Sioux City Journal

'If it's a go, we'll staff up fast' - Hyperion Resources opens office in Elk Point for refinery project

By Michele Linck / Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, March 20, 2008

Hyperion Energy Center employee Ross Buttermore stands in the company's office in Elk Point, S.D., on March 5. Buttermore works in the company's business development department and said for the last year he primarily has been working on the project in South Dakota. (Staff photo by Jerry Mennenga)

ELK POINT, S.D. - Hyperion Resource's proposed oil refinery isn't a done deal in Union County. Even so, it was a big enough powerhouse by December to rank first on the Journal's lists of 2007's Top 10 Stories for both news and business.

The once-mysterious company, known to Union County residents only as the "Gorilla" which was buying up options on thousands of acres of farmland, finally divulged its identity in June. In February it opened an office at 109 Main St. in downtown Elk Point.

The office - once a pool hall and bar, and then, ironically, the office of refinery opponent Jason Quam's driveway alarm business - has been renovated and now serves a number of business functions for Hyperion.

It's a place for the public to come to learn more about the company's proposed, $10 billion, 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery. It is staffed by several Hyperion employees who come to town frequently from corporate headquarters in Dallas. Office manager Sherri McKenzie, of Jefferson, S.D., and Ross Buttermore, of Dallas, both work there full-time. Buttermore's is in "business development."

A place of interest

Buttermore said in bad weather, only three or four people drop by. But a nice day will bring 10 or 15 people coming to ask about the project or about jobs.

The office also gives Hyperion's army of engineers and consultants a base when they're working in the area . Buttermore reiterated recently that if the project continues to move forward, the construction would not be run from the downtown office, but from an office built on the refinery site, about seven miles north of Elk Point.

The 109 Main St. address is also the first stop for vendors hoping to sell products to the colossus venture and for potential workers who are already inquiring about future employment with Hyperion.

The vendors run the gamut from suppliers of heavy machinery to office supply companies, all wanting a piece of the pie, if and when the project survives the gantlet of zoning, environmental and other permitting processes. They are already waiting for Hyperion to make bid requests.

Leave a resume

"Lots of people are looking for jobs and leaving resumes," Buttermore said. The list of interested workers is also varied, including welders, concrete workers and former Gateway employees asking about information technology jobs. One couple from Yankton, S.D., stopped in on their way elsewhere to ask about potential jobs for their two sons, both engineers.

"They took a sign," he said, referring to the stack of green Hyperion yard signs proclaiming support for the refinery.

Buttermore said it's not at all too early to drop off a resume. "If this thing is a go, we'll staff up fast," he said. "We think we can have all the approvals and start moving dirt by the end of 2009 or early 2010."

Thirty to 40 percent of the jobs will be in the office, he said. With a construction period of three years or more, and as many as 10,000 workers on site, there will be lots of payroll and other personnel and accounting records to be managed.

"We'll use a lot of local vendors and local workers to the extent it's possible," Buttermore said. "It's good to know people are excited about our project."

The office is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, with the exception of Tuesdays, when hours will be from 1 to 7 p.m.

If the project goes to construction, it will be the first oil refinery built from scratch in the United States since 1976, although other refineries have expanded.