Organic soybean plant to site in South Sioux City
By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer | Posted: Saturday, July 28, 2007
Norfolk's loss is South Sioux City's gain.
A Wisconsin start-up firm was mulling placement of a first plant in northeast Nebraska, and after word Thursday that a sufficient natural gas supply couldn't be delivered to Norfolk, Specialty Protein Producers LLC will now place the plant 70 miles east in South Sioux City.
The Roth Industrial Park on the city's south side will be the home of a $40 million organic soybean processing plant, where 60 employees will reportedly receive an average income of $18 per hour. The wages run from $14 on up, and some corporate wages will be in the $60,000 to $90,000 range.
Siouxland Chamber of Commerce president Debi Durham on Friday said it had been a whirlwind last week, after it became increasingly clear that the natural gas delivery issues couldn't be solved in Norfolk. Although the Siouxland chamber for more than 18 months had sought to get the plant in the metro, Specialty Protein Producers had focused on placing the plant in Norfolk.
Chris McGowan of the Siouxland Initiative, an arm of the chamber, said the delivery of natural gas wouldn't be a problem in South Sioux City, due to steps confirmed over the last week by MidAmerican Energy, which doesn't serve the Norfolk area. McGowan praised MidAmerican for responding so quickly on the matter.
While Durham hailed the placement of the plant in Siouxland as a major improvement for the business mix, she wasn't about to gloat on Norfolk losing the plant, since she's been on the losing side of trying to draw business to the area.
In a release, SPP chief executive officer Susanne Stoeger-Moore said "we were flattered to be recruited by so many exceptional communities. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, we were only able to select one. South Sioux City captured our attention nearly two years ago and they have remained a very attractive potential location for us throughout what became a very difficult site selection process."
Durham raved about the economic impact Specialty Protein Producers will make.
"Not only will it be a very sizable capital investment with good start-up numbers as far as employees with good, competitive wages, but the future potential is unlimited. They've already talked about Phase Two of their plant... This is a growing market shelf within the food processing industry, this organic. You even can go to any grocery store these days and see that the organic section just continues to grow," she said.
In the production process, Durham said, SPP will extract protein from organic soybeans, with a purity factor that the firm touts will be higher than typical in the marketplace today. She said the placement of an organic plant in Siouxland is a testimony to the work of Woodbury County economic development director Rob Marqusee, who has sought various organic farming pieces to bring more agriculture development to the county.
Durham said SPP made note of Marqusee's efforts to promote organic farming, and she sees the plant siting "as a catalyst for more" organic options in Siouxland. While McGowan said the soybeans for the plant will come from the upper Midwest initially, Durham said as more local farmers convert their crops to organic beans, more of the beans used in the plant could be coming from the tri-state area.
Said Marqusee in a release, "This is great news for the entire Siouxland economy, and the demand this company will create for locally-produced organic soybeans will prove very beneficial to our area farmers."
In November 2006, Marqusee had hoped to make a major announcement in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, at the second annual county Organic Growers Conference, involving a processing plant that would be built at an undisclosed site in the region. If that were to happen, he said at the time, there would be a significant demand for organic beans and big profits for farmers.
As a start-up company, Specialty Protein Producers at this point is essentially an office in Port Washington, Wis., an hour north of Milwaukee. Durham and McGowan said the SPP corporate office would be placed in Siouxland in the near future. The majority of the investors in Specialty Protein Producers live in the Norfolk area.
On Thursday, the company board voted to rule Norfolk out of the running for the plant, and South Sioux City filled the bill less than 24 hours later. Stoeger-Moore said "for quite some time we believed our company would be calling Norfolk home. We remain grateful to those residents who unambiguously demonstrated their commitment to our company.
A Norfolk city hall source said the city council had worked on many details related to placing SPP there for about a year, including annexation of land. The Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce referred a call Friday to R.J. Baker, director of the Elkhorn Valley Economic Development Council, but Baker did not return a call for comment.
Pending a few procedural details with the city of South Sioux City, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state of Nebraska, all of which should present no obstacle, Durham said groundbreaking on the 30-acre site should be performed in 60 days. McGowan said the plant likely will be operational in 2008, and that most of the employees would be drawn from Siouxland. He said the $40 million investment breaks down to $10 million for the building and $30 million for equipment.
In a release, South Sioux City city administrator Lance Hedquist said "we are very pleased to welcome this company to South Sioux City and the Roth Industrial Park. Specialty Protein Producers will be an outstanding addition to the exceptional food processing companies that already call South Sioux City home."
South Sioux City Mayor Bob Giese said the SPP siting between U.S. 77 and Dakota Avenue "is further evidence that our decisions to secure land and provide infrastructure are sound investments for our community, our taxpayers and our future."
