North Central Farmers Elevator building $2M office in Ipswich

North Central Farmers Elevator is building a $2 million corporate office building in Ipswich that will serve as the administrative hub for its 17 facilities in South Dakota and North Dakota.

"Our cooperative has grown dramatically in the last 14 years," said Keith Hainy, general manager for North Central. The elevator will break ground at 10 a.m. today. "We have added 10 facilities and have gone from $70 million in sales a year to $450 million. The administrative building is something we have been wanting to do for a number of years."

Previously, the administrative staff had offices in a feed warehouse, he said.

"The new building is long awaited and very much needed," he said.

The facility on U.S. Highway 12 east of Ipswich will have two levels. There will be office space for 35 employees on the main floor and room for expansion on the second floor. The building includes a training facility that can accommodate 50 people.

"The building will be functional and have a country feel to it," Hainy said. "It is something our members can be proud of."

North Central has 2,500 member-owners."Ipswich has been our corporate office from the beginning," Hainy said. "We are proud to invest in Ipswich and to invest in the community."

North Central is a full-service cooperative that offers grain handling, marketing, agronomy, petroleum, fertilizer and chemicals, said Subrena Green, director of communications for North Central. She said she was excited to have the new building.

The cooperative has made upgrades at several of its facilities, said Hainy.

"We have invested in equipment and other projects to better serve our farmer-owners," he said. "The new corporate office is something that will also help us serve them."

Excavating on the site will begin Monday. The building is expected to be complete in January, Hainy said.

The architect is HKG of Aberdeen, and the general contractor is Quest Construction of Aberdeen.