Bluffton getting second ethanol plant

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly

Another company is prepared to build an ethanol plant near Bluffton.

The Bluffton News-Banner reported today that Broin Companies, of Sioux Falls, S.D., wants to build a plant south of town, about three miles from the site of Indiana Bio-Energy's plant.

The plant would produce about 60 million gallons of ethanol a year and cost $115 million. Planning could begin in 2007 and construction could be complete by spring 2008, the paper said.

The announcement comes as Indiana Bio-Energy prepares to break ground on its 100-million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant. The $162-million to $182-million project is expected to be finished in early December 2008.

Indiana Bio-Energy still is waiting to receive an air permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Company officials hope the site will be ready for construction by January.