BROOKINGS — It’s that time of year when South Dakota weather doesn’t accommodate itself to planned outdoor activities, be they major or minor.

Such was the case at 10 a.m. Friday at 3M Brookings. A mini tempest outside demanded a venue change indoors to the conference room for the groundbreaking for the company’s expansion that when complete will cost nearly a half-billion dollars and move it further along as its business journey moves into its second half-century.

Included in the total project are: $158 million expansion of the plant, to include 16 additional shipping docks; an 8,000-slot warehouse; and 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space as well as added laboratory and office space. Over the next three years 3M could potentially invest a total of $468 million in an additional phases of development.

Dignitaries — federal, state and local — on hand for the event included U.S. senators John Thune and Mike Rounds; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem; state Sen. Tim Reed, who is also CEO of Brookings Economic Development Corp.; Brookings Mayor Oepke “Ope” Niemeyer; and some members of the Brookings City Council. Members of the 3M team, employees and management, were also in attendance. Groundbreaking for the present facility took place in 1969. It remains 3M’s largest health care manufacturing plant in the world.

Noem cited a “beautiful Hobo Day weekend” and called 3M "a part of the backbone of South Dakota for so many years." Its “products are important in our day-to-day lives.”

The governor called 3M “a powerful testimony” that “businesses want to come here (to South Dakota), they want to expand, to become a part of our way of life. 3M has been a blessing and a great partner with our state. The economics benefits of their being here have had a ripple effect that affects everyone.”

Thune opened his remarks with a humorous suggestion that “Dusty (Johnson, South Dakota’s at-large U.S. congressman) would probably rather be here.” The senator then noted that despite the “darkness and blackness” that sometimes emanate out of our nation’s capital, “There are rays of light out there and what’s happening here in South Dakota at 3M today is one of those rays of light. It inspires us to keep on doing what we’re doing to create the kind of conditions that are favorable for investment in our economy and jobs here in South Dakota.”

The senator harked back to the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 3M’s response by stepping up and making a billion N95 respirators, “many of them right here in South Dakota.”

He called the expansion “an investment in the people right here in South Dakota, in our workforce; and I don’t have to tell anybody here has an incredibly strong work force.”

He referenced 3M as “one of those anchor companies … that are a magnet for keeping people in South Dakota.”

Rounds also referenced the pandemic and praised the response of the 3M employees: “At a time when our nation really needed folks to go to work, you showed up. You committed yourselves to getting the job done. That makes a huge difference to an organization; that made a huge difference across the world.”

He called the day’s event “a great way to start a Hobo Day weekend.” Also showing a touch of humor and drawing some audience laughter, the senator referenced his own freshman Hobo Day experiences: “I think I remember part of that week. It wasn’t the latter part of the week; it was the earlier part of the week. I don’t remember the latter part at all.”

He praised the 3M management team and employees and thanked them “for the opportunity to participate in this very special opportunity.”

In his brief remarks, Niemeyer expressed his pride in being part of the occasion: “I’m honored to be here today to celebrate this exciting and significant investment by 3M. For more than 50 years, 3M has been a valued member of our community and county. The City Council and I consider 3M an asset to Brookings. We’re proud to support its growth and sustainability.”

Two Fortune 500 companies created

“It is a celebration; we’re very proud of this operation,” Group President Jeff Lavers, 3M Health Care Business Group, said in concluding remarks. He extended thanks to the various government officials for their support. Lavers noted that this facility is “the plant where everything started and the plant from where everything is going forward.”

Looking to the group’s future, Lavers explained, “It’s also important to recognize … we’re in an important concept right now with us as a company.

“Our health care business is spinning. We’re coming out of 3M. Early next year, we’ll be an independent, publicly traded company. We will be one of the 10 largest med tech companies in the world. We’ll be a Fortune 500 company; we will actually create two Fortune 500 companies.”

In a brief interview with The Brookings Register, Lavers said this venture should happen sometime in 2024, but an official brand-name for the spin-off company has yet to be determined.

“We should have the name out hopefully next month,” he added. “Right now it’s simply 3M Health Care, spinning out of 3M. It is a very exciting opportunity for us to be a stand-alone, independent health-care company. We can really drive our own destiny as a medical tech health-care company.”

He explained that which exchange the company’s stock would be traded on is yet to be determined.

Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.