MITCHELL — State and local dignitaries celebrated Tuesday as the $500 million soybean processing plant 2 miles south of Mitchell officially broke ground under its new High Plains Processing name.

As part of the Tuesday event, High Plains announced it will co-own the facility with BP Products North America as a “joint venture.” Chicago-based BP Products North America is a subsidiary of global oil and gas company BP.

South Dakota Soybean Processors CEO Thomas Kersting said there’s been more than two years of planning for the project, which only intensified over the last two months to sign agreements with BP and bankers, and with contractors on the project.

“It’s very real now,” he said. “There’s been a lot of buildup to this day, not just the planning for it, but all of the work over the last two years, and the last two months have been off the hook.”

High Plains Partners is the new limited liability company that was formed for the new soybean processing plant’s business. Kersting is on the board of directors for the new company, as are a number of former or current South Dakota Soybean Processors farmer-leaders.

“We initially thought we would try to do it under the South Dakota Soybean Processors name. But when we looked at our bylaws and operating agreement, we were limited on the size of any one investor, and in order to get a project this big, it’s out of our capabilities to make this happen. We had to set up a different business structure to get the larger investors like BP.”

Kersting said maintaining local control of the project and having local leadership was important.

“We didn’t want to turn it over and just be a part of somebody else’s project,” Kersting said. “We wanted to have that producer-type feel and involvement. We had to set up the agreements as such. But when you get guys putting in big dollars, they want to have an understanding of the project and they want to have some say in how it goes.”

The facility is being built on a 296-acre piece of land south of Mitchell along State Highway 37. The project is expected to be completed in late 2025, with the capacity to process 35 million bushels of soybeans each year, with the ability to process oilseed plants, as well. South Dakota produces about 200 million bushels of soybeans each year.

More than 300 people were on hand for Tuesday’s invitation-only event, which included the rollout of High Plains Processing’s branding, with a howling coyote logo and blue text, with hors d’oeuvres on hand for attendees. High Plains Partners Board President Jon Kleinjan said following Tuesday’s event that the SDSP leaders took suggestions on the name and decided on High Plains over a Mitchell-centric name because of its regional and broader appeal.

“We’re going to have producers within a 100-mile radius hauling their products here to this plant in Mitchell,” he said.

The program included an unannounced appearance from Gov. Kristi Noem, who spoke for about five minutes and left at the end of the public program following the ceremonial shovel-and-dirt photo opportunity.

Noem said she appreciated the investment, which will help not only the community but the workforce needs and diversifying the economy to “stabilize every single family and every single person that lives and works here.” She also spoke about her regret in not investing in the initial SDSP facility in Volga, which opened in 1996.

“This is what I wish we could do every single day in South Dakota. … What’s so neat about this project is we have the opportunity here to look at every person here who might be an owner,” the governor said. “The owners are local. They’re also going to hold people more accountable when you’re local and I think that’s wonderful and why we’re such a success here in South Dakota.”

According to filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, SDSP entered into a guarantee agreement regarding investment into the plant on Sept. 7.

In it, South Dakota Soybean Processors will guarantee certain financial obligations of High Plains Partners, which has committed to investing at least $192 million into High Plains Processing. A total of $80 million has been raised from regional investors into the project, surpassing Kersting’s goal of $20 million when the project started. The minimum investment into High Plains Partners was $25,000, according to an SEC filing, offering up to $230 million in investments into the business.

Economic development incentives have helped support the project. A tax-increment financing district of $21.2 million was approved in 2022 by Davison County to help cover roadwork, infrastructure and parking, and a reinvestment payment program was approved by the South Dakota State Board of Economic Development earlier this year for $6.6 million (not to exceed the sales and use tax on the project), which will offset upfront costs associated the project.

Last week, the James River Water Development District approved a request from High Plains Processing for funding a retention pond on the site for $38,750.

Kersting said some site and dirt work is already underway, while the substantial construction phase will be able to begin later this fall when High Plains receives its air quality permit from the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He is hopeful that structural concrete pillars will be able to be built into the ground by the time winter comes.

The facility is expected to employ 85 full-time employees when it opens, and those employees are expected to be part of a $5.6 million payroll.

Mitchell development leaders dangled a recruiting incentive as part of the event, as well, as part of the announcement.

Starting Oct. 1, new workers who move to and live in Mitchell from out of state can earn up to a $1,000 bonus from the Mitchell Area Development Corporation, said the MADC’s Executive Director Geri Beck, who noted the organization has joined Noem’s out-of-state workforce marketing campaign to recruit workers.