INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Ethanol continues to be big business

by Editors

A new ethanol plant will be built in Bluffton, Ind. It is the third of four plants alternative fuel company Broin plans to build in Indiana over the next few years.

South Dakota-based Broin Co., a major player in the alternative-fuels industry, has announced plans to build an ethanol plant near Bluffton, Ind.

The new plant, Wells County Ethanol LLC, would cost $115 million to build, and construction is scheduled to begin in the spring. With a 12- to 14-month construction period, the plant could open as early as spring 2008. Bob Berens, Broin’s director of site development, said the plant would hire about 40 people and spend about $1.8 million to $2 million annually on payroll.

Currently, the city of Bluffton has agreed to help by issuing tax-exempt solid waste disposal bonds — free of liability for the city. The majority of the funding for the $178 million Indiana Bio-Energy plant will come from a $100 million loan from Rochester, Minn.-based AgStar Financial Services, an agricultural bank.

The company plans four ethanol plants for Indiana, and Wells County’s is the third. Premier Ethanol near Portland is scheduled to open this summer and Ultimate Ethanol near Alexandria is also being developed. The fourth location has not been disclosed.