GROWMARK Purchases Stake in Big River Resources
GROWMARK has made an investment in Big River Resources LLC, an ethanol production company, headquartered in West Burlington, Iowa, effective September 18.
GROWMARK CEO Mark Orr says GROWMARK believes ethanol will continue to be a strong driver of the agricultural industry with the potential for new and exciting innovative uses such as a feedstock for Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
“Our investment in Big River Resources aligns with GROWMARK’s strategic goals to diversify and strengthen our operations. This investment will enable us to capture new revenue streams and provide added value to our farmer members,” he said.
“We are pleased to welcome GROWMARK to the Big River team as a new investor. GROWMARK’s cooperative nature and focus of returning value to its member-owners and farmer customers aligns strongly with our goals,” said David Zimmerman, CEO of Big River Resources. “We are committed to the enhancement of local communities through continuing value-added corn processing as well as maximizing the growing carbon economy for our shareholders and producer-members. GROWMARK will be a strong partner for us in realizing these goals.”
In addition to being the sixth largest ethanol producer in the U.S., Big River’s operational footprint in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa aligns with the GROWMARK System, providing greater access to the upstream value added to the corn produced by GROWMARK’s farmer customers.
“Our stake in Big River Resources is one more way we’re giving our member companies and the farmers we represent a competitive edge in the global grain market,” said Matt Lurkins, GROWMARK Vice President of Grain and Strategic Relationships.
About GROWMARK
GROWMARK is an agricultural cooperative serving almost 400,000 customers across North America, providing agronomy, energy, facility engineering and construction, and logistics products and services, as well as grain marketing and risk management services. Headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois, GROWMARK owns the FS trademark, which is used by member cooperatives. More information is available at GROWMARK.com.
About Big River Resources
Big River Resources, LLC is a locally owned producer of high-quality agriculture feed and energy products. With its combined annual grind of 150 million bushels of US produced corn, the company produces 435 million gallons of fuel grade bioethanol. Additionally, from that corn, more than one million tons of high-protein distiller grain and 60,000 tons of corn oil is returned to the feed and products stream. More information is available at BigRiverResources.com.