Ethanol plant wins loan guarantee

The U-S Department of Agriculture is guaranteeing a 12-point-five-million dollar loan for an ethanol plant in Galva, Iowa. Dan Brown is the state director for the U-S-D-A’s Rural Development office. He says the loan guarantee is the final piece needed in helping the Quad County Corn Processors’ Cooperative build the plant. The group already has a site selected and the construction is underway. Brown says this loan guarantee is unique as the guarantee goes beyond the expiration of the funding legislation, which is 2007. He says it’s the first time the federal government has taken such a step. Brown says the coop has 416 members.The Galva plant will use six-point-eight million bushels of corn a year, producing 18 million gallons of ethanol. The plant will create 16 new jobs and is expected to be completed by January of 2002.