ALBION - Michigan is the home of auto plants, coke ovens, blast furnaces and mining operations, each of which have their own particular catch-phrases and buzz-words.

The same holds true for ethanol production plants, which are growing in Michigan like a well-watered field of corn. One ethanol plant, in Caro, is operating. The second plant scheduled to come on-line is The Andersons Albion Ethanol Plant, which the building trades were quickly bringing to completion last month.

"We already have corn in the silos, the first grind is scheduled for July 31," said Buzz Seydel, just a week prior to that deadline. He's the site manager for ICM, the project's engineering, procurement and construction manager. The "first grind" refers to the corn-crushing first phase of ethanol production.

The $86 million plant's first ethanol is slated to be pumped Aug 4-5, on the way to producing 55 million gallons a year. At peak, as many as 280 construction workers have toiled on the fast-paced ethanol plant since it began less than a year ago.

"The progress has been excellent," Seydel said. "I give a lot of credit to the building trades craftspeople out here. They've done an excellent job. From a mechanical standpoint, the unions and the tradespeople have really helped us out."

He said ICM design-builds about 75 percent of the ethanol plants in the nation, but this is the first they have self-performed.

The project's workforce began at about 50 percent union/nonunion, but IBEW Local 445 Business Manager Steve Claywell said the number of union workers has steadily increased as the job progressed. "We started with a smaller piece of the work, and we're finishing with a bigger piece," he said. "It's a tribute to our efforts and work habits that our employment numbers have increased out here. They obviously appreciate the skills of union labor."

The Andersons Albion plant will process about 20 million bushels of corn into 55 million gallons of ethanol and approximately 175,000 tons of distillers grains annually.

Andersons said there are currently 91 ethanol plants nationwide that have the capacity to produce over 4 billion gallons annually. There are 20 ethanol plants and three major expansions under construction with a combined annual capacity of over 1.1 billion gallons.

According to the Michigan Corn Growers Association Michigan, there are three other ethanol plants in our state that are either under construction or in their final permitting stages: Midwest Grain Processors (Blissfield); U.S. Bio Woodbury (Lake Odessa), and Marysville Ethanol (Marysville).
"Demand for affordable, renewable ethanol is skyrocketing," said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen, when ground was first moved on the Albion plant. "By filling this need, The Andersons Albion Ethanol will be helping consumers across the country and creating jobs in Michigan."

The plant is expected to employ about 33 with full- and part-time jobs.

"We must also express our appreciation to the state, county and township governing bodies, and their economic development units, for their strong support of the project. It simply would not have gotten off the ground without their cooperation," said Mike Anderson, president and CEO of The Andersons, Inc.

Ethanol is a gasoline additive derived from corn, which the company expects to market to gasoline blenders and refineries in the Great Lakes region. Other co-products of the plant include distillers dried grains, an animal feed ingredient, and carbon dioxide, which will be processed and packed by a third party processor.

With gasoline prices settling in at $3 per gallon, the use of ethanol is increasingly seen as an alternative fuel. According to the corn growers, there are two common types of ethanol blends used for passenger vehicles. E10, which is widely available and approved by auto manufacturers, is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent unleaded gasoline. The other is E85, which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. E85 is used in flex-fuel vehicles.

With ethanol plants increasing in Michigan, the building trades will be increasingly exposed to the process of turning corn into fuel. While we don't have space to relate the complexities of ethanol production, building trades workers will be increasingly exposed to installing new technologies like "enzymatic processing," "liquefaction tanks," "fermenters," "vacuum distillation" and "rectifier columns."

"Promoting the development and use of alternative energies is vital to the state's economic success in the 21st century," said Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. "This new plant will turn an important agricultural resource into fuel for Michigan's future, helping Michigan farmers while advancing the nation's goal to become less dependent on foreign oil."

A CORNFIELD, of all things, abuts the new ethanol plant that has been erected in less than a year near Albion. Railroad cars will bring in the corn.

ASSEMBLING A conduit bracket at The Andersons Albion Ethanol Plant is Lance Dougherty of IBEW Local 445 and Aladdin Electric.

CO2 piping is assembled at The Andersons Ethanol Plant by Mick Dickinson of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters 333, working for W. Soule.