RUSHVILLE, Ind. – Most people in Rush County know Florida-based Cormo USA is up and running in its 108,000-square-foot facility in Rushville. And most know that the company converts corn stover, or crop residue, into value-added products such as sustainable peat moss and a foam-like construction material.

What many don’t realize is Stefan Muehlbauer, the CEO of Cormo USA, has a huge respect and admiration for the Hoosier state, and an even greater admiration of the corn growers within this state.

 “People have constantly asked me ‘why did you select Indiana for this facility,’’ Muehlbauer said. “We started looking at potential corn fields, because without corn stubs we have no business. We began looking at our home market in Florida and realized there wasn’t enough corn grown there for upscaling. When one looks at corn in the United States you naturally look at the Midwest and the Heartland.”

Muehlbauer didn’t want to operate in states where the silage is used for animal feed. “Indiana was a prime spot,” he said. “There’s not much cattle in the state and we also liked Indiana’s geographic location within the U.S. It seems like the place for a hub.”

But then, why Rushville?

“Until April 3 of this year I’ve never stepped foot in Indiana,” he said. “And, I believe I’ve never flown over Indiana. I was impressed with Indiana not only on the state level, but also on the local level. I particularly like Rush County, not just because they have a commerce park there and facilities we can use in the short term, but there’s this entrepreneurial drive in the community that surprising to see in a town of less than 8,000.”

Muehlbaurer discovered that drive in the eyes of the Indiana farmer when he held a ‘Farming Info Night’ with the help of Purdue Extension Rush County. There were 250 chairs in the room but there was a standing-room-only crowd that gathered and tuned in for 90 minutes.

The gathering impressed me,” Muehlbauer added. “I explained that one of the things we needed to do with our new technology was to work with them and essentially teach them a new way of harvesting, because of going over the field once, taking all the grain off the stalk and leaving the rest to be tilled or no-tilled, we required two cuts. Here we are asking these Indiana farmers to change their methods of harvesting, changing methods they’ve done for decades and decades, even generations. They were incredible. There was no push-back from anyone there being asked to make these changes.”

According to Muehlbauer, this fall those farmers will make their first cut at “mid-thigh to hip height,” just below the corn.

“This will require them to change their machinery to do a second cut a few weeks later,” he said. “Our staff has that know-how and we’re willing to tell them how. The great thing I noticed was these Indiana farmers had this entrepreneurial spirit to give it a try, and that’s one of the main reasons we chose this location.”

 Officials at Cormo say the continued improvements to the facility and additional local hires will ensure the plant is ready for equipment before the 2020 corn harvest. This facility will serve as an interim location for its Rushville operations. The company is continuing plans to build its own plant in the Rushville Commerce Park, with groundbreaking expecting to take place in the spring of 2021.

 When plans for the facility were first introduced in May 2019, Cormo said it was investing $30 million in the project, which would create up to 250 jobs by the end of 2023.

 “We needed a location where farming and agriculture is in the blood of people, and this was that location,” Muehlbauer said. “Also, Purdue University is one of the top ag schools in the world. They have great resources and know-how, and that’s the cherry on top of our sundae here.”