DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. (KCAU) — On Wednesday, Tyson Foods announced the employees at the company’s corporate office in Dakota Dunes will be relocated to Arkansas.
Sources told KCAU 9 roughly 500 Siouxlanders work at the Dakota Dunes office. It’s still unknown how many of them will agree to relocate to Arkansas, but Siouxlanders said the relocation could impact the Siouxland economy as well as the local community.
Heather Hennings is the president of United Way of Siouxland. The organization aims to improve health, education and financial stability in the community. She said Tyson and its employees have supported United Way for decades and she hopes the pending relocation does not change that.
“They are Siouxlanders, so keeping them involved no matter where they work and where they live, it’s a priority for us and I think it’s a priority for them as well,” she said.
Kevin McManamy is the president of United Real Estate Solutions. He said while the announcement from Tyson is unfortunate, the meat processing giant is not the first company to take jobs out of Siouxland and he hopes the community can push through this adversity just like they have in previous times.
“There are businesses that have grown, that didn’t exist prior to those companies leaving, that now exist and are thriving in the Siouxland community, so I would expect that,” he said. “There will be this initial punch in the gut and then benefits that will slowly leak out from that.”
McManamy said while the economic impact of Tyson’s relocation is significant, the move could bring more balance to Siouxland’s housing market.
“We’ve been in a low inventory state, and so we needed some inventory to hit the market,” he said. “It’s very much been a seller’s market for some years now and so the question becomes does that move us to a more normalized market.”
McManamy said Tyson employees have until Nov. 18 to decide if they will relocate or look for another job, so the impact on the housing market will be more clear after that date.