Area ethanol plant transformed into trading floor
By Dave Dreeszen Journal business editor | Posted: Thursday, February 08, 2007
The closing bell of the NASDAQ market rang in grand opening festivities Wednesday at US BioEnergy Corp.'s new 100-million-gallon ethanol plant in Albert City, Iowa.
US BioEnergy, whose stock (USBE) trades on the NASDAQ, arranged to have a rare remote bell closing in a warehouse normally used to store distiller's grain, a by-product of corn-based ethanol.
"We've converted a metal grain storage building into the trading floor," US BioEnergy CEO and chairman Gordon Ommen said in a telephone interview with the Journal prior to the Albert City ceremony, which was televised live nationally on cable channel CNBC.
As Ommen rang the bell at the Northwest Iowa plant, the bell on the exchange's trading floor in New York City sounded simultaneously.
"We're kind of rural by nature. That's our roots," Ommen said. "Instead of going to New York, like some others have done and wearing fancy suits and closing the exchange in kind of a private party, we thought we'd bring New York to Iowa and close the exchange here with all our friends and neighbors around the Albert City plant."
The closing bell marked US BioEnergy's recent initial public offering and highlighted an afternoon of public ceremonies and tours of the $125 million plant, which began production last November. Gov. Chet Culver, who was among the dignitaries who addressed the audience, said the Albert City plant fits into his goal of making the state the "Silicon Valley of the Midwest."
"I have called Iowans to explore the next generation energy frontier, and plants like this one are on that cutting edge," Culver said. "It's time for Iowa to win the race to become the energy capital of the world and break free from our dependence on foreign oil."
The plant employs 45 people, and will help boost the local economy in other ways, such as higher prices for area grain farmers and a new source of feed for livestock farmers. Besides ethanol, the plant can produce 320,000 tons of distiller's grain, a high-protein feed for beef and dairy cattle.
Albert City Co-Op Elevator, an investor in the ethanol venture, orginates corn for the plant located just across the street from the co-op's large grain handling facilities. Ommen said the co-op's participation and an ample and consistent supply of corn in the Albert City region were the driving forces in his company's decision to build in the northern Buena Vista County town of about 700.
"The abundance of corn and the ability to partner with a local farmer-owned entity was important to us and really part of our strategy," he said.
Ommen said the plant, US BioEnergy's first in Iowa, is currently producing ethanol at a rate above its plated capacity. "It's running like a watch. It's doing real well," he said.
With the opening of the Albert City plant and another plant in Central City, Neb., US BioEnergy became the nation's second-largest producer of ethanol, behind only Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland, as well as the largest "pure-play" producer of ethanol.
US BioEnergy passed VeraSun Energy Corp. for that distinction. VeraSun, which operates area ethanol plants in Ashton and Emmetsburg, Iowa, and US BioEnergy are both based in Brookings, S.D.
US BioEnergy now operates three ethanol plants and has four more plants under construction. Those projects will raise its combined annual production capacity to 600 million gallons.
Dave Dreeszen can be reached at (712) 293-4211 or davedreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com
US BioEnergy, whose stock (USBE) trades on the NASDAQ, arranged to have a rare remote bell closing in a warehouse normally used to store distiller's grain, a by-product of corn-based ethanol.
"We've converted a metal grain storage building into the trading floor," US BioEnergy CEO and chairman Gordon Ommen said in a telephone interview with the Journal prior to the Albert City ceremony, which was televised live nationally on cable channel CNBC.
As Ommen rang the bell at the Northwest Iowa plant, the bell on the exchange's trading floor in New York City sounded simultaneously.
"We're kind of rural by nature. That's our roots," Ommen said. "Instead of going to New York, like some others have done and wearing fancy suits and closing the exchange in kind of a private party, we thought we'd bring New York to Iowa and close the exchange here with all our friends and neighbors around the Albert City plant."
The closing bell marked US BioEnergy's recent initial public offering and highlighted an afternoon of public ceremonies and tours of the $125 million plant, which began production last November. Gov. Chet Culver, who was among the dignitaries who addressed the audience, said the Albert City plant fits into his goal of making the state the "Silicon Valley of the Midwest."
"I have called Iowans to explore the next generation energy frontier, and plants like this one are on that cutting edge," Culver said. "It's time for Iowa to win the race to become the energy capital of the world and break free from our dependence on foreign oil."
The plant employs 45 people, and will help boost the local economy in other ways, such as higher prices for area grain farmers and a new source of feed for livestock farmers. Besides ethanol, the plant can produce 320,000 tons of distiller's grain, a high-protein feed for beef and dairy cattle.
Albert City Co-Op Elevator, an investor in the ethanol venture, orginates corn for the plant located just across the street from the co-op's large grain handling facilities. Ommen said the co-op's participation and an ample and consistent supply of corn in the Albert City region were the driving forces in his company's decision to build in the northern Buena Vista County town of about 700.
"The abundance of corn and the ability to partner with a local farmer-owned entity was important to us and really part of our strategy," he said.
Ommen said the plant, US BioEnergy's first in Iowa, is currently producing ethanol at a rate above its plated capacity. "It's running like a watch. It's doing real well," he said.
With the opening of the Albert City plant and another plant in Central City, Neb., US BioEnergy became the nation's second-largest producer of ethanol, behind only Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland, as well as the largest "pure-play" producer of ethanol.
US BioEnergy passed VeraSun Energy Corp. for that distinction. VeraSun, which operates area ethanol plants in Ashton and Emmetsburg, Iowa, and US BioEnergy are both based in Brookings, S.D.
US BioEnergy now operates three ethanol plants and has four more plants under construction. Those projects will raise its combined annual production capacity to 600 million gallons.
Dave Dreeszen can be reached at (712) 293-4211 or davedreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com
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