Daktronics celebrates 15 years in Redwood Falls

Daktronics has had its facility in Redwood Falls for 15 years now.

Fifteen years ago, Daktronics took an empty manufacturing facility, and an area employee base with a skill set to match, and turned it into a growing business that employs more than 175 people from the community and surrounding area.

There’s evidence for it even down the main street through Redwood Falls, with a number of businesses now hosting Daktronics displays on their facilities. 

In addition to helping the city grow economically, Daktronics has seen its own factory grow during the past decade and a half with major investments in its building and equipment. 

The enlarged site has allowed the Redwood Falls facility to take on significant g projects over the years, such as the display at U.S. Bank stadium home of the Minnesota Vikings. Other displays built in Redwood Falls have been installed in venues across the United States and around the world. 

Closer to home, Daktronics has been able to invest in the community in a variety of different ways, including building the displays used in the local school district, as well as the sound system at the school’s football field and track complex. 

Daktronics has also made one of its displays available to non-profit organizations in the community, and during special community events that display is front and center in helping inform and entertain residents and visitors alike. 

Tom Quackenbush, Redwood Falls plant manager and mayor of the City of Redwood Falls, stated Daktronics knows if is to be viable for another 15 years and more, it needs to have a workforce that can meet the demands of the company. The local company has seen the importance of helping students see just how much there is to offer for them in their hometown, and over the years Daktronics has been able to offer mentoring and work experience opportunities for those students. 

The hope is that those students will return to live and work in their community helping to solidify the future of the City of Redwood Falls. 

Whether Daktronics is working on a display for a local company or is building a state-of-the-art product for a global customer, Quackenbush said the focus on putting out a quality product is the same. He knows the employees at Daktronics are what makes that happen. 

“I never could have imagined what this company would look like after being in the community for 15 years,” admitted Quackenbush, adding he is excited to see what kind of impact Daktronics has over the next 15. “I would say this has been a tremendously successful investment.”