By Andrea McBride
News Editor
CARO — On Thursday, Aug. 13, POET Biorefining brought together farmers, investors, families and local leaders for the first ever POET Ethanol Day, which offered facility tours and a complimentary barbecue lunch.
Photo courtesy of Dave Gloer
Farmers, investors, families and local leaders take a tour of the POET Biorefining plant in Caro. About 300 people gathered at the plant Thursday, Aug. 13 for POET Day, which was an event to thank POET supporters and celebrate the release of POET’s first ever economic impact study.
The event served as a way to thank community members and stakeholders for their support and involvement in the ethanol plant and also to celebrate the release of POET’s first-ever economic impact study.
About 300 people attended the event, which took place at seven POET facilities throughout the United States last week.
Farmers who bring corn to the the plant and their families were invited to POET day, along with local leaders and investors.
The economic impact study’s results show POET’s impact on national economic growth and job creation last year.
In 2014, the company, which has 27 dry mill corn ethanol plants in the U.S., generated $13.5 billion in sales for U.S. businesses, added $5.4 billion in national gross domestic product, supported an estimated 39,978 full-time jobs and contributed $3.1 billion in income for American families.
The study also found that the company helps to reduce the outflow of money to foreign producers of oil by almost $5.5 billion. In addition, the production of 1.7 billion gallons of POET ethanol reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 874,000 metric tons.
The statewide impact results are unique because Caro is the only plant in Michigan. These results show that the Caro plant alone is responsible for $339.9 million in business revenues, $95.2 million in gross domestic product, $57.5 million in household earnings and $6.7 million in state and local taxes.
“This facility is a tremendous contributor to our local economy,” said Caro POET Biorefining General Manager Dave Gloer.
The plant also recently received the Best Overall Performance award, which Gloer said is a “significant accomplishment” since there are 26 other plants.
“The city of Caro and the Tuscola County residents should take great pride in having the best ethanol plant in America located right here,” Gloer said.
The plant produces ethanol, high-quality animal feed, and also began producing corn oil in the last three years. The ethanol stays local, while half of the the animal feed and corn oil stays local and the other half goes out of state.
POET Biorefining has locations in South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. The Michigan plant opened in 2002.