Overview
Inventors Congress
T-BED series of
invited speakers
Alliance Partners
Board

BUSINESS DATA

BUSINESS CLIMATE

UTILITIES

South Dakota is one of the lowest energy cost states in the nation. South Dakota's Public Utilities Commission has joined a coalition in opposing a federal mandate to deregulate electricity.

Electricity

Black Hills Power
Black Hills Power (BHP) is a shareholder - owned utility which has been providing electricity to the Black Hills area since 1941. BHP serves approximately 58,600 customers with local offices throughout a 9,600 square mile area in western South Dakota, eastern Wyoming, and southeastern Montana. BHP has programs and services to assist both existing businesses and potential customers, and offers flexible packages of economic development programs, including business development rates.

West River Electric Association
West River Electric Association is the second largest of South Dakota's electric cooperatives and one of the fastest growing electric cooperatives in the region. We offer a wide range of development services to prospective businesses to help expand new employment opportunities in Western South Dakota.

The professionals at West River Electric are specialists. Their varied backgrounds in economic development and the utility industry provide our clients with a wealth of information about the state, its communities, resources, business climate, financing programs and the best utility practices. Please contact Mark Merchen for more information (605) 393-1500 www.westriver.com or email: mmerchen@westriver.com

Electric service to the Rushmore Business Park is served by three different substations and two different transmission paths providing unmatched redundancy of service. The Business Park is part of an automatic computer controlled switching service providing back-up power in case of a damaged service usually within three seconds.

As a member-owned corporation, West River Electric is dedicated to providing over 12,000 member-owners with the best service at the lowest possible price. West River Electric offers the services of more than 50 employees, including line workers, technical and administrative staff. Consultants representing nationally recognized firms complement the expertise of our staff.

The physical plant of West River Electric consists of over 2,500 miles of line in western South Dakota located within Pennington, Meade, Haakon, Ziebach, Jackson and Shannon Counties. West River's distribution system covers nearly 100 percent in an area of 4,500 square miles in western South Dakota.

Black Hills Electric Cooperative
Non-profit, member-owned electric distribution system incorporated in 1940. With 29 employees, BHEC serves almost 5,900 consumers over a 5,000 square-mile area in Pennington, Custer, Fall River, Meade, Lawrence and Shannon counties of South Dakota. BHEC is headquartered in Custer and serves many of the western and southern subdivisions of Rapid City. Black Hills Electric and neighboring cooperatives own some of the cleanest power plants in the United States with ample power supply for future growth in the region. Approximately 25% of BHEC's power comes from "green" hydropower from the Missouri River dams.

Natural Gas

Montana-Dakota Utilities
Montana-Dakota Utilities (MDU), a division of MDU Resources Group, Inc., supplies natural gas to over 200,000 customers in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Approximately 50,000 residential and commercial customers are served in the state of South Dakota. It serves Rapid City proper and the surrounding communities of Rapid Valley, Box Elder, Black Hawk, Piedmont, and Ellsworth Air Force Base. We also serve the northern Black Hills towns of Spearfish, Lead, Central City, Deadwood, Belle Fourche, St. Onge, Sturgis, Whitewood and Colony Wyoming. MDU has access to gas from the Rocky Mountain region which historically has been some of the lowest priced gas in the nation. Our retail and transportation rates are available on the internet @ www.montana-dakota.com or you can contact Marc Jacobs (Energy Consultant) @ marc.jacobs@mdu.com or call 605-355-4016.

Water

Rapid City supplies water to the city, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Lakota Homes, and to Rapid Valley. Chapel Lane and the City of Box Elder are supplied by a stand-by basis. The city obtains its water from the Rapid Creek Drainage Area through the water treatment plant and infiltration galleries along Rapid Creek, through Minnilusa Wells, and through Madison Wells. The drinking water has exceptional quality, moderately hard, and exceeds minimum state and federal standards.

Sewers

Rapid City maintains the wastewater treatment system. There is a 30% coverage of storm sewers and a 100% coverage of sanitary sewers. The wastewater treatment facility has a capacity of 15 million gallons per day and uses an advanced, mechanical biological system. Residual sludges are treated by co-composting to Class A standards with Municipal Solid Waste.

Telecommunications

The Black Hills of South Dakota offers a strong telecommunications infrastructure. Businesses are served by Points of Presence for three major long-distance carriers: AT&T, MCI and Sprint. A full POP is available in Rapid City.

No longer do companies have to look to large metropolitan areas for their telecommunication needs. The telecommunications infrastructure in the Black Hills has opened the entire area to endless opportunities for companies worldwide to conduct business in a location where they can enjoy the ultimate quality of life.

South Dakota's telecommunications infrastructure is highlighted by:

• 5,000 miles of intercity fiberoptic cable
• digital and electronic switching
• single-line, multi-line, or PBX trunk line services
• self-healing network services
• IntraLATA voice, data and interactive video service

Midcontinent Communications

Midcontinent Communications is the Upper Midwest’s leading provider of cable television, local and long distance telephone service, high-speed Internet access and cable advertising services to communities in North and South Dakota, northern Nebraska, and western Minnesota. Midcontinent’s service area includes over 200 communities serving over 200,000 customers. With a Midwestern spirit of family, community, tradition and customer service, Midcontinent has set the standard as a market leader.

