Broin Companies to build large ethanol facilities in Indiana, Minnesota

Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Broin Companies announced plans for the construction of Premier Ethanol LLC near Portland, Indiana. The company plans to build a new 120 million gallon per year (MGPY) ethanol facility in two phases. The project will move Indiana into a leadership position as a national hub for biofuels production. This is the tenth new ethanol plant Indiana has announced in the last year. Before January 2005, Indiana only had one ethanol plant.

The facility will produce approximately 120 million gallons of ethanol and 356,000 tons of distillers dried grains, a high quality feed ingredient fed to livestock and poultry, and utilize forty-two million bushels of corn annually. The $175 million project will create approximately forty new permanent jobs when in operation.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), and Jay County Economic Development Corporation worked together to provide an incentive package which helped secure the ethanol plant. Economic development incentives offered by the IEDC include up to $50,000 in training grants, $150,000 in infrastructure assistance to the local community, and up to $3,150,000 in tax credits based on anticipated employment and capital investment levels.

The Broin Companies also announced plans to build a second Pro-Corn Ethanol production facility along the Interstate 90 corridor between Eyota and Lewiston, Minnesota. Broin Companies, Pro-Corn, and Karst Energy Group are joining forces on the project. The facility will utilize approximately 21 million bushels of corn to produce 60 million gallons of ethanol, and 178,000 tons of premium Dakota Gold Enhanced Nutrition Distillers Products annually. Upon completion of the final site development and due diligence activities, construction is planned as early as late 2006 with completion projected for early 2008.