Smithfield Foods Taps Chicago Firm for $1.3B Pork Plant in Sioux Falls
According to Engineering News-Record, Smithfield Foods Inc. has selected Chicago-based Epstein as design-build contractor for a $1.3 billion packaged meat and fresh pork processing facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a project the state calls the largest business investment in its history.
A Massive Industrial Build Enters the Pipeline
The new facility will span 1.1 million sq ft on a roughly 211-acre site at Foundation Park, a 1,000-plus-acre heavy industrial park in northwest Sioux Falls. The plant is designed to replace Smithfield’s downtown factory, which has operated for more than 100 years. Site work began last spring, with a formal groundbreaking expected in the first half of 2027 and production targeted for the end of 2028.
Smithfield President and CEO Shane Smith called the project “the most modern of its kind in the U.S., featuring advanced automation technology and information systems.” The facility will also require its own dedicated wastewater treatment plant, a complexity that drove the city of Sioux Falls to approve $90 million in tax increment financing to help offset that cost. Smithfield currently employs 3,200 people in Sioux Falls and generates $200 million in annual payroll.
The project is still subject to various approvals, and a lawsuit filed by 21 Minnehaha County residents alleges the city rushed the conditional use permit without adequately studying traffic and odor impacts.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Industrial MEP work is the target. A 1.1-million-sq-ft food processing plant with its own wastewater treatment facility will require substantial mechanical, electrical, and plumbing subcontracting. Firms with food-grade or heavy industrial MEP experience should be tracking Epstein’s procurement schedule closely.
- Civil and site crews have a near-term window. Site work is already underway, and the groundbreaking is set for the first half of 2027. Civil, grading, and utility subcontractors in the Sioux Falls region should be positioning now, not after the groundbreaking announcement.
- The project signals industrial construction is broadening. Beyond data centers and energy facilities, large-scale food processing is generating significant general contractor activity. Subcontractors who have leaned into those verticals should consider whether industrial processing plants offer similar crew utilization and contract structures.
- Watch the legal and permitting track. With an active lawsuit over the conditional use permit and multiple approvals still pending, project timelines could shift. Subcontractors bidding this work should build schedule flexibility into their proposals.
