Phelps County Development Corporation, Courtesy
HOLDREGE — It was a full house at the 2024 PCDC Business Hall of Fame banquet on Monday, Nov. 4, at the newly remodeled Holdrege Country Club.
Nearly 200 people attended, including Nebraska Department of Economic Development Director KC Belitz, Nebraska Sen. Dave Murman, NDED Central Field Representative Kelly Gewecke, and Holdrege Mayor Jim Liffrig. It was the largest PCDC banquet in the organization’s history.
The theme was “Phelps County is Feeding and Fueling America.” Gov. Jim Pillen gave the keynote address focusing on Phelps County and Nebraska’s strengths – people, land, and water – and how those assets can help us strengthen the local economy and feed and fuel the world.
Pillen noted that he is the first Nebraska governor in over a century to be actively working in agriculture at the time of his election. He built a successful career as an entrepreneur in the swine industry.
The governor said Nebraska can strengthen its economy by not exporting its commodities.
“We need to grow our economy so we can turn our corn, our hay, and our soybeans into further value right here at home,” he said.
In his recent travels to places like South Korea, Japan and Vietnam, he learned about their interests in the bioeconomy and sustainable aviation fuel.
“I can tell you 7 or 8 years ago, when I was just a farmer in the pig industry, some of these things I probably thought was little hogwash,” he said.
But now he sees how important the bioeconomy is to the world and how Nebraska is poised to be a leader in this new economy with its greatest assets – people, land, and water.
“It’s really important that we understand who we are,” Pillen said. “Most of the people in this room are lifetime Nebraskans, and we must appreciate who we are.”
Nebraskans are hard-working and want to make a difference, Pillen said. He urged everyone in the room to remind our young people about this great asset and encourage them to stay in the state.
Another of the state’s strengths is its land mass. Pillen said Nebraska has close to 12 million acres of irrigated crops and another 12 million acres of dryland crops.
“We raise more per acre, because of how we are able to use our water, than anywhere else in the world,” he said.
Nebraska farmers have learned how to produce more bushels with less water and use precision farming to take crop production to the next level, Pillen said.
He sees the bioeconomy as an unchartered opportunity for Nebraska. However, he and his team carefully vet companies wanting to come into the state for these opportunities.
“We have the largest most sustainable aquifer in the western hemisphere, and there’s a lot of things we need to do to protect that,” he said. “We have companies coming to the state of Nebraska that have no interest in doing anything other than taking from us.”
Unlike other companies who’ve been turned down due to their lack of benefits to Nebraska and its natural resources, Pillen said DG Fuels has promised many community benefits and to preserve natural resources.
“We need anyone that comes to Nebraska to love this place like we do, and they will be givers not takers,” Pillen said. “DG Fuels is coming here to make an investment in Nebraska and Phelps County.”
DG Fuels announced in August its plans to invest $5 billion in Phelps County to build a plant to turn corn stover into sustainable aviation fuel. Once completed, the plant will create 640 permanent jobs. It is expected to have a $453 million compensation effect on the area, generate more than $140 million in annual feedstock premium to farmers, and generate a 15.7 percent increase in area retail sales.
DG Fuels CEO Mike Darcy sent a prerecorded video message that was shown during the banquet.
“The extraordinary leadership of PCDC’s Shane Westcott and the state has solidified our decision to invest in the community,” Darcy said. “Special thanks to Gov. Jim Pillen and the Nebraska Bioeconomy for your support of our initiative and the vision to make Nebraska the epicenter of the world’s bioeconomy. DG Fuels is looking forward to leveraging the exemplary farming community in the area to drive significant economic revenue to farmers and the local community as we make your corn stover into sustainable aviation fuel.”
Darcy said DG Fuels has partnerships with Delta, Airbus and Air France, who are all committed to lowering the carbon footprint on long-term purchases of sustainable aviation fuel. DG Fuels expects to begin production at the new Phelps County plant by 2030.
PCDC Board President Shane Westcott said in his opening remarks that the PCDC banquet was about celebrating the great life in Phelps County.
“There are so many wonderful things on our horizons, it’s hard to contain my excitement,” Westcott said. “We’ve been blessed with unparalleled natural resources that we’re called on to protect. Stewardship of our land, our people, and our culture can open doors to the right kind of opportunities for us. This is our time.”
The banquet also included the induction of two businesses into the Phelps County Business Hall of Fame. Cross Diamond Cattle of Bertrand was selected as the Ag Innovator of the Year. South-Central Diesel was selected as the Legacy Business of the Year.
