As CJ Schwan’s starts construction, list of local subcontractors grows

May 15, 2025

CJ Schwan’s has started construction on its new Asian food production facility in northwest Sioux Falls and has hired at least 10 local contractors already to support it.

Kansas City-based Burns McDonnell, which has a Sioux Falls office, is the general contractor for the estimated 700,000-square-foot facility at Foundation Park.

The building will include two state-of-the-art food production lines that primarily will make egg rolls and steamed dumplings that will support CJ Schwan’s bibigo food brand and its customers in the food-service industry.

The facility also will feature a wastewater treatment plant, warehouse and distribution center, shipping and receiving docks and office space.

Subcontractors from in and around Sioux Falls hired so far are:

• Sayre Associates Inc. of Sioux Falls for surveying work.
• GeoTek Engineering & Testing Services Inc. of Sioux Falls for geotechnical services, materials testing and inspections.
• HDR of Sioux Falls for a traffic study.
• Interstates of Sioux Center, Iowa, which also has a presence in Sioux Falls, for electrical work.
• American Fence of Sioux Falls for temporary fencing.
• Dakota Drone of Sioux Falls for drone photography.
• K&M Concrete Construction Inc. of Edgerton, Minnesota, for foundation work.
• Gage Brothers Concrete Products of Sioux Falls for precast concrete walls.
• Raeco Builders Inc. of Sioux Falls for a pre-engineered metal building.
• Hander Plumbing & Heating of Sioux Falls for under slab process drains.

“We have been very impressed with the talent and capabilities of contractors in the Sioux Falls area. Our intention is to use highly skilled companies on this project from the local area whenever possible, ” said Tony Puri, CJ Schwan’s executive vice president of strategic capital.

K&M Concrete is among the first at work on the project.

“We’re doing footings, foundations and the wastewater treatment plant,” said Michael Hoeft, director of sales and marketing.

This is the first direct corporate work the company has done with CJ Schwan’s. It has been in the works for more than two years, Hoeft said.

Work began about 30 days ago, “and it’s going well,” he said. “We will probably be involved most of the summer, and then if we get the flat work package, we will be involved until next year at this time.”

The company’s other projects in the Sioux Falls area have included the recent FedEx Freight location at Foundation Park and the Enclave warehouses in northwest Sioux Falls. It also worked on Amazon’s fulfillment center in Fargo.

A project like CJ Schwan’s “is pretty routine,” Hoeft said. “That’s our wheelhouse — industrial/commercial — so it’s pretty straightforward for us.”

As K&M completes its work, Gage Brothers will come in to design, manufacture and install exterior insulated wall panels, casting 430 panels, which equates to 4,300 yards of concrete and almost 200,000 square feet of walls.

It’s the company’s first project with CJ Schwan’s and with Burns McDonnell.

“We have enjoyed working with them thus far as they are acting like true partners,” Gage Brothers president Joe Bunkers said. “It was important to both companies that they use local resources as much as possible, and, of course, we appreciate that as we do the same.”

Gage Brothers has done many food processing plants over the years, he said. That includes Tyson Foods in the Sioux City area and Wells Enterprises for the Blue Bunny ice cream plants in Le Mars, Iowa.

For Iowa-based Interstates, which has a large office in Sioux Falls, the new facility represents the latest in a series of projects for CJ Schwan’s.

“Interstates and CJ Foods have had a great relationship that spans multiple years,” Interstates CEO Scott Peterson said.

“The opportunity to work with one of our best clients near one of our largest offices is extremely significant. It’s been a targeted project for us for several years as we’ve developed a relationship with CJ Foods. Since it’s in our backyard, we have the ability to provide on-going local support after the capital project has been completed.”

Interstates is providing all the electrical construction services for the project, assisting in the electrical design and specifications, and providing the automation for a portion of the facility. The company also will be assisting with the operational technology, or OT, network design for the facility as well as providing a modular IT room for the IT and OT infrastructure.

“We will be on-site for the duration of the project in different capacities through construction, automation, OT support,” Peterson said. “We’re currently on-site now providing temporary power and underground electrical work.”

Other recent projects with CJ Schwan’s include an expansion to the Schwan’s frozen food plant in Salina, Kansas, as well as upgrades and production improvements in other facilities, including electrical and automation upgrades and new production lines.

“Interstates continues to grow our presence in Sioux Falls and across the breadbasket with nearly 200 team members in Sioux Falls and over 1,600 nationwide,” Peterson said. “We’re proud to be a strategic partner with CJ Foods on this project and are looking forward to what the facility and CJ Foods will bring to the Sioux Falls community.”

CJ Schwan’s broke ground on the project in November at Foundation Park. Upon completion in 2027, the overall project is expected to add up 700 jobs to the Sioux Falls area.

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