Bioenergy park is proposed

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

ROCHELLE - The Hub City has staked much of its future on the success of its past. The city where 9,500 residents celebrate a rich railroad history every summer over hobo stew at the Railroad Days festival, is building its own municipal rail line and switchyard designed primarily to shuttle agricultural freight around a planned 2,000-acre bioenergy industrial park. The park will sit on the twin intersections of Interstates 39 and 88 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. Combine that transportation access with sizable investments in municipal utilities, and the picture emerges of a city with the will to grow. Jason Anderson, the city's economic development director, says the various tax incentives available through enterprise zones could help fuel job growth in what the city envisions as a massive bioenergy research and development park. "We need the enterprise zones to move down here," Anderson said. "Laying the infrastructure and attracting developers is the hard part. The enterprise zone is the icing on the cake. It's an extra enticement for developers who might not be interested otherwise. "I see big things when it comes to renewable energy." At least one company already has taken the bait. The Illinois River Energy ethanol plant, which sits on the Lee-Ogle border just south of Rochelle, is doubling its production capacity after three years in business. As part of the new construction, the enterprise zone and Lee County boards approved enterprise zone space in both counties. The only other business to receive enterprise zone concessions in Ogle County is the Global III intermodal rail yard, a three-year-old ocean of track and heavy equipment owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. Both companies have left room to grow and enjoy a relationship reflective of Anderson's bioenergy vision. The mealy waste from ethanol production has become a valuable commodity in the Far East and Southeast Asia, where rapidly developing nations look to American farms for low-cost alternatives for livestock feeds. The byproduct, generally called DDGs (or dried distiller's grains), also has become one of Global III's more frequently shipped items. While the two companies have benefited from millions of dollars in local and state tax incentives, enterprise zones remain a limited resource and convincing stakeholders to endorse the valuable acreage could prove an uphill battle if Rochelle officials ask for any abatements in Ogle County where most of the city is located. The Lee-Ogle zone had doled out 95 percent of the space allowable by the state, leaving less than one acre. Zone Administrator John Thompson said the limited space doesn't pose many problems when new businesses express interest in enterprise zone concessions because the zones are fluid. With a supporting vote of the local Enterprise Zone Advisory Board, and the blessing of zone officials in Springfield, the boundaries can move. Statewide, enterprise zones are administered by a board consisting of its participating members and municipalities. For the Lee-Ogle zone, those members are the mayors of Amboy, Ashton, Dixon, Franklin Grove, Paw Paw, the board chairman of Lee County and the director of the Lee County Industrial Development Association, which administers the zone. Anderson says Rochelle isn't asking for enterprise zones in Ogle County. That has only happened twice, and both times it took months of lobbying mayors and the Lee County Board. The proposed bioenergy park spans a corridor between the southern edge of the city and the northern edge of Steward, two-thirds of which sits in Lee County. Recently, most zone allotment for industrial growth has gone toward providing sales-tax exemptions for wind-energy turbines, an industry that soon may provide millions in property-tax receipts for the county but few new jobs. Reach Sam Smith at 815-284-2222, 815-625-3600 or 800-798-4085, ext. 525.