West Plains LLC, the company that resurrected the Port of Brownsville’s shuttered grain elevator, Brownsville, TX, was the recipient of the 2018 Chairman’s Award at the port’s Customer Appreciation Luncheon.
According to The Brownsville Herald, West Plains, whose parent company is Houston-based BioUrja Group, entered into an agreement with the port in 2016 to restore and operate the elevator, which has a capacity of 3 million bushels of grain.
To date, the company has invested $7 million in the facility and plans to spend another $9 million in 2019, according to the port.
West Plains’ phase-two plans include partnering with the port on rehabilitating the elevator’s marine cargo dock in order to allow grain exports via water.
The company employs 22 people and uses about 200 truckers.
