By DAVE KITCHELL, Pharos-Tribune staff writer
Another step in promoting the construction and operation of a new ethanol plant in Cass County received an added commitment and a boost on Friday.
Cass County Council members voted 4-0 to designate an area surrounding The Andersons grain terminal in Clymers southwest of Logansport as an Economic Revitalization Area. That designation is necessary to allow The Andersons to receive tax abatement on property and equipment added as part of the ethanol plant.
The designation, which was recommended by the Cass County Planning Commission, is good for 15 years. Any tax abatements approved, however, will likely only be available for 10 years on property and five years on equipment, the maximum usually allowed in the county.
Nick Conrad of The Andersons said even though approximately 14 ethanol plants have been proposed in Indiana, only a handful will ever be built. Conrad said The Andersons intends to be one of three to five new plants that will make it into the operational phase.
At least one of the plants proposed for Grant County is reportedly already being reconsidered because of potential tax problems with the Oak Hill School Corporation. Developers of that plant have decided to research a potential site in neighboring Miami County.
But the ability to secure an adequate corn supply within a 100-mile radius of an ethanol plant is key, and a Miami County plant would be closer to Clymers than one in Grant County. The only other operating plant in Indiana is near South Bend.
Since plans for The Andersons plant were announced, investors in another ethanol plant announced plans for one in Linden south of Lafayette on U.S. 231.
Nick Conrad, a financial representative from The Andersons, told the council that economic incentives for plants such as the one his company is proposing are vital.
"Those communities that support us tend to be the ones we grow in," he said.
Conrad said the impact of the plant construction can raise corn prices by a dime a bushel, and, based on projected production, that would mean a $2 million impact on the farm economy alone.
Logansport-Cass County Economic Development Foundation President Skip Kuker said the Linden ethanol plant appears to be a definite go with its backing from agri-giant Cargill and another partner.
Dr. Ralph Anderson, a council member, said the Clymers ethanol plant represents a boost for agriculture, which often does not get the full benefit of economic development incentives.
© 2005 The Logansport Pharos-Tribune.