For years, cheese makers in Wisconsin have struggled with what to do with the whey permeate left over from making cheese. One method was to spread it on fields, which was a stinky proposition. A new company soon to launch in Greenwood, Wis., focuses on converting the byproduct to a variety of sustainable products, attracting the attention of the region, and cheese makers worldwide.
The Greenwood site is located in the heart of Clark County's artisan cheese making cluster, a county where there are two cows per person. One of the area's cheese making companies worked to perfect the sustainable processes, where it will turn the whey permeate into ethanol, clean the water to reuse in the cheese making processes, and provide a feed product to cattle.
“This project fits in with the nearly zero waste factor we are proud of in rural areas,” says Shelia Nyberg, executive director, Clark County Economic Development Corp. “We have always been green and sustainable; however, now we see new opportunities in our region and others want to learn from us and assist us in being green.”
In another project, a company will turn food waste to a power source. In one of its initiatives, the company aims to provide power to the Central Wisconsin Agribusiness Innovation Center, which will be located in the 71-acre park Clark County Agribusiness Park that is under development. Another 87 acres can be added to the park's footprint. “The university system in the state is working with us on the innovation center,” Nyberg notes. “We are also working with stakeholders in R&D, labs and incubation. We want the center to be a partner to businesses that locate to the park.”
Nyberg says the new business park will offer ideal access to the ag marketplace because it will be located in the center of Wisconsin, and is between Green Bay and Minneapolis, a corridor that is home to many agribusiness-based companies.
Water World
That complete supply chain of access to raw materials; low-cost utilities, including an abundant source of water; a workforce and a supply base experienced in ag markets; and a research component are important to food processing and agribusiness operations.
Food processing companies will be interested in the abundant supply of high-quality tested water in the Covington and Alleghany County region of Virginia. A unique opportunity has presented itself in the form of existing infrastructure, in this case a facility with its own water supply. “We are not expecting someone to buy all 552,000 square feet [of the facility] and 140 acres, so the owner is willing to sell the water source off separately,” says David Kleppinger, executive director, Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Corp. “A company could buy and build immediately adjacent to it or can occupy part of the existing plant.”
Kleppinger says his area is located at the nexus point of two regions in which food processing and food packaging are industry strengths, one being the Roanoke Valley. “We are located adjacent to the Shenandoah Valley where there is an impressive cluster of food processing companies,” he notes. “Food processing firms have found the western part of Virginia is a good place to do business. This area has a history of manufacturing and an available workforce, good training systems and good support networks in place.”
Moving to the West United States, an abundant supply of pure and high quality water allows ag-related industries to thrive in Baker County, Ore. The community is located in northeast Oregon, 70 miles from the Idaho border. The county's ag industry includes ranching operations involved in organic beef production, and ranches involved in genetic engineering activities to raise more productive bulls. A pilot project underway in the county takes the debris left over from timber activities (once a larger industry), called slash, and is working to convert it to a charcoal soil additive.
In the 10-county region of northeast Indiana, home to 97 food processing companies, companies will find access to raw materials, logistics advantages, tax advantages, firms experienced in meeting the unique needs of food and ag industries, experienced talent and several research centers and initiatives dedicated to supporting the industry.
Economic developers have been taking a deeper look in to the region's food processing cluster, which includes Edy's Grand Ice Cream, Kraft and Red Gold, in order to respond to the industry's needs. Working in conjunction with the Community Research Institute at Fort Wayne's Indiana University-Purdue University, the region's officials reviewed advantages such as low costs for energy and water, one of the best tax climates in the Midwest, and employment data. They also found that mature companies are most concerned with taxes, low costs for utilities, and the ongoing availability of the utilities, particularly water.
These firms also want to be quickly up and running in new or expanded facilities. “We have a depth of contractors to get them up and running, including Shambaugh and Son located in Fort Wayne, and which is a national player in building food processing companies,” says Rob Drummond, president, OnCall PSN LLC, which worked with the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership to review the advantages of the region's food processing cluster.
Advantages such as access to raw materials and markets play heavily in food processing firms' decisions to locate in northeast Indiana. “The state ranks third in poultry production, fourth in soybean production, second in popcorn, and fifth in corn for grain production, among other rankings,” says Mark Becker, executive director, Northeast Indiana Fund, which is the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership's foundation. “We are also located at the center of the eastern U.S. market, which can be reached in one day by truck.”
Food processors will also find several centers in the northeast Indiana region dedicated to the food industry, such as Purdue University's Center for Integrated Food Manufacturing, The Indiana Center for New Crops and Plant Products, and a sensory evaluation lab. The Agricultural Innovation and Commercialization Center has a technical assistance program for businesses to access.
