Renewable Fuels/Green Energy

Building New Green Energy and Renewable Fuels Market Opportunities In January 2005, Ms. Sauget created and launched a new "Green Energy" marketing and communication initiative to bring new life to several former Brownfield industrial sites located in the Village of Sauget, Illinois. In the past, thousands of employees went to work each day in the heavy industrial plants located in Sauget. When many of these facilities downscaled or closed operations, the area was left with a large number of abandoned and vacant former heavy industry plants. As a result, the area has extensive underutilized infrastructure, such as water, sewer, roads, electrical power, natural gas, etc., which we have turned into an asset for new businesses looking for a home in our regional area.  The Village of Sauget is well positioned as a prime location with direct access to the Mississippi River, in close proximity to two major rail yards (Alton & Southern and Union Pacific Railroads), and in the center of major transportation arteries connecting the East and West Coasts of the United States. The Village of Sauget is also strategically located in the BioBelt for agricultural production of corn, soybeans, and other renewable fuels feed stocks. The Explorer Pipeline runs through the Village of Sauget, transporting gasoline and diesel from Houston, Texas, to Chicago, Illinois, and is also a strategic advantage. To start attracting new green energy and renewable fuels companies, Ms. Sauget fostered a strategic alliance with the National Corn-To-Research Institute located nearby at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Illinois. The alliance helped to attract high potential green energy companies. The State of Illinois and Village of Sauget provided new companies with an attractive combination of financial incentives. She worked with the companies and helped them navigate through the various different financial incentives. Additionally, Ms. Sauget assisted new companies to move through the construction and environmental permitting process more quickly. In the past, bottlenecks in the financial incentives and permitting process have been very problematic for many companies and often resulted in the companies locating in other states. The combination of existing infrastructure, strategic location, agricultural resources, financial incentives and permitting made the Village of Sauget a prime location for the redevelopment of the area into a green energy renewable fuels production and distribution center to transport product to other areas in the United States and to international markets. In phase I of the Green Energy Initiative, Ms. Sauget helped attract the following new green energy renewable fuels companies and projects to the area and assisted the firms in gaining financial incentives and expediting environmental permitting process:  Center Ethanol Company - On August 31, 2006, Center Ethanol Company broke ground in the Village of Sauget, Illinois, on a new 100 million gallon ethanol plant at an estimated cost of $125M. The extensive existing utilities infrastructure, access to the Mississippi River, close proximity to two major rail yards (Alton & Southern and Union Pacific Railroads), and major transportation arteries attracted the firm to build its new plant in Sauget. The existing infrastructure accounted for 20% of the up front capital cost reductions. The State of Illinois also provided a $5.8M financial incentive package to Center Ethanol to locate the ethanol plant in the regional area. After gaining support from local environmental community, Center Ethanol received its permit from IEPA in record time of only eight weeks. Eagle Marine Industries and SCF Agri/Fuels LLC, a division of Seacor Holdings, Inc. - On April 11, 2007, Eagle Marine Industries announced a $12.5M new deep water, intermodal renewable fuels terminal, The Gateway Terminal Limited. The new terminal was a strategic addition to the Green Energy Initiative by competitively positioning the Village of Sauget as a central distribution point for renewable fuels (both ethanol and biodiesel) in the Midwest BioBelt to national and international energy markets. The new terminal will include five new 98,900 barrel tanks for storage of renewable fuels. The new terminal will be located on Eagle Marine Industries' existing 165 acre multi-product terminal in Sauget and will have unique transportation assets, including direct access to the Mississippi River with a liquids barge dock, new railroad track for the loading and unloading of 95 car unit trains, access to Explorer pipeline and multiple interstate highway access. Fred Weber Crown Excel Transfer/Biomass Facility - In June 2006, Fred Weber Crown Excel announced its intent to build a new recycling/biomass transfer station in the Village of Sauget as part of the "Green Energy" Initiative. The new facility will serve as a central point for the Metro East where municipal trash and industry waste will be recycled and used in new energy processes. The recycling/biomass station is a welcome edition to the area by providing local communities with an option to keep waste out of local landfills and used to produce energy. Hundreds of trucks are expected to bring waste to the recycling station daily.