Elevate Magazine October 2022 | Rapid City South Dakota

INNOVATION

FREE COMMUNITY HEALTH SCREENINGS

One of Monument Health’s top priorities is impacting our communities. Our goal this year is to provide over 5000 health screenings to our friends and families in the Black Hills. From blood pressure checks and prediabetes screenings to mental health assessments, our focus is to provide preventive care, close to home.

Find us at one of these upcoming events:

Sept. 10 - Patriots Day

Sept. 17 - Heart Walk

Oct. 7-9 Black Hills Pow Wow United Way Month of Caring Throughout the month of September, find pop-up health screenings by visiting our website.

monument.hea lth /communityheal thscreenings

NO MAGIC NEEDED

In the Middle Ages, alchemists sought a legendary substance known as the philosopher’s stone, which turned lead into gold. It was also purported to grant immortality and possess magical powers. Although the stone ended up being a myth, the pursuit of it helped launch the modern fields of metallurgy, chemistry, and pharmacology.

Today, the modern version of the philosopher’s stone is the field of entrepreneurship, except this time, the stone is real. Metaphorically speaking, entrepreneurship has transformed our lives beyond comprehension. Look around you. Everything you see is the result of an entrepreneur. Your smart phone? An entrepreneur created that. Your car? The same. Every medication you take? You guessed it—an entrepreneur is responsible.

Welcome to this issue of Elevate, where we explore all things innovation. We’re bringing you the story of Zinvent Industries, whose product continues to save the environment and the fish that inhabit our lakes and streams. Then there’s the tale of female-founded AMBER LLC, which takes water reuse from scarcity to reality. Our cover story on Lakota AI Code Camp, where indigenous experts teach coding to the indigenous entrepreneurs of the future, is one of the most interesting we’ve ever done.

And there’s more. Whether it’s hydrology, outer space, or live streaming, this is the issue where you’ll get only a sample of the numerous ways Rapid City entrepreneurs are using technology to make the world a better place. No magic needed.

Stay safe and God-speed.

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

BUSINESS RETENTION & EXPANSION MANAGER

Larissa Hespen

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 Johnson,

EVENTS WEEKLY TRIVIA

September 29-30

BUFFALO ROUNDUP

Watch cowboys, cowgirls and park rangers as they roundup and drive the herd of approximately 1,400 buffalo. gfp.sd.gov/buffalo-roundup

September 30

OCTOBERFEST

Head to Deadwood for live German music at the PolkaFest, a poker run with prizes, free food, and dancing. Bring the whole family for the now famous “Wiener Dog Races” and Beer Barrel Games! www.deadwood.com/event/oktoberfest

September 9 - OCTOBER 31

SPEARFISH CORN MAZE & PUMPKIN PATCH

Come out and enjoy all maze activities plus food trucks, music, and beer. www.spearfishvalleyproduce.com

OCTOBER 2

VOLKSMARCH

The bi-annual Crazy Horse Volksmarch (an organized hike) is a 10K or 6.2-mile woodlands ramble to the world’s largest mountain carving in progress in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. crazyhorsememorial.org/visit/specialevents/volksmarch

OCTOBER 7

BLACK HILLS POWWOW

In addition to the powwow, spectators have the opportunity to enjoy a fine arts show, He Sapa Win pageant, wellness symposium for youth, and tournaments for hand games, golf, and archery. www.blackhillspowwow.com/

TUESDAYS 6PM

COHORT CRAFT BREWERY

4905 5th St Suite 103

Food starting around 4:30, questions start at 6. Extra points for funniest response and best artwork.

TUESDAYS 7PM

PADDY O'NEILL'S IRISH PUB & GRILL

523 6th St #300

The winning team will receive 1 round of drinks. The seasonal winning team will receive a Free Mug Club Membership!

WEDNESDAYS 6PM

WOBBLY BOBBY

510 Main St

Chance to win $100 CASH plus other great prizes. Best of all it's FREE to play!

WEDNESDAYS 7PM

DAKOTA POINT BREWING

405 Canal St #1200

Multiple prizes to reward people for their useless knowledge and, of course, winners will receive bragging rights.

WEDNESDAYS 7PM

THIRSTY'S BURGERS AND BEER

819 W Main St

Happy Hour is from 3-6 and Trivia starts at 7!

