SICK’s new campus is underway, making the company a permanent member of the Bloomington community for North American Headquarters
On July 15, 2021, SICK USA broke ground on a new campus in Bloomington, Minn. Located near the Mall of America and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, the new building will be in the heart of Bloomington’s South Loop District and serve as the company’s new North American Headquarters.
Several guests were invited to the event, including a livestream for SICK employees to be a part of the special day virtually. Officials from the City of Bloomington, Hennepin County, and members of SICK's management board attended and spoke at the event.
“From the beginnings of Dr. Erwin Sick, we’ve been known as innovators. Dr. Sick designed, built, and sold the world’s first safety light curtain to protect people from dangerous machinery back in 1946,” said Marty Greimel, CEO of SICK Product & Competence Center Americas (PCA).
Marcus Vatter, SICK AG Executive Board Member was unable to attend the ceremony in person, but joined virtually from Germany and gave a thank you to everyone involved in the project.
“With the groundbreaking ceremony, we are laying the foundation for a new company campus in the United States of America with these North American Headquarters, it's an important step toward the future,” Vatter said.
With over 10,000 employees globally and operations in 65 countries, SICK’s presence as a world leading manufacturer of sensors, safety systems and other industrial application products is clear.
SICK has been a member of the Minnesota business community since 1976. Currently in Minnesota, SICK has locations in West Bloomington and Savage. Both are near or beyond capacity and cannot accommodate expansion. In addition, SICK has additional locations in North America in Boston, Houston, Detroit, San Francisco, Toronto, and Calgary.
Mayor of Bloomington, Tim Busse, spoke at the ceremony about the continuance of SICK in the community.
“There’s always talk among cities, among regions, among states about attracting new businesses to a community. For my money, spending time, effort, and resources to retain outstanding businesses in your community pays off in spades and is a much better use of the work that we can produce,” Busse said.
Steve Grove, Commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development also spoke about the positive impact that this expansion will have on the community. SICK has been an active member of the local community engaging with nonprofits such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, charity:water, and Second Harvest Heartland.
Tony Peet, the CEO and Chairman of SICK, Inc. shared his thoughts stating, “We’ll continue to be a good corporate citizen to our neighbors and to the community providing continued participation to United Way and other community programs that we currently support.”
Movement to the new campus is a multi-year, multi-phase project. Phase one consists of the construction of a building for production and logistics, which will be a 138,000 square foot facility that is set to be complete in the summer of 2022. It will contain SICK’s sensor production facilities to expand and grow its local US production of sensor technology. In total, the new campus will provide 40% more square footage for production. Support and assistance from local partners at the City of Bloomington and the State of Minnesota have enabled SICK to break ground on this project.
“We now have the space to bring our existing employees and those future employees together in a collaborative, energizing, and convenient work environment here in Bloomington,” Greimel said.
Phase two will include a 144,000 square foot office complex which is set to be complete by 2026. This space will provide not only office space but parking for all employees that are based in Minnesota. The office space will comprise of employees in sales, product management, customer care, service, and additional support functions. In addition, the new office space will accommodate additional sensor labs for research and development of new technology. With a strong focus on smart manufacturing and industry 4.0, SICK’s new campus will include a new Industry 4.0 Competence Lab to encourage future developments in this area.
Once completed, the entire campus will include office space, production and manufacturing, warehousing, parking ramps, and space for future expansion of all functions. Future expansions would take place over the course of the next 15 years and could include additional 200,000 square feet for production, warehouse, and offices.
“Thank you to all our SICK employees, both locally in North America and all our colleagues globally. The hard work from every single person within our organization has enabled us to be here,” Peet said. “The new North American Campus marks an exciting time in the development and continuous growth at SICK. We see the world today as it will be tomorrow.”
Aligning with SICK’s mission to focus on sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, SICK’s new campus will also incorporate a number of green initiatives. These include solar infrastructure, electrical vehicle charging stations, high efficiency mechanical systems, and a below-grade rainwater filtration system.
Check out SICK's feature on KARE 11 about the groundbreaking ceremony!
