History of 3M Brookings

December 1968 – Brookings, S.D., is selected as the site of a new 3M Medical Products Plant.

May 1969 – Ground breaking is held for the Brookings plant

January 1971 – Tape and Mask production begins.

January 1972 – Sterilized products production begins.

1971 – 3M donates land for a city exercise course. 3M Club is formed. Employment rose to 345.

September 1973 – 150,000 sq. ft. expansion is initiated.

October 1974 – Warehouse expansion is occupied.

December 1975 – New coating operation begins production.

October 1976 – All equipment in coating is operational.

1982 – 3M™ Attest™ production begins. Laboratory operations begin.

January 1985 – 10,000 sq. ft. addition is completed which includes an employee cafeteria, conference rooms, and office space.

July 1988 – 3M Brookings makes its first direct international shipment.

September 1989 – Ground breaking is held for an 80,000 sq. ft. expansion. This brings the 3M Brookings facility to a total of 535,000 sq. ft.

October 1990 – 4,000 sq. ft. dock addition increases shipping area by 67 percent.

March 1991 – New focused factory for surgical drape converting occupies a new addition.

May 1991 – Construction begins on 5,000 sq. ft. storage building and adhesive storage tanks.

March 1993 – Fume incinerator is fully operational.

May 1993 – Bulk adhesive storage facility is completed.

July 1995 – Land is donated to the city for a fire station.

September 1996 – The 3M Brookings plant celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

1999 – 21,000 sq. ft. warehouse is changed to a production area for extruders and sterilized products converting equipment.

June 2001 – 3,000 sq. ft. expansion is added for 3M™ Attest™ production.

2003 – 3M Brookings site is awarded the South Dakota Governor’s Safety Award.

2004 – 3M™ Littmann™ Stethoscope production is full scale.

2004 – Brookings site is presented the corporate Platinum Energy Reduction Award.

2005 – Construction is completed on Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) and it is fully operational.

2005 – Brookings site is presented the corporate Platinum Energy Reduction award.

2005 – Brookings site receives top dollar savings award for 3P (Pollution Prevention Pays).

2006 – Construction begins on M6 Coater.

2006 – Construction begins to expand the 3M™ Attest™ laboratory and production facilities.

2006 – 3M Brookings earns numerous awards, including:

National EPA Environmental Achievement Award
OSHA Voluntary Protection Partnership (VPP) STAR Award
Platinum Energy Reduction Award
Corporate Chairman’s (Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Award
3P Innovation, Technical Circle of Excellence and Maintenance Conscious Engineering Awards for the RTO
“Top 5 Plant” recognition by Environmental Protection magazine
South Dakota Governor’s Meritorious Safety Award

2007 – S10 Sterilizer is commissioned.

2007 – 3M Brookings earns the following awards: