Officials from parent company in Germany visit Tangent to see plans

TANGENT — By this time next year, Betaseed will feel whole again.

Construction on a 12,500-square-foot addition is scheduled to begin in December and according to company president Joe Dahmer, “It will bring our people together.”

Dahmer was in Tangent from Betaseed headquarters in Shakopee, Minn. Also on hand were officials from parent company KWS SAAT AG in Einbeck, Germany.

The company hosted workers at a luncheon and unveiled plans for the new structure for the seed company.

“It’s time to get everything under one roof,” Dahmer said. “We’ve been spread all over the plant for over a year now.”

Betaseed lost much of its office and some lab space in a fire in May 2007. Since then the company has been renting modular units.

“What we do here is a team effort and bringing it all together gives us a better working environment and efficiency,” Dahmer said.

Greenberry Construction of Corvallis will be the contractor for the new facility, a two-story wooden building with a cement fiberboard exterior.

Greg Goracke of Greenberry said the first floor will include a conference room, staff room and reception area, along with two labs for seed testing and quality control. The second floor will have an open, floor-to-ceiling center with wrap-around offices.

Benchmark Architect Services of Corvallis worked with Greenberry on the design. Goracke said Greenberry expected to begin officially breaking ground for the project the first part of December, with a tentative completion date set for Sept. 1, 2009.

Dahmer said the estimated cost of the project is $2 million.

KWS representative Philip von dem Bussche, who said he was still suffering from a bit of jet lag after a 10-hour flight from Germany, praised the new project and the work of the Tangent plant.

“It’s one of our most important world-wide operations,” he said. “We are happy to be here and see this new building start to come together.”

Von dem Bussche, a managing board member for KWS, said the Tangent operation was the company’s main sugar beet seed producer for the entire United States market.

“It’s pretty exciting to get this started,” said Bruce Peters, director of operations at the Tangent site. “It means a lot to us. We appreciate the support of the company and the board.”

Betaseed, at 34303 Highway 99E in Tangent, across from the Target Distribution Center, has been producing sugar beet seed in Tangent for 37 years.

The Tangent site provides all processing for sugar beet seeds, including cleaning, coating and packaging.

The company employs 50 full-time workers and expands to more than 80 during its busy seasons.