BY CHRISTINA M. SEILER, Rochester Sentinel News Editor
Marshall County residents and officials learned about Indiana Renewable Fuels’ proposed ethanol plant Wednesday.
But they wanted to know more about financial incentives investors would seek from Marshall County if the $135 million plant is constructed south of Argos.
Plymouth’s John Oliver said he wanted to hear what the investors want from taxpayers. “It seems you will ask Marshall County to assume some of the risk,” Oliver said after IRF’s hour-long presentation.
Indiana Renewable Fuels Chairman Glen Bode said it’s too early to know what would be requested from Marshall County. No further meetings are scheduled with Marshall County officials.
During the last few weeks Indiana Renewable Fuels representatives met with each Marshall County Commissioner, one-on-one, Commissioner John Zentz said.
The Wednesday presentation, to nearly 100 people, was at the request of Marshall County officials, Zentz said.
“There’s a lot of interest in it,” Zentz said, “But we don’t know a lot about it. This was for everyone to hear.”
He said there’s been no talk yet about financial backing from Marshall County. “We don’t know how we can help them without hearing a request. We have no idea what they would ask, or expect, from us.”
The group asked Fulton County officials for a $10 million government-backed bond issue in December. The limited liability corporation of 34 investors also asked for a 20-year tax abatement for its proposed 100 million gallon per year facility.
Fulton County Councilman Gary Sriver said today he expects Umbaugh Associates, hired to run numbers for a bond issue, to present its findings at a March 21 meeting of the council.
Fagen Inc., a Minnesota company, that has signed a letter of intent to design and build the Indiana Renewable Fuels plant, was represented at the Plymouth meeting.
Matt Sederstrom, a Fagen employee and IRF board member, and Bode, gave their basic primer about ethanol production and their proposed plant, then answered several questions.
Sederstrom outlined a tentative budget.
Investors have raised $1.75 million in start-up capital from among themselves. They need to raise $67 million in equity and the other half will be financed.
The budget, which Sederstrom said is on the low end: $107.4 million for construction; $5.6 million for site work; $4.5 million for railroad siding work; $4.6 million of miscellaneous expense; $900,000 for financing; $12 million for working capital and inventory.
The plant’s annual financial impact would be something akin to $182 million in operations expenses; $1.8 million of payroll; 183 spin-off jobs in related industries; 2,661 construction jobs over a 14- to 16-month period; $1.6 million in construction spending.
An ethanol plant is good for the local economy, Bode said, because it buys its inventory locally and sells its products outside the area, “which brings money to the local area which stays in the local area.”
The plant would require 36 million bushels of corn per year. Fulton County’s five-year production average is 12 million bushels per year; Marshall County’s, 12.5 million bushels per year.
“It takes Fulton, Marshall and one other county this size to supply the plant,” Bode said.
The Marshall County site is a 160-acre parcel, owned by several people, south of Argos along the Short Line Railroad runs.
The second optioned site is south of Indiana 110 in Fulton County and is a 200-acre piece of land owned by one person.
IRF board member Don Thompson said area farmers could be selling their corn at the plant within two years.
© 2006 The Sentinel Corporation