By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent REESE, Mich. — The Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) has announced that a project for a new soybean processing plant in Tuscola County is moving forward and has been awarded an $80,000 Michigan Business Development Program grant. According to a February announcement from MEDC, the project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $10 million and create eight new jobs. It's a project of Quality Roasting, LLC. of Valders, Wis. In January, the Michigan Strategic Fund approved a bond authorizing resolution for the issuance of $10 million in private activity bonds for Quality Roasting to acquire land, construct the facility and acquire and install machinery and equipment. “With Quality Roasting's construction of its new processing facility in Reese, the state's agriculture and food processing industries will become more competitive, and as a result, livestock farmers and consumers will benefit,” said Jeff Mason, CEO of the MEDC. “We welcome Quality Roasting to Michigan and look forward to working with the company as they grow and add jobs here.” Quality Roasting processes soybeans into soy meal and oil primarily for the dairy industry. The firm was established in 2018 as a joint venture between the parent company, Quality Roasting, Inc., and the DeLong Co. Inc. and will follow the business model of the parent company, which heats and presses soybeans to extract oil. The remaining soy meal is used for feed for dairy cattle. “The benefit to growers in Michigan is it will reduce the cost of freight to the end market,” said Mark Seaman, research coordinator at the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee. “It could also benefit dairy farmers who need a high quality dairy feed product. “They'll crush the product into meal and also use the oil from the bean to produce vegetable oil. This gives us another local market for our product, along with the new plant that's currently under construction.” Seaman was referring to another new soybean crushing facility project in Ithaca, which is owned by Zeeland Farm Services. In September 2018 a spokesman for that company said the plant was 15 percent completed and was on track to open this fall. “It's terrific to have this opportunity to have another market for soybean growers in this state,” Seaman added. He explained that a local soybean processing plant will reduce the cost of freight not only for the soybean grower, but also on the other side for dairy producers who need a local source of high-quality feed. The new plant in Ithaca, Mich. is about 48 miles west of Reese. “I'm happy to see this partnership between the state and a business within our community, making these important investments possible,” said state Rep. Phil Green. “The improvements and jobs will bring additional investment and increased economic activity to the village of Reese.” Green's district is based in Millington, a town about 16 miles from Reese. |
