Press Release
LAUREL - Laurel may not be the biggest town in Cedar County, but it's taking great strides in boosting the area's economy.
City representative joined Summit Biofuels spokesman Robert Kommer of Vashon, Wash., earlier this week to announce the formation of Laurel Ethanol, a limited liability that is plnning to build an ethanol-biodiesel plant.
Once built, it will become one of the region's largest biofuels production facilites.
"This will put Laurel on the map," said Kommer, who is serving as the developer for the Laurel Ethanol plant. "This will mean long-term viability for the community."
After two years of planning, ground-breaking for the $200 million plant has been scheduled for 2007.
Annual production goals are 100 million gallons of ethanol, four million gallons of biodiesel and 320,000 tons of dried distiller's grain.
The plant will create 40 to 50 permanent jobs, plus another 200 construction jobs while it is being built.
City officials are working closely with Laurel Ethanol. The 151-acre property on which the plant will be built will soon be annexed into the city to allow Laurel Ethanol to take full advantage of an incentive package that includes the construction of an access road, access to city utilites and facilitation of tax-increment financing.
In addition, the city is planning to apply for various grant to help subsidize construction costs, said Annette Junck, local economic development coordinator.
"It has been a lot of work to get to this point," said Logan Garber, mayor of Laurel. "I want to tahnk everyone who worked to bring this about. It is exciting for the community."
The next steps in the process are continuing with engineering plans, acquiring a construction permit and finalizing transfer of the land into the city of Laurel.
In addition, Laurel Ethanol will be seeking local farmers and other interestd parties to invest in the plant.
"We will be going out to the community to make sure there is backing for this," Kommer said.
Junck said finding supporters shouldn't be much of a challenge. "We have positive feedback from the community on this project," she said.
It is a project that will benefit more than just Laurel.
"It would help the whole county. It would help multiple counties. It would be a plus for the whole area," said Robert Dickey, who serves on the Nebraska Corn Board and the National Corn Growers Association Board.
According to a study by the Nebraska Public Power District for the Nebraska Ethanol Board, biofuels plants have a far-reaching influence on a region.
The average ethanol plant provides $3 million in locl and state tax revenues and a 50-member staff draws nearly $8 million in payroll. In addition, local corn prices increase by five to 10 cents over the cash market value.
The reinvestment of this money then boosts retail sales by $3 million and equals about 150 indirect jobs added to the area through other businesses.
Dickey said he is pleased that the Laurel Ethanol plan is accepting local investors and will be owned by a cooperative of local citizens.
"I really like to see ethanol plants owned by local farmers, because the profits are more apt to stay in the local communities," he said. "Ethanol plants are a great way to boost rural development, and that's what we're doing here."
- Story Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News
