It was southern Wisconsin's geographical characteristics that enticed the original settlers from Switzerland to what is now Green County. The Swiss saw an area where they could make their living raising wheat, which was a part of their traditional agrarian life from the old country. When better wheat soil was found in the West, the immigrants switched gears and began importing Swiss dairy cows. "That's where Monroe took off, when we started to produce rich cheeses," says Matt Urban, director of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce.

Ripe with cheese factories and breweries, Monroe is a festive place. As early as 1900, the city was known as the "Swiss Cheese Capital of the United States." Cheese Days, which was established in 1914, draws 100,000 guests to the area every year, where the Swiss singers perform, cheese-makers exhibit their workings and products of their craft, and the beer flows.

Today, most of Monroe's economic base depends upon companies that make and distribute cheese. However, coming in at a close second are the breweries. The Huber Brewery on 14th Avenue lays claim to being "the oldest continually operating brewery in the Midwest and the second-oldest in the nation," so distilleries are important to Monroe's identity. It was only a matter of time that ethanol would be distilled and become a part of the landscape. "We've been a beer town since the 1800's—before Wisconsin even became a state—and the process is just like making ethanol, so the ethanol plant is just an extension of who we already are," Urban says.

Not a common distillery, the 50 MMgy Badger State Ethanol LLC is changing how farming and processing have traditionally been viewed. Of course, Green County's biggest asset is agricultural produce, but historically its residents saw the fields primarily as a source of feed for cattle and the historic production chain—cattle to cheese, and whey to protein. Since the ethanol plant arrived, it has allowed those involved to see agriculture from a more diversified perspective, and it has provided a broader base for farmers.

Wisconsin now has five operational ethanol facilities with 212 MMgy of production capacity. Badger State is the largest of these. It started operating in October of 2002 and has since generated many boons for the area, including making E85 readily available. "There's a ‘smart station' right at the threshold of the plant, so people are out there filling up their vehicles," Urban says. "I can't think of any more direct or dramatic a connection of how people see the ethanol plant and how it relates to them."

In addition, Entrepreneur Magazine named Badger State one of the fastest growing businesses in the United States in 2005. One of the aspects that is helping the plant—as a company—grow is the successful marketing of additional products besides fuel, Urban says. "From a community standpoint, we are really frustrated with some of the criticisms we've heard about ethanol plants because all of the expense of the operation is related just to the fuel, and you get distillers grains, carbon dioxide and corn syrup, as well."