Group seeks $30 million for ethanol plant in Granite Falls

GRANITE FALLS (AP) -- Investors here hope to raise $30 million for an ethanol plant.

Granite Falls Community Ethanol Plant has submitted a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to raise the money through the sale of 30,000 limited liability membership units.

The company plans to build a "dry mill" ethanol plant on a 31-acre site outside this western Minnesota city. It would employ 30 people and would have the capacity to convert about 15 million bushels of corn to produce 40 million gallons of ethanol a year.

Ethanol is a required fuel additive in Minnesota and competes with certain petroleum products that oxygenate gasoline.

The plant also would produce approximately 130,000 tons of dry distiller grains per year as a byproduct. Distiller grains are a high protein, high-energy animal feed supplement primarily marketed to the dairy and beef industry.

According to the SEC registration statement, the company will also have to raise $25 million to $37 million in debt financing to fund the proposed plant, depending on the success of the equity offering.