In Emporia, Kan., stakeholders in the area's animal nutrition cluster and the food processing cluster are exploring ways faculty at Emporia State University could provide assistance to the private sector in areas such as quality control, training and food safety. “Most of our plants have analytical labs to ensure ingredients are pure and of the highest quality,” says Kent Heermann, president, Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas. “We are looking at partnerships that would be mutually beneficial to food processing manufacturing companies and the university, such as with training, analytical endeavors or internships that lead to employment.”
Group Effort
Food processing companies in northeast Indiana also understand the power of working together on issues such as educational training, for instance a series on food safety. “There is a sense of collaboration that we can achieve more together by looking at areas such as business climate and workforce development issues than we can individually,” Becker says.
The same outlook on the benefits of regional collaboration is taking root in southwest Kansas. The region is an ag-based economy, which is preparing for future growth coming their way in regard to activities surrounding the Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas LLC project in Hugoton, which will be a $550 biomass-to-ethanol, as well as traditional grain-to-ethanol facility. The project is predicted to be a game changer for the region's agribusiness industry.
“We will definitely see some different types of business activity going forward once Abengoa is up and running,” says Kevin Wagner, a member of the Haskell County Advisory Committee on Economic Development. He is also senior vice president of Centera Bank in Satanta. “The company's plan is to harvest the stocks left on the ground,” Wagner says. “It has developed an elaborate system for replacing soil nutrients so that the system is sustainable over the long haul.”
Haskell County is adjacent to Stevens County, which is where Abengoa, a Spain-based firm, will build. Haskell County is the No. 1 corn growing county in the state of Kansas; as well as the No. 1 location for the number of cattle on feed. The county also has a large oil and gas sector.
Wagner points out that Haskell County is located in the middle of a significant number of cattle feed yards. “We have a huge demand for the feed stuffs that goes to the feed yards,” he says. Other assets for the agribusiness sector include upgrades to the region's rail system in order to support the increases in rail movements linked to the Abengoa plant. Several counties are funding the upgrades.
In regard to facilities and land considerations, Haskell County's officials have been developing sites for commercial and/or industrial use. Depending on the economic investment, some of the land could be given away to support the effort.
Moving east to Missouri, another ag-related project is expected to have an impact in the southeastern part of the state, bringing next generation ag jobs to the area. DuPont announced in March that Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. will invest $55 million to build a commercial and parent soybean seed production facility in New Madrid County. Pioneer's high yielding Y Series soybeans have created a growing demand for the seeds. The new production facility is expected to be operational in fall 2011, employing 50 people. “This location strengthens our ability to bring new products to the market faster and to help farmers increase their productivity and profit,” says Paul Schickler, president, Pioneer.
The Missouri Technology Corp. partnered with economic development officials to bring the Pioneer project to the state. The project is expected to strategically market Missouri's strengths in agriculture-biotechnology, as well as bring these next-gen jobs to all corners of the state.
In Wisconsin, Nyberg says the aims of creating a nearly zero waste factor, and the opportunities to work together prevail in the region. “We are in the mindset to make sure we are sustaining what we have here, and we are seeing that response from the companies that have made contact with us,” Nyberg says.
For complete details on the organizations featured in this article, visit:
Alleghany Highlands (Va.) Economic Development Corp., www.allhighlands.org
Baker County (Ore.) Economic Development Office, www.bakercountyedc.org
Clark County (Wis.) Economic Development Corp., www.clark-cty-wi.org
Haskell County, Kan., www.haskellcounty.org
Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, www.chooseneindiana.com
Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas, www.emporiarda.org
Agribusiness/Food Processing
Based on number of establishments, first quarter 2008 to first quarter 2009.
Startups
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. California
4. Michigan
5. North Carolina
6. New York
7. Ohio
8. Virginia
9. Georgia
10. Colorado
New Branches
1. California
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Illinois
5. Georgia
6. Pennsylvania (Tie)
6. New Jersey (Tie)
8. Ohio
9. Massachusetts
10. New York (Tie)
10. Virginia (Tie)
Employment
1. California
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Iowa
5. Illinois
6. Ohio
7. Minnesota
8. Wisconsin
9. New York
10. Michigan
Data includes the following classifications:
43-000 Food Products
11-000 Crops
11-300 Livestock
11-400 Agricultural Services
Source: Since 1990, BizMiner has built its reputation on quality research in the fields of economic and business development. The company tracks more than 12 million U.S. businesses annually, developing vitality benchmarks and reports on more than 16,000 lines of business in every U.S. county, MSA and state. Measures include sales, business retention, entrepreneurial activity, new branch attraction and business relocation trends. Visit www.bizminer.com for access to more than 5 million local and national market research and financial analysis reports.
