Oct. 25, 2023

Marmen Energy is wrapping up the latest addition to its facility in Brandon and hiring to support demand.

The Canada-based wind tower manufacturer has its only U.S. manufacturing site in the Rovang Industrial Park in Brandon.

The 15,000-square-foot addition brings the overall facility to about 260,000 square feet.

“We’re right on track from where we originally planned, so everything has gone really good,” plant manager Dan Lueders said. “It just allows us to increase our capacity.”

Wind towers manufactured at Marmen are sold to original equipment manufacturers, which then sell them to utility companies. In an attempt to control the high cost of transporting them, most of the wind towers are delivered to about eight states surrounding South Dakota.

The company is “fully booked for this year,” Lueders said “Our capacity is sold for next year, and we’re looking at even more capacity for the years after that.”

A private sector push for more renewable energy combined with federal funds from the recent Inflation Reduction Act are adding to the demand, he said.

“That gives a major boost of renewable energy throughout the market,” he said.

Marmen also is shipping earlier in the spring and later into the fall, with expansion recently into Wyoming and Montana.

“I think it’s due to the amount of towers being built throughout the U.S.,” Lueders said. “There’s just more demand and more sites we’re shipping to.”

To support the additional work and newly completed expansion, Marmen is adding 50 positions. Most are welding roles, and some are support staff. While some already have been hired, “we still need more,” Lueders said.

The company does a lot of outreach with high schools and technical colleges, he said. That includes offering internships to high schoolers.

“Internal referrals is our greatest success,” he said. “Our partnerships with local schools is where we get those new people to come in and then help refer their friends. Maybe they both came out of school the same time and then went to weld in different places. … If someone here refers someone else, that tends to be a very good thing for us.”

Marmen began operating in South Dakota 10 years ago. The company has land adjacent to its facility if more expansion is needed.

“We do have a lot of land here,” Lueders said. “In the past, we’ve used most of that land for storage, but the market has changed with people basically building towers year-round, so we’re not utilizing that storage as much and shipping a lot faster than we have in the past.”