Potential Funding for Ellsworth Air Force Base and the City of Box Elder

Go, go, go! Back from the budget address in Pierre and off this morning to Governor Noem’s press release for an update on the one-time funding to support a new recreational center for Ellsworth Air Force Base announced yesterday. This project is one more piece of the puzzle to prep EAFB and the City of Box Elder for the arrival of the B21s- part of the necessary expansion on base and in the surrounding community. This new recreational center will free up needed capacity on base, as well as be available to the South Dakota Army National Guard and the community of Box Elder.

As a side note, the press release was hosted by VRC Metal Systems in Box Elder. We were provided with a tour of the VRC facility, a rapidly growing company that is leading the U.S. cold spray market. Cold spray is a high-energy solid-state coating and powder consolidation process used to apply metals, metal alloys, and metal blends for fast, cost-effective restoration and repairs to be made to equipment that otherwise would need to be replaced (think everything from bridges to airplanes). The repair application for aerospace and defense is still developing, but VRC is increasing the use of its technologies to commercial entities for use in industrial repair and manufacturing process applications. VRC is also expanding into the global cold spray market and is active in international cold spray venues and standards development... And their home base is right in Box Elder!

Senator Jessica Castleberry represents District 35. She serves on the Senate Transportation Committee and will become the Vice Chair during the 96th Legislative Session in 2021 at which time she will also become Vice Chair of the Senate Military and Veteran's Affairs Committee.