Latest news with #OpenforOpportunityTour
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rhoden sees more signs of successful South Dakota business in Alpena
May 14—ALPENA, S.D. — Gov. Larry Rhoden has seen plenty of examples of successful businesses during his Open for Opportunity Tour. Since he launched the tour in March, he has visited communities and businesses around the state, hearing from owners, managers and employees about what makes South Dakota a place to work and live. He got another sample of that Wednesday afternoon when he visited the Jack Link's facility in Alpena, where hundreds of workers make their living producing meat snacks found in grocery and convenience stores around the country. "I've said it, I don't know how many times? Dozens of times on this tour, I am amazed every day at what's going on in South Dakota," Rhoden told members of the media following a tour of the plant on the north edge of Alpena. "I really had a first-hand look, and today was no exception with Jack Link's." The Jack Link's plant has been a staple of the Alpena and Jerauld County communities for decades, dating back to 1994 and undergoing expansion as needed up until current day. The plant has around 850 employees on site and operates 24 days, seven days a week. Its product is familiar to anyone who has been hungry and in need of a quick snack. The plant produces several Jack Link's brand snacks, including several flavors of beef jerky and snack bites. Bags of those morsels can be found in convenience and grocery stores from coast to coast. It takes a lot of work to produce and bag those snacks, and Jack Link's works to make sure it has the workforce to complete those tasks. Rick Tebay, plant manager for the Alpena location, said the company has taken steps over the years to make working at the 160,000-square-foot facility as accommodating and appealing as possible. That includes welcoming children of the staff on-site when a parent comes on or leaves a shift. In some cases both parents work at the facility, and allowing children to accompany a parent coming onto a shift so they can go home with a parent just coming off a shift is important when daycare options are limited everywhere. That is the kind of support the company offers its employees to operate the largest beef jerky plant in the world. "We see that it's tough for daycare in our area," Tebay said. "So what we do is we allow the team members to bring their children into the break room. They can feed them in our cafeteria. And then they avoid having to pay daycare." Rhoden was at the plant as part of a day that saw him spend time in Huron at Potter's Shoes and Trussbilt, as well as the world's largest pheasant, before making his way south to Alpena. It was another chance to take in both larger and smaller communities in the state. He appreciates the chance to interact with business owners, managers and employees within the state. The visits allow him to connect directly with the public, and he uses the stops on the Open for Opportunity as a personal notebook to take back thoughts and ideas on how to maintain or improve the strong state business climate to Pierre. South Dakota has traditionally been a state that is touted as business friendly, with no state income tax and less-strict regulations in some sectors that encourage business growth. "It comes in a lot of different forms, just input or questions or comments about what they need for regulations that are unnecessary. It's been a perfect storm for me," Rhoden told the Mitchell Republic after he took an extended tour of the plant. Jack Link's officials denied members of the press covering the governor's visit to accompany him and his party on the tour. Rhoden noted he had been told by an employee on the tour that the StartTodaySD Apprenticeship Program, a component of the U.S. Department of Labor's Registered Apprenticeship Program that launched in 2018, had been helpful in the story of the plant. The governor cited that as another reason South Dakota is an inviting place for business. Even with a workforce shortage, officials at the state level are still working to help fill the gaps where they're found. That was a pleasing comment to hear, he said. "Even today, just 20 minutes ago, as we were on the floor having a conversation with the manager here, and he was telling me about how invaluable our apprenticeship program that we created probably six years ago has been, and it really made me smile," Rhoden said. "I got to witness the end product of seeds that we planted six years ago. To get that kind of feedback and then working to help in different areas, whether it's over-regulation or regulations that are unnecessarily cumbersome and being able to address them at the state level, or solicit help at the federal level, has been extremely valuable to me. Rhoden spent about an hour at the Jack Link's plant before heading off to his next stop, this one at Trussbilt in Huron. It was a fast-moving visit that he said reaffirmed his confidence in South Dakota to not only manufacture quality products, but to do it in a way that makes employers want to locate there. He had already seen that in his two months of Open for Opportunity Tour visits, and he expected that would again be the case on his next stop, wherever that may be. "Then here we are. It's been a pretty incredible experience, just getting around the state in big towns and small towns, and even in the rural communities," Rhoden said. "(Alpena being a) town of 260 people with a factory that employs 1,000 people is pretty incredible. I think only in South Dakota."
