West Burlington, Iowa-based Big River Resources LLC, as majority owner, has joined forces with United Cooperative and Rumbold & Kuhn Inc. to form Big River United Energy LLC, which recently acquired the dry-mill Dyersville, Iowa, ethanol production facility.
The acquisition of the facility was led by United Cooperative. Big River Resources has been chosen to manage operations of the newly formed company.
The Dyersville ethanol location is scheduled to resume operations in the third quarter of 2009 and is one of the largest ethanol facilities in the United States. It produces 110 million gallons of ethanol per year,
processes approximately 39 million bushels of corn per year, and produces 350,000 tons of distillers grains annually.
The president and CEOs from the three investing companies, Raymond E. Defenbaugh, Big River Resources; David A. Cramer, United Cooperative; and Michael J. Rumbold, Rumbold & Kuhn, all have a common goal and the same vision about the future of the ethanol industry and believe the experiences and services each company brings to the table will provide for a successful infrastructure around the Dyersville ethanol production facility.
Big River Resources was formed as a cooperative and grew into a holding company structure. The cooperative began doing business in July 1992 with fuel and feed production objectives. Big River Resources currently has three subsidiaries: Big River Resources West Burlington,LLC; Big River Resources Galva LLC; and Big River Resources Grinnell LLC. These subsidiaries have facilities in West Burlington, Iowa; Monmouth, Ill.; Gerlaw, Ill.; Galva, Ill.; and Grinnell, Iowa; and consist of a 90 MMgy ethanol facility, a 100 MMgy ethanol facility and a 5.129 million-bushel capacity grain elevator. All are located on the Burlington Northern Railroad. The company has a 21-member board and employs 126 full-time team members. Big River Resources continues to fully evaluate growth as an option. Goals include providing rural community employment, increasing value of rural products and adding value to investor returns. For more information about Big River Resources LLC visit
www.bigriverresources.com.
Formed in 1936, Beaver Dam, Wisc.-based United Cooperative is a full-service cooperative offering feed, grain, agronomy and energy products and services to Wisconsin farmers and consumers. United
Cooperative employs more than 500 rural Wisconsin citizens and takes great pride in being a financially sound, American-owned cooperative. With state-of-the-art feed mill locations; more than 20 million bushels of grain storage; access to the Wisconsin Southern Railroad and Union Pacific railroad; more than 90,000 tons of liquid and dry fertilizer storage; fuel, lubricant, and propane facilities; and all the services and accommodations that accompany these features, United Cooperative is able to efficiently serve all its members’ needs. In addition, United Cooperative started investing in the ethanol industry in 2005. Today, it is the managing member of Milton, Wisc.-based United Ethanol LLC and is an active investor in Woodbury, Mich.-based Carbon Green BioEnergy. As a Big River United Energy investor, United Cooperative will have representation on the board of directors for the Dyersville facility. For more information about United Cooperative, visit
www.unitedcooperative.com.
Wyoming, Ill.-based Rumbold & Kuhn Inc. is a third generation family grain business that has operated for 57 years. Rumbold & Kuhn owns eight country facilities with a 20 million-bushel capacity. It is owned
and operated by five sons, one daughter and their mother and has 55 full-time staff members. Owners and employees alike maintain a proud tradition of customer service and a commitment to quality. Rumbold & Kuhn has been an investor in Big River Resources LLC since 2006 and has been involved in the ethanol industry for 10 years. For more information about Rumbold & Kuhn, Inc., visit
www.rkgrain.com.
