Midwest Ethanol Producers LLC
cleaner, more affordable
fuel
The plant will cost about $140 million to build. Company officials declined to disclose the amount they paid the Zima family for the land.
Officials from Midwest Ethanol Producers Inc. said construction will likely begin in January 2007. If all goes well, ethanol production will start in March of 2008.
But right now, all is quiet on Holly Avenue, the shady gravel road that divides the Zima property.
Rows of soybeans rustle gently in the steamy August breeze, trying to escape the sun. Sheep graze alongside barns that have seen better days. A windmill still silently guards the farm, creating a landscape as perfect as a Grant Wood painting.
The Zima farm is Iowa. The property has been in their family since 1943. The Zima children inherited the land from their father, Ed Zima, who died in 2003.
"You have to do what your dad would have done," said Doug Zima of Onawa, Iowa. "We always ran the farm by what his desires were. He was for economic development. I think he would have sold it, in this situation, because of the economic impact on the county."
Zima called the project "the largest capital expenditure in Monona County history."
Officials estimated the ethanol plant alone will create 45 professional, skilled and semi-skilled employment opportunities with compensation packages averaging $52,000 per year, including benefits.
The power plant could employ about 30 people. More than 200 construction workers will be needed to build the massive facility.
The infrastructure around the area will also have to be altered. There is a fairly good chance Holly Avenue will be closed to make room for new railroad tracks.
Officials from Midwest Ethanol Producers, Inc., are in the process of submitting necessary permits for construction of the plant.
The Zima land was an ideal site for the project, said John Kant, corporate director of public relations for Midwest Ethanol Producers Inc.
"You have to be near a rail; you have to have enough corn; and you have to have enough cattle to sell the (dry distiller's grain) to," Kant said.
So far, the project has had few bumps in its road. Zima said he worries some neighbors may complain about the plant, but so far, the reaction has been positive.
"I think that we're a county where we have a strong need for industry, for job creation," Corkery said. "There are so many benefits to having this plant come here, I don't expect any adverse comments."
O’Neill, Nebraska - July 28th, 2006, At the Groundbreaking ceremony of O’Neill, Nebraska Based Holt County Ethanol a subsidiary of Midwest Ethanol Producers, Inc, Company officials announced the development of 2 additional plants within Nebraska. The specific site locations were identified as Furnas County Ethanol, Inc., Arapahoe Nebraska, which is 30 miles southwest of Holdrege, Nebraska and
Each plant will be permitted to produce 100 million gallons of ethanol each year, along with 320,000 tons of dry distillers grain(a high protein cattle feed), and will consume more than 37 million bushels of corn annually.
The plants will also provide 45 professional, skilled and semi-skilled employment opportunities, with compensation packages averaging $52,000.00 per year including benefits.
The plants are expected to pump millions of dollars into the local and area economies through higher wages, contract and sub-contract labor, sales and property tax revenue, improved infrastructure, and higher corn prices for farmers.
Technology will be provided by Vogelbusch USA and Engineering by CJ Schneider Engineering Co. out of Omaha. Both companies have recently completed Cornhusker Energy in Lexington, Nebraska.
Both Furnas County Ethanol, Inc., and Dawson County Ethanol, Inc., are in process of submitting all the necessary Local, State and Federal permits utilizing the services of Olsson Associates of Holdrege, Nebraska who are also handling geo technical and materials testing services.
Ground breaking is scheduled to be late in the 4th quarter of 2006, with production slated for the 1st quarter of 2008.
This will be the fourth planned plant in the state of Nebraska for Midwest Ethanol Producers, Inc. They are currently in the construction stages of a 100 MMGY Plant in O'Neill, Nebraska.
