DeZURIK celebrated their 90^th anniversary last Saturday, September 22 at their headquarters in Sartell.

Prior to the celebration, I was able to sit down with Mary Jo Reich, Executive Administrator at DeZURIK, to hear about the festivities.

When asked why DeZURIK decided to open up on this specific anniversary, Mary Jo replied, “We decided this was probably the greatest opportunity to show the families and a great way to celebrate since Granite Equity took over in 2004. It has just been growing and growing and we have had a lot of investment in machines and product. It is a good opportunity to showcase DeZURIK.”

Guests began the visit with a brief presentation of the company’s history. They stopped in the engineering lab to see how valves are created and to check out DeZURIK’s 3D printer. This was followed by a self-guided tour around the plant and finished up with some subs from Jimmy John’s, chips and cookies!

This 90th anniversary allowed more people to gain insight into the largest manufacturing company in town. An estimated 1,700-2,000 people were at the event, which was way above what Mary Jo and the rest of the DeZURIK employees expected!

DeZURIK was founded by Matt DeZurik in 1928. He worked at the local paper mill in Sartell at the time and was trying to figure out a solution to various build-up on their valves. The solution that he created was the eccentric plug valve, a rectangular design that helps control the flow of materials and has a dead-tight shutoff, which eventually led to the beginning of DeZURIK. DeZURIK still makes his eccentric plug valve design today!

DeZURIK is very committed to community involvement. Their main focus is on children and the local community. In recent years, DeZURIK has partnered with the Sartell schools, Pockets of Hope, the YMCA, United Way, and many more local organizations. DeZURIK even offers some opportunities right here at SHS! Graduating seniors can apply for summer internships if they are interested in going into engineering for a college major.

The valves DeZURIK manufactures range from 1 inch up to 144 inches (12 feet). These valves are used in various power plants, mines, water treatments, water distribution and hydropower dams all around the world.

The Sartell plant has around 350 workers and there are around 500 DeZURIK employees worldwide.

The biggest takeaway Mary Jo from DeZURIK wants the community to know is, “It is about the people. It is about learning. It is about values and investing in our employees whether that is through the machines or providing volunteer opportunities for our employees including Day of Caring for The Salvation Army, going to Anna Marie’s, helping at Quiet Oaks, etc. We encourage our employees to volunteer in our community and there has been a great opportunity for that especially in the last few years.”