Western Iowa may be getting another biodiesel plant, this time in Crawford County. Last night, the Manilla city council and utilities board held a joint meeting during which they both unanimously approved splitting the costs of a feasibility study for the project. The initial concept is to work with the Ralston-based Renewable Energy Group to build a biodiesel plant identical to the 30-million gallon facility currently being built at Wall Lake. The council and board agreed to sign a consultant contract with Jim Venner of Agrivision Enterprises L.L.C. of Breda. Venner developed the initial concept which got the Wall Lake plant project going when he was consulting for Sac County R-E-C. The site being considered for the plant is an enterprise zone on the north side of Manilla. It’s estimated the project could create up to 32 new jobs and a payroll of one-million dollars per year.
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