THURSDAYS 6PM

HAY CAMP BREWING CO

601 Kansas City St

FREE to play, all prizes are from other local businesses throughout Rapid City.

AMBER LLC

AMBER offers an onsite wastewater reuse system to solve the growing water scarcity.

HYDROLYST LLC

Hydrolyst is developing electrocatalysts used in hydrogen fuel cells using a unique coating technology.

This issue is a brief Q&A with a few area innovators. For full Q&A visit elevaterapidcity.com

LAKOTA AI CODE CAMP

Lakota AI Code Camp is an indigenous run camp that teaches software and AI fundamentals to Native high schoolers.

SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Smart Technologies creates a virtual campus that solves the communication and training challenges surrounding remote work.

A fish-friendly water pump used by Federal wildland firefighters battling fires in remote areas.

LLC

Cover photo by Jake Belcher

57701

MATT ZOLNOWSKY

founder of

zinvent industries

Est. 2017

We manufacture fish-friendly water pump filters so baby salmon, for example, don't get harmed when firefighters pull water out of lakes and streams. Right now, these are mainly used by Federal wildland firefighters battling fires in remote areas of the West Coast in salmon habitat.

What led you to entrepreneurship?

I've always been fairly inventive. In the summer of 1999 I had an internship with the US Forest Service while getting my degree at SD Mines. The need for a product was first seen then. We have a couple of marginal designs that came out of the internship. Every summer since then I kept sending the Forest Service updated designs. Some years I would make 20-30 filters, some years none. I kept refining the design over this long period then it finally took off. Now, I'm up to my 'gills' in work.

What has been your biggest lesson/ surprise/takeaway since you became an entrepreneur?

There are two things that stand out to me. One, the length of time it took for this product to get traction in the Federal system. The second is how it doesn't have to be any crazy technology to be innovative. These filters took 20+ years to get in the hands of all wildland firefighters battling fires.

What has been your biggest struggle?

The Forest Service has stated for many years that they would purchase the filters in a large quantity 'soon'. Playing the waiting game year after year (while having other full-time jobs) was difficult and stressful.

6 INNOVATION THE RUSHMORE HOTEL

CRITICAL ISSUES LUNCHEON

CRITICAL ISSUES LUNCHEON

Earlier this year, we hosted a Critical Issues Luncheon to discuss childcare in Rapid City. Attendees were able to learn firsthand the ramifications the childcare situation is having on the economic development of the commu nity.

We at Elevate Rapid City, took this information into consideration, but we don't sit back and wait for someone else to solve an issue. We get to work and find a way to contribute to the solution.

Our team members, Larissa Hespen and Samantha McGrath did just that.

After months of meetings, examining the issue, and trying to find a way Elevate can play a role, we are excited to launch two Daycare Assistance Programs.

Details on the programs can be found at elevaterapidcity.com/childcare

Join us for the next luncheon! Innovation is a fundamental pillar in everything Elevate Rapid City does. So asking the question, "Why is Innovation important to our community?" is an important step. We are not only keeping up with the times but being a part of the progress. Elevate can't do it alone. Join us and a panel of experts on October 6 at our Critical Issues Luncheon.

SCAN QR

NOW

BALOUN JEFF BAUM

RYPKEMA JOSH SCHULDT

AMBER (Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor with Electrolytic Regeneration) is a response to the global need for researchproven, out-of-the-box water reuse management solutions. AMBER offers an onsite wastewater reuse system to solve the growing water scarcity and energy costs associated with municipal water and wastewater treatment. AMBER takes a typical wastewater stream and produces three viable outputs: clean water, biogas, and compost. The objectives of AMBER are to upgrade the existing solutions to reduce cost, improve performance, recover water, and improve the quality of the effluent. AMBER offers an onsite wastewater reuse system to solve the growing water scarcity and energy costs associated with municipal water and wastewater treatment.

DR. MARYAM AMOUAMOUHA

founder of

AMBER LLC

What led you to creating AMBER LLC?

Seeing water issues all around the world, especially suffering farmers in Iran, climate changes, shortage of rainfall, and more importantly doing research with the aim of water reuse and recovery encouraged me to develop a zero-discharge wastewater treatment system that can serve home, offices, and different industries including ag. Industry.

