MN2020: Expanding Value Added in Swift County
Channel: Minnesota 2020
Date: 2011-08-12

Too many corn farmers in greater Minnesota used to see their crops hauled out of the state and exported out of the country, taking local economic development along with them. As technology advanced, crop yields spiked, and the demand for domestic fuel sources grew, a group of corn farmers started a value-added ethanol plant in Benson, MN in 1995.  The Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) produces cleaner buring gasoline, as well as industrial and beverage grade alcohols in Swift County.