South Dakota's oldest cheese company expands with new building in Dimock

Dimock Cheese, South Dakota's oldest handcrafted artisan cheese maker, broke ground on a new facility Thursday after 87 years in the same location. It will be located about a half-mile from the current site and is expected to cost roughly a million dollars.

Traveling north or south along Highway 37, you'll see St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church on the edge of Dimock. But not much else.

That'll change soon when Dimock Cheese builds a new building along that highway.

"We'll have a new retail store, packaging and expanded cooler space and we'll move the company headquarters there, as well," Co-Owner Denny Everson said.

Co-Owner Denny Everson says the company will keep the processing and manufacturing as is, in the heart of Dimock, but they're running out of room.

"We need the additional space, desperately. It's for convenience."

So, breaking ground right along Highway 37 for a brand-new building will mean big things for the small town.

"We hope that leads to increased sales. And when you do that, you increase artisan cheese production," Everson said. "Given the amount of commuter traffic, traffic to the lake area, all those things, we're going to be out there with great visibility."

Dimock Mayor Rick Herrold agrees.

"There's been times people wouldn't stop because they didn't know where it was at. The main part of town is set back a quarter-mile from the highway. Who wants to go in a strange place? You just don't. With this out on the highway, they'll stop," Dimock Mayor Rick Herrold said.

Dimock Cheese has been a treasure in this town for nearly 90 years. It'll stay that way for years to come.

"We have many, many loyal customers. We also want to pick up some new ones. New accessibility will give us the opportunity. That's why the investment," Everson said.

Plans for the new addition have been in the works since the four co-owners bought Dimock Cheese in 2015. They look forward to its completion early next spring.