Officials of the Tate and Lyle corn wet milling plant in Fort Dodge announced Thursday the layoff of 56 of its 90 employees. The director of community and government relations Chris Olsen said that most of the layoffs were immediate though a few of these employees will remain on the job through June 3rd.
Twenty employees will be retained to preserve the plant’s equipment and prepare for an eventual startup. The remaining employees will be transferred to other Tate and Lyle facilities. Ground was broken for the corn wet milling plant in Fort Dodge back in September, 2006, and was to have been completed this spring. Back on March 18th, the construction came to a halt after three years due to the current market conditions for ethanol.
Company officials are hopeful for a turnaround in the market and an eventual completion of the ethanol facility located just west of Fort Dodge.