Manchester Biscuit Company was well known for its Big Sioux Biscuits and other treats, which it continued making until 1961 when the plant in Sioux Falls closed. That same year, Raven Industries purchased the building. Raven Industries was formed in 1956 by James Smith, Paul (Ed) Yost, Duwayne Thon, and Joseph Kaliszewski. They had worked together in Minneapolis, Minnesota for General Mills in their Aeronautical Research Laboratory. In Sioux Falls, Raven Industries first operated out of the old hospital building at the abandoned World War II airbase before moving into the Manchester building. In 1966, they added a second Sioux Falls location by building a new 30,000-square-foot facility near the airport.
During the 1970s, Raven produced and sold about 50 hot air balloons a year. By the 1980s, they were selling over 200 balloons every year. In 1986, ballooning had become so popular that Raven created a wholly-owned subsidiary, Aerostar Industries, to concentrate on the production of balloons. Aerostar ceased producing hot air balloons in 2007 due to a decreasing market and liability insurance costs.
Today, Raven Industries has four major divisions that carry out a diverse set of operations, from creating precision agriculture products and industrial electronic components to producing engineered films and aerostats for
research, communications, and military intelligence.
Comments 0 comments