POET receives grant for rail project

COLUMBUS – The Ohio Rail Development Commission on Thursday approved a grant for $50,000 to POET Bioprocessing to support onsite rail expansion at its Fostoria plant, located at 2111 Sandusky St. A news release from the rail commission said POET's total investment is estimated at $2 million. The release said POET is the world's largest producer of biofuel and one of the world's top sustainable bioproducts manufacturers. The news release said the project by the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based company will implement direct railcar loading capabilities at the Fostoria location for distillers corn oil, which will allow the local plant to directly access renewable diesel markets in the southern part of the United States. At present, POET must truck their distillers' corn oil more than 40 miles to a transload facility to access rail transportation. More than 400 truck trips are required annually between Fostoria and the transload facility. The completion of the rail project will eliminate those trips, the release said. "We are grateful for the Ohio Rail Development Commission's assistance and partnership in our new onsite railcar loading project," said Karl Charron, general manager of POET-Fostoria. "This investment is critical to increasing the efficiency of our operations in a manner that is safe for our team members. We are proud to purchase locally grown corn to produce our bioethanol and distillers corn oil, and this new infrastructure will streamline our process even more." Matthew Dietrich, executive director of the Ohio Rail Development Commission, said: It is always our goal to work with local and state economic partners to promote investment and employment opportunities in Ohio. We are happy to support POET in their plans to streamline processes at the Fostoria facility. This projects POET's Fostoria facility logistics and increases safety by reducing truck traffic in the area. We look forward to their continued growth and success in the state."