The farm equipment manufacturer headquartered in Swift Current has announced plans to expand into Medicine Hat.

President and CEO Richelle Andreas says they've been looking at doing an expansion for a couple of years, and logistically it's a great location.

"It was our hope that we would be able to find a facility somewhere along the number one highway. We looked in every community between Calgary and Winnipeg because that's kind of in the corridor where our products are sold. Our intention for the Medicine Hat facility is that's where we'll be manufacturing air systems. So, OEM blowers, aeration fans, and UFOs which are in-bin aeration systems."

The company's sixth manufacturing plant will cover 16,000 sq ft which will include office and manufacturing space, as well as an engineering centre, metallurgical lab, and advanced testing equipment. 

The facility is expected to begin manufacturing in September of 2023 and will result in over 100 jobs in product design, engineering, metallurgical studies, and manufacturing.

Al Marques who was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer at S3 Group will be leading the Medicine Hat development.

S3 Group Ltd. is approaching its 60th year and has a diverse and solid product base.

"We are the number one supplier of heavy harrow tynes in the world. We are the number one supplier of chain harrows in the world. We are the number one supplier of OEM blowers for applications like air seeders or air reels in North America. We offer custom manufacturing, we do aeration systems for grain bins. We've also got a product line which is an air reel for combine headers."

Andreas says like every company over the last few years they had to change plans on the fly based on supply chain challenges, but note they have a great team that adjusted quickly.

"There's certainly been times where because of capacity issues in ports, because of rail blockade, or because of COVID-related supply chain issues we've had situations where we've had to change up our production schedules on the fly. It's not been an easy time, but one of the great things coming out of that is North American manufacturers are looking for suppliers in North America to satisfy their supply chain needs and S3 fits that bill."

S3 Group Ltd. currently has five manufacturing plants in three communities Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Mitchell, Ontario, and Shenandoah, Iowa.