Indiana Senator Richard Lugar will give the keynote address September 15 at the official opening of the Central Indiana Ethanol plant near Marion. This will be the second plan Lugar will help open in two days next month – the first being POET Biorefining – Portland on September 14.
The founder of the CIE plant is Indiana farmer Jay Berry, who started pursuing the idea of building the facility five years ago at the age of 22. Senator Lugar was instrumental in helping Berry get the plant built.
Ground was broken in November 2005 and actual ethanol production began on July 17, 2007. The plant’s nameplate capacity is rated at 40 million gallons of ethanol per year, but it will actually produce 50 million gallons, which will be produced from 17 million bushels of corn, purchased from area and regional farmers.