Agropur

Lake Norden, SD | Food + Industrial

Overview

ISG worked with Agropur on expanding its Cheese, Whey, and Lactose operations in Lake Norden, SD.


Opportunity

Agropur invested heavily in its dairy production in South Dakota, which required a significant expansion at its Lake Norden plant.

Solution

Having worked with prior and current owners of the Lake Norden cheese plant, ISG had a deep understanding of its daily operations. This knowledge coupled with ISG’s expertise in Food and Dairy Facility Design allowed for the development and execution of Agropur’s 238,000 square-foot expansion to the Lake Norden facility. The increase from processing 3.3 million pounds of milk per day up to 9.3 million pounds per day was accomplished while the facility’s operations were never interrupted. The construction phasing plan kept milk coming into the facility and finished products out throughout the construction period.

The project team designed the new building consisting of precast concrete, masonry and steel structures to optimize construction costs, differing levels of sanitation, and to optimize the layout. The multi-level expansion included nine unique process room needs including a spray dryer tower, both wet and dry packaging, processing, tanker bay, and warehousing functions. All process engineering was supplied including electrical systems, HVAC, and plumbing systems to meet or exceed USDA standards.

ISG worked closely with Agropur, the Equipment Vendors, and Miron Construction throughout the duration of the project to ensure sanitary details were thought through for everything including interior finishes and conditions.


"If you want an example of the right way to build a multi-million-dollar cheese plant, look no further than the partnership created among Agropur, the State of South Dakota, and Lake Norden."

- Dennis Daugaard, Former Governor of South Dakota

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