(Atlantic) The Elite Octane ethanol plant located on the northwest edge of Atlantic reached a milestone this week.
The $190 million ethanol plant opened two years ago to grind 50-million bushel per year into ethanol and dried distiller’s grain. Today, (Friday, July 17), Hamlin corn producer Brent Chambers delivered the plants 100th million bushels of corn to the plant.
The state of the art ethanol facility’s goal is to receive 140-150,000 bushel per day Monday through Friday with 140 trucks traveling through the plant over those five days.
“We’re thrilled to be here and happy to be in the community,” said Commodity Manager Adam Stamp. “We appreciate the relationships we’ve developed with the local farmers.”
“Mitch Rupiper, (grain marketer), noticed on Thursday, we had over 100,000 tickets, so we thought we were close,” Stamp said. “We did the math, and we were right there. Everything is on target, and there have certainly been some ups and downs in the ethanol industry this year, along with everybody else. It’s been a fun ride, and we’re happy to be here.”
COVID-19 hit, and people quit driving, but this plant kept grinding corn. “We experienced the drop in gas prices, and ethanol went right along with it,” explained Stamp. “Things have recovered nicely, and we’re now seeing margins at peak time last year. It’s fun coming to work again.”
The goal is to produce more than 120-million gallons of ethanol per year. The plant, which opened the summer of 2018, employs 50-people with an annual payroll of just over $3.5 million.
(Top Photo: L-R: Sara Paulsen, Codi Irlmeier, Mitch Rupiper, Brent Chambers, Adam Stamp, and Brittany Paulsen)
