Demonstrating Speed, Accuracy
August 4, 2008
BY Craig A. Johnson
Not many people knew about the small town of Carrollton, Mo., with a population just over 4,000 on the banks of the Crooked River. In the past few years, however, that's begun to change. In 2005, Carrollton was named an All-America City—one of 10 across the country—and in that same year, investors began to imagine what the little town might look like with an ethanol plant.
Show Me Ethanol LLC is owned by a group of 550 agricultural investors. Ten percent is owned by Central Missouri Energy LLC, a proposed biodiesel plant in Fulton, Mo., while Ray-Carroll County Grain Growers Inc. controls another 20 percent. Since raising equity is no longer as easy at it once was for some projects, Show Me Ethanol's equity drive was especially impressive. The initial offer began in mid-2006, and the company was able to secure financing by the end of that year. The plant broke ground March 26, 2007. ICM Inc.
was on-site by mid-April, and construction was fully underway by mid-June.
Once construction began, work moved rapidly by industry standards. "That's the work of Ted Nuncio, our site superintendant," says General Man-ager Greg Thomas. "He did an outstanding job coordinating the [subcontractors]. The plan wasn't to start operations until July 2008, but we were able to complete construction and start producing May 23—two months ahead of schedule." Even with a harsh winter, wet spring and a rash of electrical storms that threatened the construction site, crews stayed active. Show Me Ethanol had an average of 250 workers on the site and experienced no significant delays. "The spirit of cooperation was unlike anything I'd ever seen," says Thomas of the subcontractors. "They coordinated their activities so that the scope of work was maximized. It was so well-run."
In addition to the success the company realized in exceeding its construction timeline, Thomas also considers the hiring process a major triumph. "One of my concerns was what kind of people would be available to run the place," he says. "Over the course of my first few months, I probably talked to 40 or 50 people who were interested in working at the plant. When the plant manager came on board, he started advertising for employees, and of those 50 people, only two didn't make the first cut, which says a lot about the quality of the workforce here." Once the management team felt it had a superior pool of candidates, it started the hiring process, bringing new employees in at the end of March 2008. The staff now includes 36 above-average salaried workers. "It was a very pleasant surprise for me," Thomas says.
ICM recommends that new plant employees complete an eight-week training course before a facility goes into full operation. Show Me Ethanol's management team took advantage of the training in the spirit of giving the venture "every possible chance to succeed," Thomas says. After the new hires were trained, ICM reported that Show Me Ethanol's team was one of the best they'd trained.
According to Thomas, the plant averaged 81 percent of it total 55 MMgy capacity during its first 30 days. "We reached 105 percent of nameplate capacity in about 12 to 14 days of start-up," he says.
Overall, the current economics of ethanol production are troubling for plants coming on line in 2008, and Thomas takes a pragmatic view of these concerns. "We have bought corn and sold ethanol at a positive margin for a period of time," he says. "The economics of ethanol continue to be mixed, and no one has a crystal ball that tells them what oil prices and corn prices are going to do. If everything moves in tandem, we can continue to move forward. If something unforeseen was to cause an astronomical rise in the price of corn or a precipitous drop in ethanol's price, it would certainly have an adverse effect on the company. However, it's going to have an adverse affect on every ethanol company. It'll be all of us in that boat." On the positive side, Show Me Ethanol brings a combined economic impact of $1.5 million to $2 million to the local economy.
Thomas and his team foresee many more successes down the road. Time will tell if the group's hard work will pay off, but Show Me Ethanol is off to a solid start.
Show Me Ethanol LLC is owned by a group of 550 agricultural investors. Ten percent is owned by Central Missouri Energy LLC, a proposed biodiesel plant in Fulton, Mo., while Ray-Carroll County Grain Growers Inc. controls another 20 percent. Since raising equity is no longer as easy at it once was for some projects, Show Me Ethanol's equity drive was especially impressive. The initial offer began in mid-2006, and the company was able to secure financing by the end of that year. The plant broke ground March 26, 2007. ICM Inc.
was on-site by mid-April, and construction was fully underway by mid-June.
Once construction began, work moved rapidly by industry standards. "That's the work of Ted Nuncio, our site superintendant," says General Man-ager Greg Thomas. "He did an outstanding job coordinating the [subcontractors]. The plan wasn't to start operations until July 2008, but we were able to complete construction and start producing May 23—two months ahead of schedule." Even with a harsh winter, wet spring and a rash of electrical storms that threatened the construction site, crews stayed active. Show Me Ethanol had an average of 250 workers on the site and experienced no significant delays. "The spirit of cooperation was unlike anything I'd ever seen," says Thomas of the subcontractors. "They coordinated their activities so that the scope of work was maximized. It was so well-run."
In addition to the success the company realized in exceeding its construction timeline, Thomas also considers the hiring process a major triumph. "One of my concerns was what kind of people would be available to run the place," he says. "Over the course of my first few months, I probably talked to 40 or 50 people who were interested in working at the plant. When the plant manager came on board, he started advertising for employees, and of those 50 people, only two didn't make the first cut, which says a lot about the quality of the workforce here." Once the management team felt it had a superior pool of candidates, it started the hiring process, bringing new employees in at the end of March 2008. The staff now includes 36 above-average salaried workers. "It was a very pleasant surprise for me," Thomas says.
ICM recommends that new plant employees complete an eight-week training course before a facility goes into full operation. Show Me Ethanol's management team took advantage of the training in the spirit of giving the venture "every possible chance to succeed," Thomas says. After the new hires were trained, ICM reported that Show Me Ethanol's team was one of the best they'd trained.
According to Thomas, the plant averaged 81 percent of it total 55 MMgy capacity during its first 30 days. "We reached 105 percent of nameplate capacity in about 12 to 14 days of start-up," he says.
Overall, the current economics of ethanol production are troubling for plants coming on line in 2008, and Thomas takes a pragmatic view of these concerns. "We have bought corn and sold ethanol at a positive margin for a period of time," he says. "The economics of ethanol continue to be mixed, and no one has a crystal ball that tells them what oil prices and corn prices are going to do. If everything moves in tandem, we can continue to move forward. If something unforeseen was to cause an astronomical rise in the price of corn or a precipitous drop in ethanol's price, it would certainly have an adverse effect on the company. However, it's going to have an adverse affect on every ethanol company. It'll be all of us in that boat." On the positive side, Show Me Ethanol brings a combined economic impact of $1.5 million to $2 million to the local economy.
Thomas and his team foresee many more successes down the road. Time will tell if the group's hard work will pay off, but Show Me Ethanol is off to a solid start.
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