What has been your biggest lesson since you became an entrepreneur?

The biggest lesson was how to learn about customer pain and what they would like to gain. I also learned about partnering and collaboration, which are essential for a startup company to save money and time while building a network and pursuing marketing.

What do you appreciate about being part of the Black Hills business community?

I greatly appreciate the attitude of people, organizations, funding agencies, and the governor's office. They’ve been really supportive. It is incredible how much they care about sustainability, the environment, and especially water resources.

MINES ALUMNI BRING NASA SPACE APPS CHALLENGE TO RAPID CITY TO SPUR INNOVATION AND HIGHTECH BUSINESS GROWTH

Travis and Amanda Davis, who graduated from South Dakota Mines in 2012 and 2013 and then went to work for NASA, are bringing a unique NASAsponsored event back to Rapid City on October 1 and 2.

"When NASA accepted our application to bring the Space Apps Challenge to Rapid City, Amanda and I were ecstatic,” says Travis. “We are so excited to host the world's largest space & science hackathon in the Black Hills,” Amanda adds. “After co-hosting the NASA Space Apps International Challenge in Dublin, Ireland, we knew this was something we wanted to bring back to the Hills. It offers an opportunity to bring the community together but also to help foster ideas, growth, and potentially new business opportunities in the area,” says Amanda.

The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is touted as an “international hackathon for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, technologists and others in cities around the world, where

teams engage NASA’s free and open data to address realworld problems on Earth and in space.” The event is free and open to the public and includes a series of challenges that teams can choose from.

During his time at NASA, Travis worked with NASA’s technology transfer office on patent applications and business outreach projects.

Amanda worked as a NASA operations flight controller for the International Space Station. Now, both see real business and innovation opportunities within publicly accessible NASA data. “Most people don't know that a large portion of NASA data is available to use for free” says Amanda. “Very few people or organizations utilize this treasure trove of information and intellectual property simply because they do not know where to find it and/or how to utilize it,” Travis adds. “The NASA space apps challenge shines a bright light on the utilization of the data available through ideation of ‘apps,’ but we like to concurrently make people

aware of the vast intellectual property available to all through technology transfer offices at NASA,” says Travis.

“The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is an excellent way for people to learn about and use this data to solve Earth and space problems,” says Amanda. “This year there are 22 challenges for your team of one to six participants to choose from, and the ideas and opportunities are endless.”

This is the first time Rapid City has hosted the NASA International Space Apps Challenge. The global event, which began in 2012, is held each October over the course of two days. “I'm very excited to see what ideas our community comes up with,” says Amanda. Amanda says while the event is all about using NASA data to solve problems or challenges, those who come do not need to be experienced computer coders. She says teams that include a wide range of expertise from many different backgrounds and identities most often do best at finding solutions and opportunities within the challenges posed by NASA.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three local teams, and one team

will go on to compete in the next round of the international competition. The grand prize will be awarded to 10 teams from around the world who will be invited to watch a live rocket launch from a NASA facility.

The event begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1 at the David Lust Accelerator Building (at 18 E. Main Street in Rapid City).

Participants must register before the event start that morning. Participants are encouraged to build a team and pre-register so they can check out the resources available ahead of time. Those who enter do not need to have a team at the time of registration; there will be a team-building activity at the start of the event for those who are not already a part of a team. Each participant will receive a t-shirt, prizes and food at the free event. There will also be door prizes from NASA and others awarded throughout the event.

"Paha Sapa is incredibly important to our culture and our history as Lakota people. Bringing these ideas and creating these communities in this place gives it extra meaning to me. There’s no reason we can’t be on the cutting edge here in the Black Hills."

What is Lakota AI?

Our team of indigenous experts teach software and AI fundamentals to Native high schoolers and provide a community to support their continued learning. Each student at the camp learned Python, and built an Android app in unity that identifies everyday objects and shows the Lakota name for the object.

What led you to creating it?

I didn’t have any exposure to programming through high school, let alone AI, but it’s honestly exactly how I think and how my brain works. The code camp is the camp I would’ve wanted younger me to have. These ideas won’t be everyone’s favorite, but at least the students will get that exposure and who knows, maybe one of our students will build a Lakota version of Siri that allows our communities to talk with our devices in our own language. After this first camp, I’m convinced that the sky is the limit for our students.

