Governor ties South Dakota's economic future to U.S. defense, national security
Coalescing ag, energy, banking prowess with national security focus of Rhoden's State of the State address
An unusual convergence of power in Washington and a rapidly evolving U.S. military has South Dakota poised to be a quiet but critical hub of America’s national security economy.
That’s the push Gov. Larry Rhoden made Tuesday in his first-ever State of the State address, calling on lawmakers at the state Capitol to no longer think of food, energy, data, finance, manufacturing and military readiness as standalone in. But instead, the Union Center rancher is urging legislators and all South dakotans to consider how ag producers, military contractors, banking institutions and technology firms operating here holistically contrubute to the America’s national security.