Midcontinent has served both residential and business customers in the Black Hills area for over 20 years, initially as one of the state’s first competitive long distance companies, and since 2000 as a full service cable telecommunications provider. Midcontinent Communications has invested substantially to bring residential and business customers the most advanced video services including high-definition television and digital video recording, choices in broadband Internet services, data networking and a variety of options for local and long distance telephone service.
Midcontinent Communications and Midcontinent Business Solutions services include:

• Local long distance services (no charges between Black Hills communities within service area)
• Local and national directory assistance
• Operator services
• Data services
• Call waiting and caller ID
• DID
• Dedicated circuits (analog and digital)
• Internet services
• DSI (T1) and DS3 (T3)
• Video services
• Expanded and high definition cable television service

For more information, please visit Midcontinent’s website at www.midcocomm.com, www.midcocomm.com/businesssolutions or call 1.800.888.1300.

PrairieWave Communication
PrairieWave Communications is a competitive local exchange company that has invested approximately $160 million in a state-of-the-art fiber optic network to serve the growing needs of Rapid City and the Northern Black Hills. PrairieWave Communications provides local and long distance telephone service, expanded and high definition cable television service, Internet access, and high-speed data and video services. The majority of customers in the target areas currently have access to this robust network, and an investment in network expansion continues each year. Unique elements of the PrairieWave network include the following:

• Nortel DMS-500 Switch and HFC network to self provide the most reliable voice, video, and data services and local area calling in the region.
• Sonet Ring Design to provide redundancy and reliability;
• Extended Area Service to provide local-area calling with no long distance charges between Black Hills communities located within our service area;
• Customized business-oriented services at bandwidths necessary for growing businesses.

Qwest
Qwest has installed the latest digital technology in its Black Hills service area to offer business and residential customers a wide range of communications services. All Qwest customers are served by digital call-switching systems, and every community is connected via a fiber-optic network. Basic US West service offerings include: local telephone services, local long distance services, local and national directory assistance, operator services, data services and directory services. Other popular services include: call management and custom local access signaling services, i.e., Call Waiting and Caller ID; DID; Centrex Service; business continuation services; dedicated circuits (analog and digital); Internet services; Frame Relay; ISDN, DS1 (T1) and DS3 (T3) services; SwitchNet 56; Synchronous Service Transport (OC3 and above); Transparent LAN services; and video services.

TAX INFORMATION

The Black Hills of South Dakota is home to America's most famous "great faces" - those found on Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. It's also home to many companies that are experiencing "great profits" as a result of the state's outstanding business climate.

Top-notch telecommunication systems, an available, professional workforce, and unlimited training opportunities are three of the factors prompting people to take a second look at the Black Hills of South Dakota. Here are several more:

South Dakota has:

• NO Corporate Income Tax
• NO Personal Income Tax
• NO Personal Property Tax
• NO Inventory Tax
• Competitive workers compensation rates
• Lowest average unemployment insurance rates
• Right-to-Work State
• Fourth lowest overall crime rate in the nation
• An average commute time of 13.8 minutes
• Number one high school graduation rate in the nation
• Leads the nation in manufacturing job growth

And the benefits of doing business in South Dakota are even better for companies in the telecommunications industry.

South Dakota has:

• No sales/use tax on interstate phone calls
• No restrictions on interest rate charges
• No restrictions on late fees
• No restrictions on hours telemarketers allowed to call
• No registration
• No asterick laws
• One party consent recording

Sales Tax

Tax Moratorium

On any new improvements to manufacturing and industrial buildings valued at $30,000 or more, taxes are assessed at 20% the first year, 40% the second year, 60% the third year, and 80% the fourth year. In the fifth year the taxes go to the full amount.

Real Property Tax

The school levy varies depending on the property's classification. Businesses receive the non-ag. rate specified below.

Unemployment Insurance

South Dakota average unemployment insurance rate is .9% - the sixth lowest in the nation.

STATE TAX COMPARISIONS

Overall State Per Capita Taxation 2003

Overall state per capita taxes were provided for all 50 states in 2003. South Dakota has the 2nd lowest state per capita taxes in the nation.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Governments Division
States Ranked by total Taxes and Per Capita Amount: 2004

Business Inventory Tax

South Dakota does not tax business inventories. South Dakota does not impose a state property tax. And, South Dakota has not taxed personal property since 1979. In South Dakota, the only property taxes you pay for are local taxes on real property, land and buildings.

MIDWEST COMPARISON

Rapid City, South Dakota
vs.
Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, and North Dakota

Corporate Income Tax

Overall State Per Capita Taxation

Overall state per capita taxes are provided for all 50 states in 2003. South Dakota has the 2nd lowest state per capita taxes in the nation