Merrill industry is model for Iowa's future, Judge says

(Sentinel photo by Magdalene Landegent) Lt. Gov. Patty Judge stops by the testing laboratory during her visit to Plymouth Oil Monday, the corn oil plant north of Merrill. Judge spoke about job creation and renewable energy during her stop. [Click to enlarge]

If Iowa is going to recover from the recession that has plagued the nation, recovery is going to come from the ground up.

That's what Lt. Gov. Patty Judge said Monday during a visit to the Plymouth Oil, a food-grade corn oil plant just north of Merrill.

"The answer for the Merrills of this state is not a concept of thinking we can get a Fortune 500 company to locate here," she told the crowd of about 12 people gathered at the Plymouth Oil offices.

"What is much more plausible is that we are going to build those companies," Judge said. "That's what you've done here."

In the last four years, both Plymouth Oil and the Plymouth Energy ethanol plant -- which share an industrial site -- have risen from the Iowa landscape, she said.

Plymouth Energy created 36 jobs, adding up to a $1.8 million payroll, and Plymouth Oil created 23 jobs, with a $975,000 payroll plus benefits.

That's according to Plymouth Energy CEO Dave Hoffman, who is also chairman of Plymouth Oil's board of directors.

Plymouth Oil is the first plant in the nation to produce food-grade corn oil from ethanol byproducts, he said.

"That's the kind of plants that are going to build the future of our state," Judge said.

The last couple of years have been really difficult for Iowa -- it was not spared by the nationwide recession, she said.

"There are a lot more things we need to do to move Iowa forward," Judge said. "This time of recession is not a time we can sit on our hands. We've got to take action; we've got to get money into the economy."

The most important factor in that, she said, is creating jobs.

Western Iowa, she said, is poised to be a leader in that via renewable energy.

"You have all the components here that you need," Judge said. "I know as a farmer myself how important agriculture is to our state -- not just to yesterday and today -- but how important it's going to be tomorrow."

That is why Iowa has to continue to find new uses for commodity crops, she said.

Research and development for renewable energy and added-value agriculture has to stay in the state, Judge said.

"We know the research and development we do today will become standard practices tomorrow," she said. "If we let the research go, the industry will also go, eventually."

The region also has the opportunity to be an important player in wind energy development, Judge said

Hoffman said Plymouth Energy officials are looking into installing four or five wind turbines to help power the plant.

The ethanol plant is already adding value for Iowa, he said.

"We used to ship corn out of this area," Hoffman said. "Now we're shipping out ethanol all throughout the country as well as Europe and Canada."

Plymouth Energy is also shipping byproduct for livestock feed across the U.S. and Mexico, he added.

The Plymouth Oil plant is producing corn oil -- currently only used for livestock feed and biodiesel -- but is close to producing food-grade corn oil, which will be refined and sold for cooking.

Crews are making the final adaptations to reach food-grade standards, Hoffman said.

With both plants online, the Plymouth Energy/Plymouth Oil campus will be using corn to feed and fuel the world, Judge said.

"There has been far too much conversation about feeding the world versus fueling the world," she said. "It is my belief that, hey, we can do both."

The Plymouth Energy and Plymouth Oil plants are proof, Judge said.

"It's good to see what you're doing here in Plymouth County," she said. "This is an investment by your community and your county in the future."