MIDDLETOWN - Gary Williky stands in front of shelves packed with glass jars of amber-colored biodiesel and talks about a survivor.
While hundreds of other biodiesel plants sprouted and then failed, a 28,000-square-foot plant in Middletown that produces fuel from waste greases and oils made it and is getting ready to expand.
"It was the tenacity and belief in what they're doing," said Williky, who is in charge of internal and public relations for e-biofuels. "And now, they're starting to perfect it."
The e-biofuels plant sits along Ind. 236 in Middletown. Currently, it employs about 35 people. But that number could soon change.
The plant uses animal fats and refined soybean oil to make biodiesel that can be blended with petrodiesel and sold at gas stations, like Flying J and Pilot. According to the company, there's a buyer for every gallon that e-biofuels produces. The plant is already sold out until June.
The company has its roots in a fishing trip. The Ducey brothers from Fishers were on a pontoon boat when they began discussing the possibility of starting a biodiesel plant. They challenged each other to make it happen, and eventually, they decided to go through with the idea.
In 2006, the brothers broke ground for their plant in Middletown and eventually grew the operation to about 70 employees. But soon, the market for biodiesel changed, and the company struggled.
At one point, e-biofuels was down to six employees, and they even stopped picking up the phone at the plant.
But then, Jeffrey Wilson, chairman and president of Imperial Petroleum, a public company based in Evansville, entered the picture.
He and his son were looking for a biodiesel plant to purchase, and in May 2010, they decided to take on the Middletown plant.
Now, e-biofuels is a subsidiary company of Imperial Petroleum. But Craig and Chad Ducey still serve as chief executive officer and chief operating officer for e-biofuels.
After Imperial Petroleum took over and restructured e-biofuels, the plant found success in Middletown. And the company plans to bring in new technology and expand the operation, which will likely mean new hires.
"People have been making biodiesel since the 1930s and 1940s," Williky said. "But today, it's now a marketable product."
Williky said in 2005 and 2006, there were thousands of biodiesel companies. But only about 300 have survived, he said
Williky said e-biofuels made it because of a combination of good luck, endurance and tenacity.
On Tuesday, Williky and Wilson met with the New Castle-Henry County Economic Development Corp. to discuss the operations at the Middletown plant.
Bob Grewe, president and CEO of the EDC, said e-biofuels is both an alternative energy and a technology company. Those fields provide opportunities for further growth here, Grewe said.
Lisa Hicks, a Middletown Town Council member, said e-biofuels has been successful in a bad market. And the fact that the business is expanding is a positive for the town and the people in need of jobs there, she said.
"For our small town, it's excellent," Hicks said.
In the e-biofuels plant, there's a set of shelves that hold amber-colored samples of the biodiesel that's been made there.
As Williky explained, the samples are used to assure that the highest grade of product is leaving the plant. If there's a question, the business can go back and check the sample.
Some of the jars are darker than others. The tint is determined by what the biodiesel is made from.
As machinery buzzed inside the factory on Tuesday, Williky said the emphasis on quality by the plant's leaders and their attitude are what led the plant to success - even in difficult times.
He said, "The belief in what they did is what kept them going."
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