Economic development growth spurred by Rovang Industrial Park

Brandon’s footprint in industrial park land was expanded by 80 acres earlier this year when ground was broken for the Rovang Industrial Park. The 80-acre development park with planned rail access, is adjacent to the Brandon and Corson development parks and the I-90 interchange. Local, county and state economic development leaders spoke at the Feb. 27 groundbreaking ceremony, including Scott Stern, Commissioner of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

“Brandon represents 10 percent of the acres in South Dakota’s Certified Ready Sites,” Stern said. “This community is committed to providing the land to grow our economy.”

Stern said the GOED sees the benefits in partnering with the cities, counties and the communities that have committed to making these types of investments.

“There is significant investments being made here and it’s done at a time that’s critical to the success of this park,” he said. “Your existing parks are kind of reaching their saturation point. It’s time to make that commitment but it requires a plan and that plan is critical to success, and we’re happy to support that.”

Stern went on to say that Brandon’s commitment to success is indicative of “what we see across the street and throughout your community.”

“There are over 300 communities in the state and Brandon represents about 10 percent, which is a significant number, and that’s why they’ve been successful in doing what they’re doing,” he said. “We’re looking forward to creating more partnerships in economic development, and we appreciate the opportunity to support Brandon.”

In addition to the Park being a South Dakota Certified Ready Site, Brandon has a history of adding new industrial development parks to meet the needs of expanding and relocating companies.

“This is Brandon’s sixth industrial development park,” said Dennis Olson, vice president of the Brandon Development Foundation. “Since 1983, we’ve added significantly to available industrial land in Brandon and now we have 320 acres in our parks. During that time, we’ve added 1,400 new jobs and increased assessable property by nearly $60 million.”

Olson said the Foundation remains optimistic about the Park’s future success.

“There is no reason to think that this won’t be as successful (as the Corson and Brandon parks),” he said.

Development of Phase 1 of the Rovang Industrial Park began this year, according to Nick Fosheim, executive director of the Minnehaha County Economic Development Association.

“Brandon has long understood that opportunities for growth often depend on available land,” Fosheim said. “The development parks adjacent to the new Rovang property have filled rapidly and there is demand for sites in the Brandon area. The Brandon Development Foundation is determined to do what it takes to keep their community growing.” 

Since the February groundbreaking, Fosheim said there has been strong interest by companies looking to start and/or expand their business.

“The interest is strong, but no company has committed yet,” Fosheim said.

With access to rail and the I-90 interchange, Fosheim said the Rovang Industrial Park site is ideal for both large and small industry companies.

“The nice thing about the development is that when they put Hemlock Boulevard in, they planned for the future,” he said. “And anytime we can have that large of parcel of continual property, you don’t see a lot of that in this market.”

Fosheim said strong, local leadership was key in bringing the Rovang Industrial Park to fruition.

“We’re very fortunate to have a very strong partnership with the city of Brandon,” he said.

Brandon city alderman Roger Brooks echoed Fosheim’s thoughts on the strong leadership and partnership.

“With the Brandon Development Foundation he (Olson) is key along with several other people here that have made that Foundation come together, put these properties together and made it work through the way they make it work. I’m proud to be able to stand here and say ‘thank you’ to the Brandon Development Foundation that has worked so hard to get this far,” Brooks said.

Minnehaha County Commissioner Dean Karsky complimented the vision for Rovang Industrial Park.

“When you talk about a vision and what we want for economic development it really doesn’t move forward unless you have the land to do that, so congratulations on your persistence. I see great things for your community,” he said. “We really don’t have any islands in the county or within our region. We all work together when it comes to economic development. There’s a lot of organizations that really put their time, effort and talents into making this happen. So, congratulations to everybody. This is a fantastic day for Brandon but also for our county and our entire region.”

A reception for local business leaders and participants in the groundbreaking was held following the shovel ceremony, hosted by The First National Bank in Sioux Falls. 

For more information, contact Nick Fosheim at (605) 339-0103 or email nickf@siouxfalls.com.