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Larry Rhoden gives nod to Mitchell's economic development triumphs
Mar. 24—MITCHELL — Gov. Larry Rhoden paused for a moment Monday afternoon following lunch at The Depot in Mitchell. As part of his Open for Opportunity Tour, he had earlier in the day taken a visit of Boyds Gunstocks, Trail King and High Plains Processing, the new soybean crush plant currently under construction along Highway south of Mitchell. Later he would be touring a local housing development. As he spoke briefly with local officials following lunch, he took a moment to show off the 2024 Governor's Cup, for which South Dakota had been named the recipient for the second year in a row by Site Selection Magazine, the premiere publication for economic development in the nation. He said it was appropriate to bring the trophy along during his outing Monday in Mitchell. "(South Dakota) won the 2024 Governor's Cup. It was a repeat from last year, and South Dakota was again number one in per-capita economic development. And we bring (the trophy) with us to Mitchell because Mitchell has certainly done their part in helping the state earn this award," Rhoden told the assembled leaders. "I mentioned it in a few interviews today, about how encouraging it is to come to Mitchell and to see the example they've set." Rhoden had seen plenty of examples of the economic development upswing even before the local tours came to an end during his visit. He opened up his visit with tours of Trail King and followed that with Boyds Gunstocks, the latter of which played host to the signing of a handful of bills meant to support Second Amendment rights in the state. Rhoden signed Senate Bill 100, which provides greater freedoms to exercise gun rights on college campuses; House Bill 1218, which protects the Second Amendment rights of employees, officers and volunteers of local governments; and House Bill 1222, which clarifies that if a parent comes on school property and has a gun on them, they can lawfully leave it in their car. In addition to the bills, Rhoden also signed a letter to United States Attorney General Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, asking them to eliminate the seven-day waiting period to purchase a firearm or associated accessories, including silencers, over state lines. Rhoden said the time was right to reexamine the seven-day waiting policy now that President Donald Trump was back in the White House. "Once (Trump) was out of office the last four years, we've been on the defensive, just trying to hold things down and kind of hold your position," Rhoden said. "Now we have the opportunity once again to be on the offensive. There's no reason to have (the seven-day waiting period) on the books anymore with the Brady Act because they're already going through a background check. So why make our people wait seven days arbitrarily for no good reason?" Rhoden also took a tour of Boyds Gunstocks, the largest aftermarket gunstock manufacturer in the world , where he saw many of the processes that go into crafting its product. It was a return visit to the business, where he recalled having stopped by about 15 years ago looking for a stock to buy, not realizing the outfit is more a manufacturer than a retailer. He did eventually get a new stock from Boyds, and officials with the business told the Mitchell Republic they were excited to be able to share their space and process with the governor. "Obviously we're in the Second Amendment space being in the firearm industry. Anything that goes pro-Second Amendment, we're always for," Rob Carstensen, a co-owner of Boyds Gunstocks, told the Mitchell Republic following the tour. "South Dakota in general is a pretty lenient state when it comes to that stuff, so it was nice that he could stop here and sign a couple bills." The business, located just west of Mitchell, boasts about 70 employees engaged in a number of specialized and skilled positions. The number of employees can fluctuate, but Carstensen said when business is up there can be in excess of 100 employees hard at work on site. There was also plenty of work being done at the High Plains Processing plant, the under-construction multi-seed crush facility under the management of South Dakota Soybean Processors, LLC. The new facility has long been expected to have a major impact on the local economy, in part for its drawing employees to the area. Officials with the plant estimated a workforce of about 77 people, with a potential for a handful more. Of the hiring, the workforce at High Plains is expected to be from a diverse background of locations, including places like the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and Missouri to local natives from communities like Alexandria returning home to take advantage of the new employment opportunity. Officials estimated that they were about 20% of the way through the hiring process, but for all intents and purposes, that work had gone well despite the low unemployment figures in the state. "We really thought we were going to have to reach out a long way because we know labor's tight. But we've had a tremendous response from the community as far as the jobs that we've posted to date," said Tom Kersting, CEO of the South Dakota Soybean Processors and High Plains Processing. "A lot of the folks have been local." Rhoden and local development leaders took a tour of the plant, which comes in at a cost of around $500 million. Kersting noted to the gathered group that the work continues to be on time and on budget. It is expected to open in October this year. The employment impact is huge, but so is the value added to South Dakota soybeans as they make their way from the fields to plants like the one soon to be running outside Mitchell. The impact of the new plant will not only be felt in and around Mitchell, but all of South Dakota, he said. "35 million bushels of soybeans. That translates to 50 million gallons of oil and millions of tons of soybean meal. The economic development that represents for the state of South Dakota is huge," Rhoden said. The day in Mitchell was a chance for the governor to celebrate both South Dakota's receiving of the Governor's Cup award as well as Mitchell being named Community of the Year at the South Dakota Governor's Conference on Economic Development earlier this year. Following lunch at The Depot, Rhoden took a moment to present Jordan Hanson, mayor of Mitchell, with a declaration naming Mitchell as the 2025 GOED Community of the Year. There was still more on the schedule for Monday. The governor and his staff were scheduled early in the afternoon to visit a local housing development, another ongoing effort by local leaders to boost economic growth by providing potential future workforce members with an affordable place to live so they can work and contribute to the fabric of the community. Rhoden said that economic development progress like that which has emerged in Mitchell is a key reason why the community is receiving kudos and getting attention as an economic development leader in the state. When it comes to innovative and focused efforts on maintaining and improving the local economy, Mitchell exudes an energy that keeps its economic development plans on track and moving ahead. That's exciting, the governor said. "I've been really impressed when I come to Mitchell and talk to people and hear the excitement in their voice about what they have going for them in Mitchell. So, yeah, it's a shot in the arm to come here," Rhoden said.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Governor Rhoden begins his ‘Open for Opportunity Tour'
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Now that the legislative session in Pierre is over, Governor Larry Rhoden is ready to travel around the state. Monday morning, the Governor, First Lady Sandy Rhoden and Lt. Governor Tony Venhuizen toured the Silencer Central headquarters in northern Sioux Falls. The company is expanding and the group looked at the the construction site and the existing headquarters. 'Kind of a niche product like silencers, the magnitude that they went, we looked at a hundred million dollars of inventory sitting in one spot and that kind of blows my mind.' Cimpl halts harvest operations in Yankton Silencer Central's founder says having the governor tour the growing business is special. 'We feel honored, we are excited he supports economic development, and also in the firearms space, we are the largest firearms manufacturers within hundreds of miles form here so we are excited he picked us to come to first,' said Brandon Maddox. Rhoden says this is the first of many stops he has planned in the state. The Open for Opportunity Tour will highlight economic development efforts, give the Governor a chance to learn about different community needs and help them find opportunities. 'It's important for me to get a feel for industry in South Dakota,' said Rhoden. 'And look around this facility ad talk about numbers its incredible the economic development that is represented right here in this one location in Sioux Falls so its important to get out and see the progress we've made and the possibility for expansion in the future.' Both the Governor and First Lady purchased suppressors for their guns and filled out the proper paperwork with the help of Silencer Central staff. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
