Todd Sneller was honored with the Merle Anderson award during the American Coalition for Ethanol’s (ACE) 28th annual Ethanol Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Well-deserved, Todd Sneller, executive director of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, has had a long and prosperous career in the ethanol industry. He became the first person to run the state organization (the one and only of its kind) back in the late 70s when he was 25 years old. At the time ethanol was still known as gasohol and had no idea how far ethanol would go.
Doug Durante presents Todd Sneller, with the Nebraska Ethanol Board (NEB) the Merle Anderson Award during the 28th Annual ACE Ethanol Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. (Todd Sneller on left and Doug Durante on right.)
Sneller has traveled the country working with committees, testifying and working with younger ethanol organizations to help ethanol take off. Back in the 70s there were no ethanol plants in Nebraska. Today Nebraska has the second largest ethanol nameplate capacity and is the second largest ethanol producing state in the country with 25 ethanol plants producing more than 2 billion gallons of ethanol.
When asked how it felt to win such a prestigious award, Sneller replied, “Well I think anytime one is in a room with one’s peers, that’s really that special moment to be acknowledged for something to be around the people you have enjoyed working with and respect.”
Going forward, Sneller is mentoring the younger generation – young men and women who are just entering the industry. He is also excited to see how the ethanol plant will evolve to become a biotech campus, producing fuel, feed, fiber, chemicals, and more and plans to be involved in this process.
Todd, on behalf of the entire ethanol industry, here’s to another 30 years in the ethanol industry!
Listen to Todd Sneller’s interview here: Todd Sneller on Winning Merle Anderson Award