Elevate Rapid City hosts its second annual Economic Summit at the Monument
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Where does the economy stand? That’s the question today at The Monument. Elevate Rapid City hosted its second annual Economic Summit this morning. Business professionals from around the region gathered at the Economic Summit to network and take a closer look at the current state of the local and national economy.
At the event, attendees heard from several guest speakers who presented reports and evaluations of economic trends and growth. One of the presenters, Elevate Rapid City CEO, Tom Johnson, says Rapid City is experiencing significant economic growth.
“We continue to be the fastest-growing city in the Midwest. We’re seeing that happen. We’re seeing a lot of investments in housing, that’s for sure. We’re seeing a lot of people move to Rapid City so our workforce is continuing to grow. We’re seeing wages rise, we’re seeing consumer spending continue to be strong,” said Johnson.
Other key points that were brought up at the Summit were demographic shifts in Rapid City and housing costs. Johnson added that there are two key sectors that the public has on their mind right now.
“Looked at some of the data around automation and the crisis we have in childcare right now. You know I think the question is, ‘what do we do about that.’ I think we’re starting to see those data points resonate in the minds of the policymakers so hopefully that’ll result in, you know, some programs, services, and policies that we can see a positive change in next year,” said Johnson.
The Summit also featured Armada Corporate Intelligence Managing Director Keith Prather who says the public has no reason to fear a future economic recession.
“We don’t really expect any kind of recession in the future. When we look at economic data it just doesn’t show it. Again, the consumer is still too strong. We still see descent corporate spending,” said Prather.
The Economic Summit gave vital insights on the factors affecting the economy and solutions that can be made to help solve its biggest issues.
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