SGS Brookings Celebrates 20 Years

2013 marks 20 years of ag testing in the SGS Brookings laboratory. Founded in 1993 as Mid-West Seed Services, the SGS Brookings laboratory is considered best in class throughout the SGS global network.

Within the two-building campus on the east side of town, SGS Brookings operates five laboratories, a contract research division, and an audit services group. SGS Brookings employs 75 full-time workers and hires approximately 65 seasonal workers each fall. SGS Brookings values its relationship with the Brookings community, especially SDSU, as more than half of the full time staff are SDSU graduates, and the majority of the seasonal workforce are current university students.

The Brookings facility has seen significant growth during the past two decades and has grown to become the world’s largest commercial seed testing laboratory. Expansion into seed trait and DNA testing came quickly. Analytical feed, food and crop testing was added in 2009 with the addition of a second building, and a microbiology laboratory soon followed.

SGS management considers staff members to be the key driver of its success, “Our employees make us who we are. They have incredible dedication and work ethic. We are known as a lab that can deliver big, while at the same time offering a personal, small business feel to our clients around the country and world,” offers Michelle Robbins, Managing Director for the location.