BioTown USA: What happened to Reynolds, Ind. and w...: A look back at former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels' plan to turn Reynolds, Ind. into BioTown USA. The concept didn't turn out as planned for the White County town, but officials and locals said they still have faith in renewable energy. Staff photo by Brent Drinkut
On this wintry afternoon between lunch and dinner, the USA Family Restaurant is quiet except for a table in the back where seven local residents sit, drinking coffee, trading good-natured insults and discussing the day’s news.
Topping the agenda — a Minnesota company’s plans to invest up to $350 million in an iron ore pellet plant in Reynolds that will create 120 jobs.
Not bad for a tiny crossroads town boasting one stoplight, one gas station, 533 residents and 150,000 pigs. But if grand plans stir a little cautious déja vu these days in Reynolds, it’s perhaps understandable.
Nearly eight years earlier, Indiana’s newly inaugurated governor, Mitch Daniels, dropped by with another big plan — to make Reynolds energy independent, using corn, soybeans, manure and other renewable sources. Reynolds would become known as BioTown USA, Daniels predicted.
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