Durham said there is likely even more good news to come from SPP, as there are plans to have an expansion in about four years, with about another $60 million in capital investment and adding 100 more employees.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
A Wisconsin start-up firm was mulling placement of a first plant in northeast Nebraska, and after word Thursday that a sufficient natural gas supply couldn't be delivered to Norfolk, Specialty Protein Producers LLC will now place the plant 70 miles east in South Sioux City.
The Roth Industrial Park on the city's south side will be the home of a $40 million organic soybean processing plant, where 60 employees will reportedly receive an average income of $18 per hour. The wages run from $14 on up, and some corporate wages will be in the $60,000 to $90,000 range.
Siouxland Chamber of Commerce president Debi Durham on Friday said it had been a whirlwind last week, after it became increasingly clear that the natural gas delivery issues couldn't be solved in Norfolk. Although the Siouxland chamber for more than 18 months had sought to get the plant in the metro, Specialty Protein Producers had focused on placing the plant in Norfolk.
Chris McGowan of the Siouxland Initiative, an arm of the chamber, said the delivery of natural gas wouldn't be a problem in South Sioux City, due to steps confirmed over the last week by MidAmerican Energy, which doesn't serve the Norfolk area. McGowan praised MidAmerican for responding so quickly on the matter.
While Durham hailed the placement of the plant in Siouxland as a major improvement for the business mix, she wasn't about to gloat on Norfolk losing the plant, since she's been on the losing side of trying to draw business to the area.
In a release, SPP chief executive officer Susanne Stoeger-Moore said "we were flattered to be recruited by so many exceptional communities. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, we were only able to select one. South Sioux City captured our attention nearly two years ago and they have remained a very attractive potential location for us throughout what became a very difficult site selection process."
Durham raved about the economic impact Specialty Protein Producers will make.
"Not only will it be a very sizable capital investment with good start-up numbers as far as employees with good, competitive wages, but the future potential is unlimited. They've already talked about Phase Two of their plant... This is a growing market shelf within the food processing industry, this organic. You even can go to any grocery store these days and see that the organic section just continues to grow," she said.
In the production process, Durham said, SPP will extract protein from organic soybeans, with a purity factor that the firm touts will be higher than typical in the marketplace today. She said the placement of an organic plant in Siouxland is a testimony to the work of Woodbury County economic development director Rob Marqusee, who has sought various organic farming pieces to bring more agriculture development to the county.
Durham said SPP made note of Marqusee's efforts to promote organic farming, and she sees the plant siting "as a catalyst for more" organic options in Siouxland. While McGowan said the soybeans for the plant will come from the upper Midwest initially, Durham said as more local farmers convert their crops to organic beans, more of the beans used in the plant could be coming from the tri-state area.
Said Marqusee in a release, "This is great news for the entire Siouxland economy, and the demand this company will create for locally-produced organic soybeans will prove very beneficial to our area farmers."
In November 2006, Marqusee had hoped to make a major announcement in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, at the second annual county Organic Growers Conference, involving a processing plant that would be built at an undisclosed site in the region. If that were to happen, he said at the time, there would be a significant demand for organic beans and big profits for farmers.
As a start-up company, Specialty Protein Producers at this point is essentially an office in Port Washington, Wis., an hour north of Milwaukee. Durham and McGowan said the SPP corporate office would be placed in Siouxland in the near future. The majority of the investors in Specialty Protein Producers live in the Norfolk area.
On Thursday, the company board voted to rule Norfolk out of the running for the plant, and South Sioux City filled the bill less than 24 hours later. Stoeger-Moore said "for quite some time we believed our company would be calling Norfolk home. We remain grateful to those residents who unambiguously demonstrated their commitment to our company.
A Norfolk city hall source said the city council had worked on many details related to placing SPP there for about a year, including annexation of land. The Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce referred a call Friday to R.J. Baker, director of the Elkhorn Valley Economic Development Council, but Baker did not return a call for comment.
Pending a few procedural details with the city of South Sioux City, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state of Nebraska, all of which should present no obstacle, Durham said groundbreaking on the 30-acre site should be performed in 60 days. McGowan said the plant likely will be operational in 2008, and that most of the employees would be drawn from Siouxland. He said the $40 million investment breaks down to $10 million for the building and $30 million for equipment.
In a release, South Sioux City city administrator Lance Hedquist said "we are very pleased to welcome this company to South Sioux City and the Roth Industrial Park. Specialty Protein Producers will be an outstanding addition to the exceptional food processing companies that already call South Sioux City home."
South Sioux City Mayor Bob Giese said the SPP siting between U.S. 77 and Dakota Avenue "is further evidence that our decisions to secure land and provide infrastructure are sound investments for our community, our taxpayers and our future."
Durham said there is likely even more good news to come from SPP, as there are plans to have an expansion in about four years, with about another $60 million in capital investment and adding 100 more employees.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 3 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
Tommy wrote on Oct 2, 2008 3:21 PM:
Observation wrote on Jul 28, 2007 10:16 AM:
Prediction wrote on Jul 28, 2007 9:25 AM: