Shot in the Dark

More Jobs!

…Inver Grove Heights-based CHS corporation is building a new fertilizer plant:

CHS, a farmer-owned cooperative based in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, said its board of directors gave final approval of the project on Thursday.

“With this decision, CHS is taking an important, strategic step on behalf of its membership owners by ensuring them reliable domestic supply of nitrogen fertilizers essential to help farmers raise healthy, profitable crops,” Casale said in a statement.

Casale said plant construction could begin this fall, and operating in 2018. It would employ between 160 and 180 workers, the company said.

And oh, yeah – it’s going to be in the Berg ancestral home of Jamestown, ND. 

Another Minnesota company, sending jobs to a neighboring state.

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Mitch Berg

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13 responses to “More Jobs!”

  1. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    To be fair, as fertilizer is made from natural gas, I’m guessing that proximity to the Bakken has something to do with it. Now if only we could get a “pipline” built…..

  2. Night Writer Avatar
    Night Writer

    Those North Dakota folks sure are lucky!

  3. Seflores Avatar
    Seflores

    CHS is a local hero. CHS just paid for the naming rights for the new state sponsored minor league baseball field in St Paul. This equation in Lefty algebra is expressed as follows: Symbolic Corporate Gesture > 160-180 permanent jobs being created out of state.
    Elsewhere in symbolism – local extruded food conglomerate conglomerated hippy-dip box macaroni & cheese maker for 820 million dollars. Lefty’s everywhere upset that the massive just got a tiny bit massiver in W’s Amerikkka. Er, make that Obamas ‘America’. Seems “Annie” couldn’t stave off increased commodity costs and decided to sell out to General Mills (the GMO Giant) rather than make less profit.
    http://www.realfarmacy.com/annies-sells-gmo-giant-general-mills/
    PS: “Annie” the Hippy Dip Box Macaroni & Cheese maker was already super rich from selling her pre-made bagged popcorn company for millions to a sugar water & snack food conglomerate years ago. Sell out.

  4. Seflores Avatar
    Seflores

    Related yet likely to get me banned: Any truth to the rumor that Jamestownians celebrated the fertilizer factory announcement by staying up past 9:00PM?

  5. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    MBerg: The article goes on to mention the reason they are constructing the plant in Spiritwood, ND.

    “One key advantage the Spiritwood site offers is location, Casale added. It will be positioned on top of natural gas pipeline, taking advantage of access to the Bakken reserves. But it also offers to serve farmers in one of North America’s most logistically challenged regions.”

    “The CHS fertilizer plant will produce more than 2,400 tons of ammonia daily which will be further converted to urea, UAN and Diesel Exhaust Fuel (DEF). The majority of the nitrogen products from the plant will serve farmer-owned cooperatives and independent farm supply retailers within a 200-mile radius of the plant in the Dakotas, parts of Minnesota, Montana and Canada.”
    http://www.cnbc.com/id/101975377

  6. Joe Doakes Avatar
    Joe Doakes

    I’m not sure, Emery. Your article sounds as if CHS is taking advantage of an existing pipeline, but this one sounds as if the pipeline company is building 100 miles of new pipeline just for this plant.

    http://www.prairiebizmag.com/event/article/id/20584/publisher_ID/46/

    And this one points out the new Grand Forks fertilizer plant will draw natural gas from a Minnesota pipeline.

    http://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/north-dakota-fertilizer-plants-could-supply-entire-region/article_3beb9754-b057-11e3-a85a-001a4bcf887a.html

    And the Viking Gas Transmission Pipeline feeding Grand Forks gets its natural gas from Canada, not Bakken.

    http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/midwest.html

    Weird how Minnesota has the pipeline already in place but they’re building just across the line in North Dakota instead. Unless pipeline location is only a small component of the decision.

  7. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    Emery,

    As Doakes notes, there are plenty of gas pipelines in Minnesota. And if I’m not mistaken (and I might be), the same line that runs through Jamestown/Spiritwood (it’s a little town about 10 miles east of J on Old Hwy 10 – I used to bike there all the time when I was a kid) runs to Minnesota eventually.

    Other point: There are companies in North Dakota that produce fertilizer too. This is a Minnesota company that’s going to invest billions and create hundreds of jobs…

    …elsewhere.

    And not the first one, either. Last year, we wrote about a Minnesota company that’s planning to build a smelting plant – also in Jamestown, due to the same pipeline and a nearby power plant a rail line running down the same corridor, sure, but also lower regulations and taxes and a much smarter work force. It will be literally more cost-effective to build a plant to smelt taconite tailings from Virginia and Biwabik in North Dakota than in, well,l Virginia and Biwabik.

    Is that about gas and electricity? A tiny fraction of the money this state has squandered on the IRRB over the years would run gas and power lines anywhere they were needed…

    …were it not for the fact that Minnesota is a lousy business environment.

    Side note: Actually, that corridor on “Airport Road”, from Jamestown to Spiritwood, has turned into quite a little boom area. In addition to a huge barley-malting plant (that’s been there since the 80’s), there’s a huge potato-processing plant (note: Jamestown isn’t potato country – it’s known for durum. But Moorhead, Dilworth and Hawley are potato country. But there’s no potato plant there; they ship ’em to Jamestown), a couple of other smaller operations, and likely soon the fertilizer and iron plants.

  8. Loren Avatar
    Loren

    I don’t know, but electricity might be less in ND too. They might not have the legislated requirement that x% of power be from “renewable” sources. And we all know that wind power is more expensive.

  9. swiftee Avatar
    swiftee

    A new fertilizer plant? Well, no wonder Emery’s panties are in a wad…lefties hate competition.

  10. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    It might be noted, per our host’s comments about his hometown, that liberalism is not only an economic disaster, but also an ecological disaster. You don’t ship millions of tons of potatoes and iron ore across the border without burning a lot of diesel fuel, after all. Plus, shipping all that stuff is also going to keep the Great Northern from getting grain to market in a timely manner.

    Why does the left hate the environment, and why do they hate farmers?

  11. Chuck Avatar
    Chuck

    Could be less red tape to build in NoDak (see iron range projects). And as you all know, business like stability and predictability. That is what is holding back investment in Wisconsin. Things may be fine today under Governor Walker, but Wiscsonsin is a blue state and could go all leftwing in any given election.

  12. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    So EmeryTheUSAHater gets schooled – AGAIN. His non-sequitur dismissal via cribbed talking points is in 3… 2… 1…

  13. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    I’m more persuaded by CHS’ reasons.

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