Incobrasa Industries, a Brazilian-owned and -operated soybean processing and biodiesel manufacturing company, has broken ground on a $250 million expansion at its manufacturing facility in Gilman, Illinois.
Incobrasa has had a manufacturing presence in Illinois since 1997. The Gilman facility processes soybeans to produce animal feed, packaged vegetable oil and biodiesel. The company's capital investment will construct a new soybean crushing facility, adding 170,000 square feet of new state-of-the-art production facilities.
The company will also be constructing a 50-acre solar array to help power the facilities. This will have the capacity to generate 5 megawatts of energy, which can be used to provide power directly to the plant or to feed the grid.
As part of the expansion, the company received an Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credit, which specifies a minimum capital investment of $155.8 million.
"Today is an exciting day for Incobrasa and our community," said Aluizio Ribeiro, president/CEO of Incobrasa. "Because of the EDGE tax credit, we will be able to expand our workforce and our footprint with local farmers."
The expansion will create 40 new fulltime jobs while retaining 200 jobs.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker noted the expansion will help the company more than double its production capacity by 2030. According to the governor, this expansion will enable it to make use of the vast supply of soybeans that are available in Illinois, which is the largest soybean producer in the U.S.
""In addition to sustaining and creating new, permanent, good-paying careers, this new $250 million expansion will mean dozens of construction and installation jobs for workers here in Iroquois County and across the region," said Pritzker.
