South Dakota Searchlight Staff
Smithfield Foods will move its pork processing facility from downtown Sioux Falls to a new plant that will be built on the northern edge of the city by the end of 2028, according to an announcement Monday of a deal that includes a $50 million gift from philanthropist T. Denny Sanford to help make it happen.
Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken said Sanford’s gift will “help the Sioux Falls Development Foundation take over the ownership” of the existing Smithfield site for future redevelopment.
Smithfield, meanwhile, said in a news release that it will build a $1.3 billion plant in Foundation Park, an area developed by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation near the intersection of Interstates 29 and 90 that is home to an Amazon distribution center and a $550 million frozen-food production plant that’s under construction by CJ Foods.
The Smithfield plant in downtown Sioux Falls, formerly known as Morrell’s, has been a mainstay of the city since 1909. Many visitors know the plant by its odor, which regularly wafts over scenic Falls Park. The relocation of Smithfield, coupled with the impending move of the state penitentiary — which is also near Falls Park — to a new prison planned in northeast Sioux Falls represents what city and state leaders described in the lead-up to Monday’s announcement as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
Smithfield, which is part of the publicly traded WH Group based in Hong Kong, has 3,200 employees in Sioux Falls, providing $200 million in wages annually.