July 6, 2022

Two brothers are starting a  manufacturing company they say will be the most state-of-the-art of its kind in the area.

Eric and Robbie Veurink are the owners of Black Tie Components, which is planning to build a 60,000-square-foot facility in Hartford.

It will be in an industrial park on the north side of the city developed by the Hartford Area Development Foundation.

The business will produce wood floor trusses, wood roof trusses and prefabricated wall panels.

“For new apartment buildings going up, we’ll be able to provide a building package fully engineered, or if you’re building a residential home throughout South Dakota, we’ll be able to provide it — ag buildings, hog barns, you name it,” said Robbie Veurink, who is a civil engineer and partner in a local engineering company.

“We’re going to have a state-of-the-art facility.”

The next closest of its kind is in the Twin Cities, said Eric Veurink, a structural engineer who now works as a dentist in Mitchell.

“For sure in this state, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, we will have the latest technology,” he said. “There will be a wide range of (projects) from ag to commercial and residential. With Rob’s background and mine, we’ll probably be doing everything from basic building to very complex structures.”

The automation within the facility will reduce the need for as much manual labor, they said.

“I designed the building around future locations, future equipment, and we’ve got a really good plan for it,” Robbie said. “One of the harder parts of designing the building was ensuring we had easy growth.”

The plan is to start construction in September and be open by mid-2023. Black Tie Components plans to start with up to 33 people in 2023 and ramp up to 70 within three years.

“We’ll be hiring engineers, sales staff, management and production,” Robbie said.

At nearly $5 million for the building, it’s among Hartford’s largest building projects, they added.

“We looked at some other sites, other communities, and there are plans in the future to expand,” Eric said. “But we decided Hartford is the best location for the first.”

The easy access to interstates 90 and 29 was key, Robbie added.

“We’re planning to ship from Fargo to Sioux City to Minneapolis to Rapid City,” he said. “So Hartford was a good location with a good lot, and for us, it just made sense.”