All Energy expected to move quickly once decision is reached

There may be an ethanol plant in Manchester’s future.

Scott Zabler, chief operations officer and director of risk management and James Broghammer, chief executive officer for All Energy Inc., discussed the possibility of a 100 million gallon a year ethanol plant being built in Manchester at the City Council meeting on July 10.

Zabler and Broghammer, who are also part of the ownership group for All Energy along with Bibb Swain and Dean Sukowatey, said they hope to build a total of five plants between Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. All Energy is currently working on the Pine Lake Corn Processors facility near Steamboat Rock on Highway 20.

All Energy is looking at a number of locations beside Manchester and is in the process of getting five sites selected.

“We want to pursue things at a quick speed,” Zabler said of the timeline for making a decision, “But other people are involved.

“Every month that goes by is another month that we can’t take advantage of a good economic situation in the ethanol industry.”

Broghammer did tell the council that if another ethanol plant were built in the area, it would hurt the chances of one being built in Manchester. Another company has announced a similar plant for Dyersville. Even if those plans move forward, Zabler said that would not necessarily eliminate Manchester as a site.

The facility would be a $155 million capital investment. Zabler said that no local investment would be needed for the project to get done, but said the opportunity to invest may be made available to the public on a limited basis.

The plant would require area at least 80 acres in size, with rail access being key to bring corn in and ship out ethanol to the Chicago area. The plant would be similar in size to Cargill in Cedar Rapids.

The plant would require 40 million bushels of corn each year. Delaware County raised a total of 30 million bushels last year, meaning corn from all over northeast Iowa would be coming into Manchester. That would increase truck traffic, as they expect about 100 trucks a day.

All Energy is asking for the City of Manchester to meet some needs to build the plant, including applying for RISE grants to make improvements to Highway 13. They also want the city to abate taxes on the property for 10 years.

Manchester would have to provide infrastructure for sewer and water. It would be a dry-mill process, but they need the ability to draw 1,000 gallons per minute. Zabler said they would prefer to drill their own well, but still would have the city water as a backup.

All Energy will have to apply for a water discharge permit before construction. Their wastewater would not be discharged into the sewer system. All Energy would also like the site to become an enterprise zone for tax reasons.

The plant will take 14 months to build, and during the last few months of construction there would be 400 people working on site.

The plant would have at least 50 permanent employees.

The Manchester Council members present all felt the project was worth pursuing and informed Zabler and Broghammer to continue discussions with City Manager Tim Vick and others city officials.