By Russ Pankonin
    The Imperial Republican
     Construction of an ethanol plant in Imperial took a big step forward last week with the purchase of land for the plant.
     Officials with Central Bio-Energy, LLC (CBE) announced last week they had completed the purchase of land for the proposed 100-million gallon plant.
     The planned site is located just southwest of the Trinidad Benham facility at the Highway 6/61 junction and 333 Avenue at the southeast edge of Imperial.
     In their early stages of planning last summer, CBE obtained an option on the land owned by Dennis Kunnemann. They exercised that option last week.
     In addition, CBE President Gordon Glade announced the signing of an option for additional real estate adjacent to the location.
     "The location is ideally suited for ethanol production," Glade said.
     He added the supply of good water, good corn, good rail, lots of cattle, along with positive people who want to see their community succeed are all important components for a successful site.
     CBE is developing three 100-million gallon ethanol production facilities in Nebraska.
     Imperial will be the second of three plants and groundbreaking here is currently scheduled for later in 2007. The other locations include St. Paul and Utica.
     The company has already worked with the Upper Republican Natural Resource District to obtain an industrial water allocation for the plant.
     The permitting process with the Department of Environmental Quality is also underway for the plant.
    Community effort praised
     Danny Petersen, CBE senior vice-president and director of development, praised the team work of City Clerk/Administrator Jo Leyland, Community Development Director Leslie Carlholm and Jasper Fanning, manager of Upper Republican NRD, for their "commitment to the city of Imperial and Chase County and their hard work on the behalf of the CBE development."
     Imperial Mayor Annie Longan voiced support for the project. "The exercising of the option on the land demonstrates Central Bio's commitment to developing an ethanol plant in Imperial," she said.
     The completion of this project will not only significantly impact the economic base of Imperial and Chase County, but will spur additional economic development projects in our community, the mayor added.
     "We are honored to have received tremendous support from the leaders in Imperial. We look forward to being good corporate citizens in every Nebraska community where CBE operates and to creating exceptional careers," Glade said.