Rapid City SD- Records show Elevate Rapid City had already set up a home for its next tenant before it told the public who that tenant was.
On September 17, the organization quietly filed Articles of Organization for a new LLC — DLAB Holdings, LLC. Six days later, on September 23, Governor Larry Rhoden’s office, Elevate Rapid City, and the City of Rapid City jointly announced why: Northrop Grumman, manufacturer of the B-21 Raider, will anchor a new “secure administrative facility” at the David Lust Accelerator Building (DLAB) campus, part of Rapid City’s Innovation District.
The LLC Filing
Six days before the ceremony — on September 17 — Elevate Rapid City filed Articles of Organization with the South Dakota Secretary of State for a new entity: DLAB Holdings, LLC (Business ID DL339359).
The filing names Elevate Rapid City as organizer and beneficial owner, CEO Jack Valentine as registered agent and manager, and VP of Special Projects Garth Wadsworth as signer, at an address of 18 E. Main Street — the DLAB campus itself.
Whatever entity ends up holding title to the new facility is almost certainly going into this LLC rather than directly into Elevate RC’s own name.
The beneficial owner field is filled in: Elevate Rapid City, 18 E. Main Street. That’s notable by contrast — in Elevate RC’s other major land deal this year, MDD LLC, the entity holding the 77.72-acre parcel central to the TIFD#101/Northline Business Park rezoning, left that same field blank and traced only to a law firm’s registered-agent address. DLAB Holdings names itself outright.
The Names Behind the LLC
The two names on the filing are both familiar from prior reporting:
Jack Valentine, named registered agent and manager, is the same Valentine who — before becoming Elevate Rapid City’s President/CEO on July 27, 2026 — was GOED’s Operations Division Director.
In that role he chaired the May 26, 2026 REDI Grant Committee meeting and sat in on the May 13 REDI Board meeting and June 1 Credit Committee meeting, all of which reviewed and recommended the $7.5 million REDI loan to Elevate Rapid City that got final board approval June 10, 2026 — roughly seven weeks before he became CEO of the company that received it.
He is now the named manager of the entity expected to hold Northrop Grumman’s building.
Garth Wadsworth, who signed as VP of Special Projects, is the same Wadsworth who told the Planning Commission “these are not smokestacks” — unprompted, with no commissioner having raised the subject — during the June 25, 2026 hearing on the Catalyst TIF rezoning.
The Land Beneath It
DLAB itself sits on a 4.3-acre city lot the City deeded to the Rapid City Economic Development Foundation (RCEDF) for $1 in 2018.
That deed — which cites “108 E. Main Street,” a discrepancy from the 18 E. Main address used elsewhere and not yet resolved — carries a reversionary clause requiring “business development center” use for 10 years after occupancy began (the building opened in spring 2021).
A U.S. Department of Commerce/EDA mortgage also sits on the property.
In 2023, RCEDF was dissolved and its assets, including DLAB and the underlying land, were folded into Elevate Rapid City through a Legal & Finance consent item (LF042623-15, approved 5-1).
An Estoppel Certificate at the time confirmed that the change in ownership entity didn’t trigger the deed’s reversion clause.
Architecture firm Strang’s own materials show Elevate RC commissioned it to master-plan a broader “Ascent Innovation District” between SD Mines and downtown, with DLAB as its first building — the same district referenced in Mayor Salamun’s July budget speech as “the Sandbox,” alongside an MOU involving SD Mines, Western Dakota Tech, and the soon-to-be-vacated streets maintenance facility site — though whether this is that same ground or a separate parcel under the same branding hasn’t been confirmed.
The Announcement
On September 23, Governor Rhoden’s office, Elevate Rapid City, and the City of Rapid City each put out their own version of the same story, in public: Northrop Grumman will anchor the new facility, positioning Rapid City as the hub of a state-branded “defense cluster.”
Elevate Rapid City put the total investment at $18 million to expand the David Lust Accelerator Building campus and build the new secure administrative facility for companies working in national security and defense — with Northrop Grumman as its first tenant.
The ceremony drew Governor Rhoden, Mayor Jason Salamun, Ellsworth Air Force Base Commander Erick Lord, representatives from Northrop Grumman and the Ellsworth Development Authority, and Council members Lindsey Seachris and Kevin Maher. Sen. Mike Rounds sent a video statement rather than attending.
The State’s Match
Governor Rhoden’s office issued its own release the same day announcing a separate $1 million state investment to support the new facility, crediting Rounds, Elevate RC, the South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development with making it happen.
That release says more companies are expected to join the defense cluster over time, though none are named.
Tied to the B-21
Both releases tie the project to Ellsworth’s B-21 mission.
Separately, the Air Force announced in February a deal with Northrop Grumman to increase B-21 production capacity by 25%, funded by $4.5 billion already appropriated under the FY2025 reconciliation bill, with the first aircraft still on track to arrive at Ellsworth in 2027.
And this August, Ellsworth’s 28th Security Forces Squadron said it’s retraining under Nuclear Weapons Security Standard protocols ahead of the aircraft’s arrival — a sign that parts of the base’s daily footprint are about to get considerably less visible from the outside.
Worth flagging: Northrop’s own materials cite up to $5 billion invested in the B-21 program’s manufacturing infrastructure nationally — that’s a company-wide figure, not specific to Rapid City, and shouldn’t get conflated with the $18 million local number.
What’s Not Clear
- How the $18 million project is actually being financed — no mention of TIF, bonds, a REDI loan, or private capital in either release
- Whether the state’s $1 million is part of that $18 million or a separate commitment — the two releases don’t cross-reference each other’s figures
- Who will own the new facility and the land under it, and whether the original 2018 deeded parcel — the one carrying the reversionary clause and EDA mortgage — was moved into DLAB Holdings, LLC along with it; that kind of conveyance would ordinarily need the same City sign-off the 2023 estoppel required
- Whether a “secure administrative facility” for a defense contractor still qualifies as “business development center” use under the original 2018 deed’s terms
- Which additional companies are expected to join the “defense cluster,” and on what timeline
- What “secure administrative facility” means for future public access to permitting, inspection, or other municipal records tied to the site.
Sourcing
- Elevate Rapid City / City of Rapid City press release (rcgov.org, Sept. 23, 2026)
- Governor’s Office press release (Sept. 23, 2026)
- Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, Ellsworth AFB (Feb. 23, 2026)
- 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs, Ellsworth AFB (Aug. 26, 2026)
- 2018 warranty deed between the City of Rapid City and Rapid City Economic Development Foundation
- Legal & Finance consent item LF042623-15 and the accompanying 2023 Estoppel Certificate
- South Dakota Secretary of State Articles of Organization for DLAB Holdings, LLC, filed September 17, 2026
- June 10, 2026 REDI Board Public Packet (boardsandcommissions.sd.gov)
- June 25, 2026 Planning Commission meeting recording
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