Smithfield Foods plant to relocate to Industrial Development Park

SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO.com) — It’s a 1.3 billion dollar investment that will transform downtown Sioux Falls.  Shane Smith, the CEO of Smithfield Foods announced the company is moving its plant from Weber Avenue near Falls Park to the Industrial park at I-90 and I-29.  Smith noted the century long relationship between the packing house and the city of Sioux Falls.  The company has nearly 32-hundred employees at the Sioux Falls plant, with an annual payroll of 200-million dollars.  Smith says the company will build a new, state-of-the-art facility in Foundation Park, at the intersection of Interstate 90 and Interstate 29.

Governor Larry Rhoden says the construction of the new plant is a quadruple win for South Dakota.  He noted the state’s top industry – agriculture – will be pushed to higher levels of success.  The relocation from downtown Sioux Falls to the industrial park is a major benefit that provides great opportunity for the city.  He believes Smithfield’s decision to build in South Dakota is proof that the state is the greatest, freest state in the nation.  And, he says the deal also demonstrates South Dakota is ‘Open for Opportunity.’

Mayor Paul TenHaken credited city, state and private development officials for helping bring the deal together.  It nearly fell apart, which the Mayor says would have been devastating for the city.  A beef packing house in Nebraska with 32-hundred employees was recently announced to be closing.  TenHaken says a study by the University of Nebraska shows that closing will cost the state 3.3-billion dollars a year in economic activity.  The Mayor said, “This investment by Smithfield unlocks a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redevelop the existing site in downtown Sioux Falls when the time is right.”  That new development will go by the name of “The Sanford District”, as it becomes the next chapter in redeveloping The Falls and Downtown Sioux Falls.

As the case has been for a number of other recent major economic development projects across the state, T. Denny Sanford helped make this deal happen, by agreeing to purchase the land for the new plant at a cost of 50-million dollars, donating the land to help everything come together.  Construction on the new plant is expected to begin next year, with a completion target of late 2028.