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Sioux Falls Mayor Dave Munson addresses the audience gathered at the John Morrell expansion event on September 2, 2005.

Groundbreaking took place on September 2, 2005 for a $100 million expansion at John Morrell's pork processing facilities in Sioux Falls, S.D, which will add 200 new jobs. Participants included, l-r: Dennis Treacy, Smithfield Foods, Inc. Jim Wilcox, Sioux Falls, Development Foundation Chair, Tim Johnson, U.S. Senator, Dave Munson, Sioux Falls Mayor, Steve Crim, General Manager, John Morrell, Joe Sebring, President, John Morrell, Dan Jorgensen, UFCW Local 304A President, Mike Rounds, Governor, John Thune, U.S. Senator, Dr. Mark Benedetto, Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce

Gathered at the site for the official John Morrell expansion plan are (l-r): Steve Crim, General Manager, John Morrell; Dan Jorgensen, UFCW Local 304A President; Tim Johnson, U.S. Senator; Dr. Mark Benedetto, Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce; Dave Munson, Sioux Falls Mayor.

John Morrell & Co. broke ground on September 2nd for a $100 million expansion that will add at least 200 jobs to the local economy. The $100 million planned investment is the largest ever announced by a South Dakota firm. Construction will begin immediately on a 232,000-square-foot addition to the 96-year-old pork processing plant on the city's northeast side. The new building will replace the plant's semi trailer parking lot. A new lot will be built on open land already owned by the company.

Expansion will allow for expanded deli ham production, replacement of its sausage manufacturing facility and two additional precooked bacon lines and a precooked toppings line, said Morrell President Joseph Sebring.

Morrell's expansion won't require any additional pork production, as the products made will use the current supply of 18,000 hogs already entering the plant each day, plant manager and Morrell vice president Steve Crim said this week.

Gary Loger, a production manager in Morrell's smoked-meats division, said he is looking forward to the new building and its state-of-the-art equipment. "It's going to be a great improvement for job security here," Loger said. "The old buildings - they keep them in great shape, but they're 100 years old. This will give us a little more breathing room."

John Morrell is one of Sioux Falls' oldest employers and now employs 3,200 people. Although the plant has seen tough times throughout its history, Sebring said the planned expansion reaffirms Morrell's commitment to Sioux Falls and the state. "We have a series of subsidiaries that we want to succeed. There's no doubt that John Morrell is leading the way," Dennis Treacy, Smithfield's vice president of environmental, community and government affairs, told the crowd gathered for the event. "You are standing ... on the future of our existence."

Morrell is aiming for a fall 2007 completion, which would coincide with the company's 100th year in Sioux Falls. Morrell is a subsidiary of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc., which bought the plant in 1995.