It’s why he and his wife, Vicki, borrowed against a life insurance policy to purchase shares in the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company. Syverson said they knew the risk, but felt that the cooperative’s founders — among them area farmer John Carruth and Ray Millet with the Agralite Cooperative, and Jan Lundebrek, a banker — had laid out a good path.
“The right people came together at the right time,” said Syverson.
This is now the time for the company to celebrate. One of the state’s very first ethanol plants is marking its 25th anniversary Monday.
The plant was a pioneer of the Minnesota model for this emerging industry as a farmer-owned cooperative producing value-added earnings for corn growers.
David Thompson, current chairman of its board of directors, admits he scratched his head and wondered about the risk he was taking when investing in Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company.
But the risk proved worthwhile: “The shareholders have done very well,” said Thompson of the performance through the years.
The cooperative counts more than 900 shareholders, most of them raising corn within a 35- to 40-mile radius of Benson.
Along with the return on investment, the plant has benefited farmers in the region by its demand for corn. Ethanol plants generally provide a nickel to 10 cents a bushel of benefit to local market prices.
Probably most importantly, the plant is adding value to corn that would otherwise be shipped by rail to international markets, where its full value is lost, according to Syverson. Along with the ethanol for fuel, the plant is producing corn oils and distillers grains. Almost one-half of the distillers grains are sold to livestock producers in the area, and the remainder shipped by rail to more distant markets, according to Chad Friese, general manager of the plant.
The Benson facility originally opened with the capacity to produce 15 million gallons of ethanol a year. Today, it’s producing more than 50 million gallons a year. It has reduced the energy needed to produce the fuel by 36 percent since its start. It has achieved a comparable or greater percent reduction in the amount of water needed per gallon of fuel, according to Friese.
This plant is best known for its diversity of products. Early on, it began producing industrial alcohol as part of its product stream and invested to distill alcohol for spirits. It’s been celebrated nationally as the producer of vodka…
Read More: A pioneer in Minnesota’s ethanol industry celebrates 25 years