SEMA Equipment, a certified John Deere dealer serving customers in eight southeast Minnesota locations, plans to consolidate three of its sites, as well as its Rochester business office, into a new facility in Mower County.

The building site will be located somewhere near the Dexter and Grand Meadow areas, but its exact location will not be disclosed pending the finalization of the land purchase, said controller Rick Granahan.

The site would bring together its LeRoy, Austin and Spring Valley operations and 46 employees. The employees were notified of the change in a letter outlining the company plans earlier this week.

The new facility will serve as the main parts warehouse which will also improve the company’s storage capability. The site will offer more space for on-site storage for customer equipment. That will help alleviate winter storage and transportation issues in the service area.

Construction of the facility is anticipated to start in the spring of 2018. Completion is estimated for sometime in the winter of 2018-2019, Granahan said.

County Commissioner Polly Glynn notified fellow commissioners of the project on Tuesday, saying once a purchase is finalized, owners will begin to apply for the required permits. The site is zoned for agriculture and since the company is agriculture-based, will not require rezoning.

The site will also require a conditional use permit, due to its anticipated township location; and installing a turn lane from Highway 16 will need to be addressed, according to the discussion.

Commissioner Jerry Reinartz wondered if new jobs would be created at the site.

Although the new location would bring together current employees, there is potential for new jobs in the future, Glynn said.

SEMA Equipment also has locations in Plainview, St. Charles, Wanamingo, Northfield and Caledonia. It is owned by Tom Wozney, its general manager; Kevin Schaefer, the general sales manager; Terry Mikulecky, the Northfield location manager; and Wayne Isenberg, the Spring Valley location manager.