What has been your biggest takeaway since you became an entrepreneur?

For me, it’s all about having a strong team that can be honest with itself. We’re becoming great friends through this process, and we can joke around with each other, but we can also get serious and critical when we need to be. This would’ve been much more difficult without my awesome team.

What has been your biggest struggle?

Having indigenous instructors and staff is really important to us as it elevates the experience and inspiration felt by our students. However, finding these Indigenous technologists, especially in AI and data science, has proved challenging. We don’t have an easy solution as many of our communities suffer from current and historical problems with technical resources and availability, but we’re always looking for likeminded Indigenous folks in the space of AI. We also hope that our students will be able to return as teaching assistants and eventually as instructors.

What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?

Find a good team and don’t be afraid to be wrong. It’s all about iteration and learning from your mistakes. Don’t take failure personally and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. You might have an idea that people are looking for!

OCTOBER 6, 2022

STEPHANIE LAHR, MD MONUMENT HEALTH

JASON HOWE GARMIN LABS

MASON GRIMSHAW LAKOTA AI CODE CAMP

SARAH BOCKELMANN BLACK HILLS ENERGY

ALISHA VINCENT EASY SATURDAYS

STEVE PIERCE BLACK HILLS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

At Hydrolyst, we are developing electrocatalysts used in hydrogen fuel cells using a unique coating technology. This produces catalysts that are more robust, more efficient, more environmentally friendly, and are less expensive than currently available catalysts.

What led you to creating Hydrolyst?

We were both engineers at an aluminum manufacturer and felt like we were lacking a challenge and passion. Through a process of idea evolution, we arrived at the problem of hydrogen fuel cell limitations and determined a solution.

What has been your biggest struggle?

The intense learning curve that comes with starting a company with no business experience or education!

The biggest lesson has been to be persistent and be flexible. When you don't get the result you want, take feedback, make changes, and keep trying.

Full stream ahead. Choo choo.

All aboard! Midco® network upgrades are here. Go from good enough to unbeatable speeds. No contracts or data caps. Every day. Every night. Every second. Enjoy affordable, reliable and local services that keep up with your ongoing internet demands.

RYAN PLETAN founder of

SMART TECHNOLOGIES

Est. 2020

We help contact centers create a virtual campus that solves the communication and training challenges surrounding remote work. Our unique patent pending streaming technology supports asynchronous collaboration between remote staff and their managers.

humble and the whole world will root for you."

What led you to creating Smart Technologies?

American's spend nearly an hour a day commuting. That's precious family time wasted sitting in a car. We are uniquely positioned to give this time back to contact center workers and their families.

What do you appreciate about being part of the Black Hills business community

Successful software startups must solve two problems quickly and efficiently: Demand generation and talent acquisition. The School of Mines is graduating a surplus of amazing IT talent, so companies based in the Black Hills have only one of the two major challenges to solve. It’s a distinct advantage.

ACCELERATING IDEAS

WRITTEN BY SHILOH FRANCIS

The journey from startup to an “established” business is full of twists, turns, obstacles, and barriers. It is often a lonely one. Furthermore, it is a journey many embark on, but few ever make it to the top. The Black Hills region is full of aspiring business owners. Elevate Rapid City and other business partners work to provide support and resources to help these entrepreneurs along their journey.

Accelerator Cohorts are a unique way to provide entrepreneurs and business owners with co-working space, local community, a national business network, and targeted support to grow their business. The Black Hills region recently launched two cohort programs.

Bunker Labs: Veterans in Residence is a business incubator that provides Veteran and military spouses with support. This cohort features 320 entrepreneurs across 35 cities and five virtual cohorts.

BUNKER

NEW to Rapid City is the Idea Accelerator Program.

to the Rapid City region by Heartland Forward, Builders

Backers and Elevate Rapid City, this program is a first-of-its-kind designed to make it as easy as possible for anyone to experiment with entrepreneurship.

The two-month program kicked off on September 22 and will include 6 virtual sessions which combine a 45-day Builder Bootcamp to teach participants how to put ideas into action, followed by 45 days of actively executing their ideas through a single experiment.

elevaterapidcity.com