A year or so ago I visited with a friend of mine. He’s an older gentleman who has dabbled both in real estate and rental management. Conversation drifted to the number of immigrants we had in Huron and how it affected the job market.
I was surprised when he mentioned the devastating effects on Huron when the Dakota Pork plant had to close 20 years ago due to the lack of hogs available to keep the plant going. It caused a real depression in Huron.
He told me that realtors couldn’t sell houses, rental houses stayed empty, and cars had to be repossessed. Grocery stores, both large and small stores, and other businesses lost money and some closed. Filling stations, cafes, and other businesses closed. Think of how many people lost their jobs.
He said it had taken most of those 20 years to get back to be the profitable community Huron was before. He said the young people in our area have no idea how it would adversely affect Huron if all our current immigrants left.
I called a number of people in the know and asked them to tell me the true facts and what were rumors about the immigrants in our city.
I have talked to a number of people since the Karens came to Huron to work at Dakota Provisions. Some of it is very positive and some of it is very negative.
I first called the mayor and was really surprised when he said that the Karens hadn’t cost the City of Huron a cent. The city did not pay any of their expenses or any handouts. That was a big surprise to me. He told me some agencies and people to call for information.
I also talked with Mr. Heuston, the Human Resource Manager at Dakota Provisions. I was amazed at the statistics he quoted to me. I want to share some of them with you.

The yearly payroll from the plant is $29 million. What a boost to the Huron economy as much of the money is spent in Huron. How devastating it would be to our economy if they were forced to leave and the plant would have to close.
The Karen refugees in Huron own around 200 homes. They pay income and property taxes the same as all of us do.
The Dakota Provisions gives drug tests, background checks, and processes every employee through E-Verify. They are only one of a few plants in the nation that have an active IMAGE agreement with the Department of Homeland Security.
A large share of the Karen are taking English classes. More than 500 have studied for and have become United States citizens. I am glad I didn’t have to take that test. I don’t remember enough about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to pass that test. Many attend church regularly.
Have you ever been to the Day of Caring event? Karens volunteer and work right next to local people and care about Huron as much as the locals.
Superintendent of Schools Terry Nebelsick, told me that for every 20 students that would leave a teacher would lose their position. This school year there are about 2,500 enrolled in the Huron school system. Approximately 40 percent of those students are immigrants. Just think, if 1,000 students left, 50 teachers and perhaps other staff would need to be terminated. Salaries alone account for $19.5 million of the school budget. If they moved to other towns that would take a considerable amount of money away that was formerly spent in Huron.
Jack’s Links jerky plant is located in Alpena but most of the workers reside in Huron bringing more income to our city.
A surprising statistic to me was that one in nine employees in Beadle County is Asian and that they are employed in 31 businesses in the county. Already businesses have a hard time finding new employees. The unemployment rate in Beadle County is around 2.7 percent, as low as anywhere in the nation. There are currently 500 job openings in our county. Anyone in the county that truly wants to work, can!
I have heard many people complain about having immigrants here and wishing the new president would send them all away. The Karen, in particular, are here because they are political refugees. They came here for the same reasons that our own families came here many years ago; to be free. The only difference between the Karen and our own ancestors is that the Karen and their children were being killed, tortured, and raped by their own government soldiers. They can’t go back to Burma; this is now their home.
And in conclusion … Are you sure? Are you really sure you would want the depression of 1996 to happen all over again and even worse? We better be careful of what we want. Do you think Walmart would be here without Dakota Provisions? How about the La Hacienda, Runnings, Panda Garden, and most recently, Iversons, and many other businesses. The turkey plant could not make it without the Karen.
If both Dakota Provisions and Jack’s Links moved we would be devastated like Detroit and Flint, Mich., when their automobile plants moved away. This was a number of years ago and they still are far from recovered.
We better be more careful what we wish for, we might get it!
Thank you to each individual who shared the information to make this column.

Joan Hull is a free lance columnist for the Plainsman.