24 Nov Thompson in partnership to build ethanol plant
Sharon, Wis. – Global Renewable LLC, a Whitewater, Wis. partnership that includes former Gov. Tommy Thompson, has unveiled plans to build and operate a $195 million ethanol plant in the Walworth County Village of Sharon.
Pending municipal approvals, the Sharon Ethanol Plant annually would produce between 105 and 120 million gallons of ethanol. It would create an estimated 55 new full-time jobs and more than 200 temporary construction jobs, and pay more than $700,000 in annual property taxes.
“I am proud to be a part of this wonderful opportunity for the Village of Sharon and Walworth County,” Thompson said in a release. “The proposed plant is good for Wisconsin and another example of our state’s longstanding leadership in alternative fuels.”
In addition to Thompson, who serves as its chairman of the board, the Global Renewable partnership includes Jeffery P. Knight, who headed the Governor’s Ethanol Coalition during the Thompson Administration, and businessman Tom Weickardt.
The proposed 191-acre site is located in the Town of Sharon and will require annexation to the Village of Sharon.
The plant would use approximately 38 million bushels of corn annually, and Knight said area farmers would benefit from an estimated price increase of 16 cents per bushel of corn.
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