By DAVE KITCHELL, Pharos-Tribune staff writer
The air permit has been approved, and the sky is the limit.
In essence, that is the stage plans a new ethanol plant at The Andersons Inc. southwest of Logansport near Clymers is in as the prime construction season nears.
Unfortunately for Joe Needham, who has been with the project from the start for The Andersons, the news is bittersweet. Needham told the Cass County Council Friday morning he has been promoted to vice president of grain operations, a move that will force him to leave the project for Toledo, Ohio. Needham said he once said the ethanol project would have to be “pried from his dead hands,” but he is happy the man The Andersons has tapped to finish the project, Neill McKinstray. Needham said he first worked for McKinstray when he joined the company. McKinstray is vice president of ethanol for The Andersons. He told the council the construction timeframe for the project will be about 415 days.
“If we’re fortunate, we should be producing ethanol at the Clymers site in March of ‘07,” McKinstray said.
When asked by Dr. Ralph Anderson, a county councilman, about local hiring for construction, Logansport-Cass County Economic Development Foundation President Skip Kuker said The Andersons has been good about pursuing local contractors for work. The Kansas firm chosen to build the plant has experience in building many ethanol plants nationwide.
Bill Shepler has been chosen as construction manager for the project.
What is already evident at the plant site is earth moved near Ind. 25. Needham said that pre-construction work involves the removal of one set of train tracks. Two sets of tracks are being laid on the site.
In a released statement, State Rep. Rich McClain, R-Logansport, said there was a legislative influence in getting the plant.
“I am pleased to see House initiatives to increase ethanol production and economic development in the state helping to create high paying jobs has found a home near Logansport,” he said. “Agribusiness is well represented in District 24 and with this announcement we will continue to bring more jobs to the agriculture industry.”
State Sen. Tom Weatherwax said McClain has had a role in promoting ethanol plants.
“As author of Senate Bill 353 and 378, which help improve air quality and agribusiness in the state, State Rep. McClain’s aid sponsoring this legislation was instrumental in helping these initiatives become law. Due to Rep. McClain’s assistance sponsoring this legislation we have seen tremendous growth in ethanol production from 1 to 18 ethanol and soy bio-diesel plants in the state within one year.”
Meanwhile, the news also is good for S.U.S. Cast Products Inc., which received tax abatement on $1.1 million in manufacturing equipment. The largest share of the equipment is $685,000 in die cast machines. S.U.S. also is investing in three furnaces and $100,000 in robotics.
Kuker said in a letter to the council that S.U.S. may not complete all its projects this year.
According to a statement of benefits filed by S.U.S. for the abatement, the company employs 117 with a payroll of $2.9 million. The plant has an assessed value of $1.19 million in equipment, and the new equipment will add $660,635.
S.U.S. has an average salary of $26,700 which is above average for the community, according to Kuker.
In other business:
•Kuker encouraged the council to consider closer monitoring of economic development projects in the county. Historically, rural portions of the county have not had much tax abatement or economic development, but the creation of a new Tax Increment Financing District for the plant and the Cass County Redevelopment Commission are reasons to consider parallel monitoring in the city and county for economic development projects. Councilmen Don Shelhart, Brent Kelley and Anderson agreed to serve on an economic development committee that will monitor projects just as the Logansport City Council Planning and Economic Development Committee does.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.