant, but the community didn’t feel safe enough to participate in a lot of them until the street crimes unit got in there and started making people feel safe.”

The Tuesday coffee is not only a gathering for residents to get to know each other, it is a space where they come up with their own ideas on how to improve their neighborhood. “Crime is a game of cat and

mouse. When we are running in the front door it is easy for them to run out the back and run to the next house, but if you have a strong neighborhood it just changes the dynamic.”

Aside from the coffee gatherings, Read, the police department and many other partners have created ways for the community to band together.

Read started Sunday bake sales, called Hoodcakes, where kids are involved with the whole process including how to best use the funds. Bingo nights were started after a resident said it would bring people out, and he was correct. “I had no idea Bingo was such a big thing,” Read said.

They have had a neighborhood block party, a Halloween trunk or treat, a sprinkler party thanks to the Fire Department, and a healing ceremony performed by Lawrence Cross, a culture bearer from Pine Ridge. “The kids helped him smudge out the entire neighborhood, heal the violence,” Read said. “That is the investment we need. We don’t need them as much invested in us for their safety, we need them invested in themselves.”

Youth & Family Services Foundation can help you create a planned gift that not only maximizes available tax incentives, but also creates a lasting legacy that will continue to support the well being of the children in our community who you care about, well into the future

-Rachael Joy Scott