NORTH MANCHESTER - North Manchester soon will have a new neighbor, and town officials are excited.
Thursday afternoon, POET officially announced its plans to build an ethanol production facility just south of North Manchester.
The North Manchester plant will be POET's third facility in Indiana. One plant is scheduled to open in Portland in September, and another currently is under construction in Alexandria.
"Two things we do really well in Wabash County are agriculture and manufacturing," said Bill Konyha, president and CEO of the Economic Development Group of Wabash County Inc. "Any opportunity that enables us to take locally grown crops and add value through processing is a win-win for the community. It has been a pleasure to work with the folks from POET. They have been professional and forthcoming in all of our dealings."Site preparation for the North Manchester plant, which will be on 200 acres just east of Ind. 13 between 800N and 850N, is tentatively scheduled to begin in July, and building construction could begin as early as September. Once the construction begins, the plant should be finished in 12 to 14 months.
"We are consistently on time and on budget with our construction projects," said Mike Roth, director of site development for POET.
During a public information meeting Thursday afternoon, Roth showed examples of other POET facilities, saying that within three weeks of beginning production, most are at full capacity. Within the first month, all the companies discussed showed a profit and currently are producing at levels 10 to 20 percent above their designed capacity.
According to Brian Minish, of Val-Add Service Corp., told North Manchester residents that each POET facility is a separate business entity that is part of the POET network.
"This project will benefit both the community of North Manchester and POET," said North Manchester Town Manager Dan Hannaford. "The construction of the plant and the 40 new jobs represent a welcomed economic boost to the community."
The facility, which is expected to cost $130 million, will use corn from local farmers within a 40-mile radius to produce ethanol in a dry-mill process. Minish said corn prices could rise 5 to 10 cents per bushel once the plant opens.
During the dry-mill process, the facility grinds corn into a corn-meal consistency then enzymes are added. Once the starch in the corn is converted to sugar, the mash is fermented and yeast is added to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. Then denatured alcohol is added to make fuel.
Once production begins, plant is expected to use 21 million bushels of corn per year to produce 65 million gallons of ethanol per year. The company expects gross sales to be around $100 million per year.
According to information from the company, POET is the largest dry-mill ethanol producer in the United States. The company has the only research and development group in the industry focused entirely on biofuels.
"We are a technology company," said Roth. "We try to keep on the cutting edge."
The company, formerly known as Broin, has been in business for 20 years and operates 20 plants in the midwest. Eleven more plants currently are being constructed, including the three in Indiana.
For more information about POET, visit www.poetenergy.com
