The Associated Press reports in $200K Loan Helps Senate President's Business Hang On:
. . .An Associated Press check of businesses owned by top lawmakers or other figures found a range of notable applicants. Granite Falls Energy, an ethanol maker in which South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem lists an interest, shows in the Treasury data as receiving between $350,000 and $1 million.
An email to Granite Falls Energy went unanswered. A spokesman for Noem didn’t immediately respond to a question about her stake in the company. . . .
Noem, chair of the Governors' Biofuel Coalition, isn't the only friend Granite Falls Energy enjoys. Former Minnesota House Minority Leader Marty Seifert serves as Alternate on the Board of Governors. We don't know if he holds a financial stake in the company.
It's no secret that the firm received aid from the Payroll Protection Program. In mid-June, the Marshall Independent reported in Pandemic puts the hurt on ethanol industry; Sen. Klobuchar hears concerns from area ethanol producers:
. . .Biofuel producers said the pandemic has had a big negative impact, not just on their industry, but on the Minnesota farmers who grow the corn that gets made into ethanol.
“We have two plants, Granite Falls and Heron Lake, and they both shut down for two months,” said Steve Christensen, CEO of Granite Falls Energy. While Granite Falls Energy was able to keep paying employees through the Payroll Protection Program, Christensen said, “The big thing was, that’s 4 million bushels a month between the two plants that we didn’t purchase from farmers.”
In early April, Ethanol Producer magazine reported in Granite Falls Energy extends annual shutdown, considers idling:
Granite Falls Energy LLC filed an 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 9 announcing it will extend the regularly scheduled annual shutdown of its 62 MMgy ethanol plant in Granite Falls, Minnesota, through at least April 17.
The filing notes that the annual shutdown began on April 3. “The company utilizes the regulatory scheduled annual temporary shutdown period to perform maintenance and other operational improvements,” Granite Falls Energy said in the document.
In observance of social distancing guidelines, the company said it staggering the presence of contractors on its premise during the shutdown.
Granite Falls Energy also indicated company officials are considering whether it is appropriate for the plant to remain idle after April 17 due to market risks and uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its ramifications. “The company will continue to consider the information available to it and will provide additional disclosure in the event that the company chooses to extend the idle period,” Granite Falls Energy said in the filing.
Many U.S. ethanol plants have reduced production or idled in recent weeks due to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on April 8 indicates ethanol production fell to an average of 672,000 barrels per day the week ending April 3. That volume is down 330,000 barrels per day when compared to the same week of 2019, and down 407,000 barrels per day when compared production during the final week February 2020.
Over at SDPB, ace business and economic development reporter Seth Tupper blogged South Dakota's Paycheck Protection Program Loans Mapped and Listed.
No word yet on whether Noem personally profited from this burst of sudden socialism in her own state. See Dakota Free Press for a quick read of the data in Paycheck Protection Program Sends SD at Least $1.3B, Saves over 180K Jobs.
Related posts
- Is Governors' Biofuels Coalition a cockamamie distraction by Walz? Some lawmakers say so
- POET idles four ethanol plants in SD & IA
Photo: Granite Falls Energy operates an ethanol plant in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Photo from Granite Falls Energy, via Ethanol Producer Magazine.
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