Central Bio-Energy LLC (CBE), a Nebraska-based firm, announced today that it plans to invest more than $500 million to build three 100 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plants in Seward, Howard and Chase counties in Nebraska. These plants will employ 150 full-time staff, with combined annual payroll in excess of $6 million. This investment will make CBE one of the leading ethanol producers in Nebraska, officials said. Projected annual revenues, when all three plants are operational, will approach $600 million.
Gordon Glade, Central Bio-Energy president, said CBE was proud to bring economic growth and employment opportunities to rural Nebraska. “We are honored to have already received tremendous support from the leaders in each of the counties where we have identified ideal plant sites,” comments Glade. “We look forward to being good corporate citizens in every Nebraska community where CBE operates and to creating exceptional careers.”
CBE has signed Plant Development Agreements (PDAs) with Delta-T Corporation, one of the leading ethanol technology firms in the United States. “Delta-T will provide the engineering and technology design for all three plants,” said Danny Petersen, senior vice president-development.
Construction of the first plant near St Paul in Howard County is scheduled to begin later this year, Petersen said, and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2008. The second plant, scheduled to begin construction in the spring of 2007, will be built near Utica in Seward County and is expected to be operational by the summer of 2008. The third plant, to be built near Imperial in Chase County, will break ground in the spring of 2007 and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2008.