North Prairie Productions, LLC: Harvesting Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future

Will biodiesel pump up Evansville?
(Published Saturday, June 17, 2006 11:33:33 PM CDT)
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By Gina Duwe/Gazette Staff

Evansville - Evansville city officials could have their dream come true if a company planning to build a $42 million biodiesel production facility chooses the city as its site.

Waterloo-based North Prairie Productions will decide within a month on a site in south-central Wisconsin to build the facility, Vice President Jeff Pieterick said.

The company is in negotiations with Landmark Services Cooperative in Evansville. Company officials presented a preliminary plan at a special plan commission meeting Thursday and will present again at the economic development committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at city hall.

Landmark would be an investor in the facility. The co-op also would sell land for the new plant near its facilities on County M on Evansville's east side, where Landmark has 1.9 million bushels of grain storage and 2 million gallons of liquid storage, Landmark CEO Larry Swalheim said.

The biodiesel production center would not process raw beans, but rather would convert soybean oil into diesel fuel, he said.

"There's a big advantage to us as a leader in alternative fuels to have a soy biodiesel facility on our property," Swalheim said.

The facility will be capable of making up to 45 million gallons of biodiesel a year, Pieterick said. The plant would create about 25 jobs with a $50,000 median income, he said.

The project would amount to $30 million in capital and $42 million overall, he said.

North Prairie Productions is looking at a "handful of sites" in south central Wisconsin for its biodiesel plant but is waiting for results from a Wisconsin Soybean Association feasibility study, Pieterick said.

The report is expected to identify the area in Wisconsin that would be best for a soybean processing plant. Such a plant would crush the beans and extract the oil to be processed at the biodiesel plant.

Pieterick said Evansville might be a good place to build a processing plant, and building it near the biodiesel facility would be efficient and competitive.

"We're waiting for that (study) to be released as a very key component of our site," he said.

A site for the biodiesel plant should be chosen within a month, with groundbreaking expected in fall. The plant would be operational by late 2007.

Company officials were impressed with the city's response to such a project. Swalheim called Evansville officials "spectacular."

"We were very impressed with the mayor and the commission members and the excellent business climate that the Evansville area offers," he said.

"With all that, you certainly have to be encouraged," Pieterick said. "To have that kind of positive sense of things going into this really raises our comfort level."

While only preliminary, the plan is a "very good fit" for Evansville, plan commission member Mason Braunschweig said.

The city's smart growth plan already designates the proposed site for industrial growth.

"On so many levels, it could very well be a perfect fit for Evansville," he said.

Swalheim agreed, saying Landmark is a leader in alternative energy products and its location on the rail line is ideal.