| Leading Employers | # of employees |
| Avera Sacred Heart Hospital | 1000 |
| South Dakota Human Services Center | 700 |
| Yankton School District | 525 |
| Hy-Vee | 450 |
| Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. | 410 |
| Mount Marty College | 429 |
| Walmart | 305 |
| Sapa Extrusions, Inc. | 300 |
| Vishay Dale Electronics | 300 |
| First National Bank of Omaha | 250 |
| Shur-Co | 250 |
| Yankton Medical Clinic, P.C. | 250 |
| Manitou Americas, Inc. | 250 |
| Cimpl Packing Company | 220 |
| Wilson Trailer Company | 200 |
| Baldwin Filters, Inc. | 188 |
| Applied Engineering, Inc. | 170 |
More than a dozen manufacturing firms call Yankton home...
Why?
What makes Yankton a community where they want to built a plant and employ workers?
According to Mike Husman, division head of the Inductor Division of Vishay, Yankton allows the company to be relatively close to some of its major customers and build strong relationships with them.
“We’ve been in Yankton for more than 50 years and have plans to remain here,” he added. “For the most part, the political environment in Yankton and South Dakota is friendly to business/manufacturing. Our Yankton location provides an experienced, stable workforce who work well together and also with their worldwide teams.”
Worker compensation permits Vishay to be competitive, and operating costs such as utilities are low compared to the company’s other sites throughout the world, Husman said.
“The work ethic in Yankton is generally as good, if not better, than other regions of the world,” he stated. “Yankton is sometimes more attractive than other regions when comparing concerns for corruption, ethics, safety and regional political stability.”
Vishay has locations in places such as Marshall and Duluth, Minn.; Dover, N.H.; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Juarez, Mexico; Beer Sheva, Israel; and two locations in China.
Like most Midwestern communities, Yankton and the surrounding area is filled with people who have a strong work ethic.
Also, South Dakota programs designed to support the creation of job opportunities have benefited the Yankton market.
But for some, the reasons for doing business in Yankton are much simpler. That’s the case with Brian Strahl, Ken Karolevitz, Jackie Smith and Lee Orth, who own Dakota Trailer Manufacturing.
“For the four of us, we’re all from here,” Strahl said. “I love this town. I love the fishing, the hunting. I like that my kids play sports at Yankton High where I graduated. These other guys have a lot of the same thoughts.”
Strahl said he believes there must be advantages to having a manufacturing plant in Yankton, otherwise his peers wouldn’t be located here. One such advantage is the presence of the Regional Technical Education Center (RTEC), he stated.
“For me, it’s my hometown,” Strahl admits. “I can’t tell you the advantages of the other towns, because I’ve never looked. I’ve never wanted to. Maybe we’re a little odd that way.”
Of course, Yankton also poses challenges for manufacturers.
Husman said it’s a challenge to add staff for non-traditional hours such as nights and weekends.
“This causes our equipment utilization to be less in Yankton than in some of our related Vishay factories in other parts of the world,” he said.
Husman added, “Recruiting professional staff that appreciate the relative remoteness of our Midwest location can be a positive and a negative. On one hand, the number of candidates are less. However, many who choose to live here do so because they enjoy what we have to offer.”
When it comes to ways that state and local leaders could improve conditions for manufacturers, Husman encouraged them to be more proactive in supporting the existing manufacturing base with ways to lower its total costs and to upgrade its workforce so Yankton remains competitive.
“Workforce training grants (from direct labor to professionals) to help us remain globally competitive in terms of our human resources, work tools and work practices may be a partial solution,” he stated. “They should help us make certain our infrastructure is world class, such as communications lines, facilities infrastructure and logistics support.
“Quality-of-life features are important in attracting and keeping professional staff,” Husman added. “Our team members have choices where they can reside, and many of our professionals could work remote to our Yankton location. It is important that we provide a community with competitive resources/features to enjoy life and raise their families. Continue to expand on programs that will encourage our young people to stay or return to our area, showing them they can have worldly experiences and still enjoy our quality of life.”
Strahl echoed that sentiment.
“I think the state has got to keep trying to attract the out-of-state people, and I think Yankton has to keep attracting as many of those people as it can,” he said. “Yankton is battling every other community in South Dakota. I think RTEC is a big advantage for us.”
