Excessive heat watch in effect through Sunday

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

A Texas climate technology company broke ground on a new 500,000 square-foot chemical plant in Marshall on Thursday. 

Solugen turns corn sugar into chemicals typically made from fossil fuels. 

Solugen CEO and co-founder Gaurab Chakrabarti said the technology is transformative in sustainable decarbonization efforts. 

“This is a belief that we do believe the world should have sustainable products,” Chakrabarti said. “And this is our example of a commitment to getting there.”

The biomanufacturing plant will be called Bioforge Marshall. It will partner with the ADM corn processing in Marshall, which will provide the corn sugar that Solugen processes into chemicals already used in packaging, construction, food, medicine, fertilizer, water treatment and cosmetics.

Currently, the plant is being built on a 34-acre parcel next to ADM’s existent corn processing complex. Mark Wirkus, vice president of global management food and texturants at ADM, said sustainability is something the company values through its partnership with Solugen. 

Wirkus added by providing the corn sugar, Solugen will develop its current line of lower carbon organic acids to develop new molecules to replace existent fossil fuel-based materials. 

“Now this is another step where we work even closer together with an over-the-fence project,” Wirkus said. “But the future is also very bright, this can go to a lot bigger steps. So you know, we're very optimistic about it. And I think this is a great project to work with Solugen on.”

Solugen is investing between $250-320 million into the Marshall site and plans to open in fall 2025. The plant is expected to employ 100 people during construction and have more than 50 manufacturing jobs after reaching full production. Marshall will house three production lines that’ll have a total production capacity of about 120 kilo tonnes of product each year. 

City officials were optimistic about the economic impact that the new plant could have on the different sectors in Marshall with its construction. 

“As a community deeply rooted in agriculture and innovation, we warmly welcome Solugen to Marshall,” said Mayor Bob Byrnes. “We appreciate Solugen’s commitment to sustainable development, job creation, and diversifying our industrial base. ADM’s continued investment in Marshall has made opportunities like this possible. We look forward to strengthening these partnerships and advancing our mission of economic vitality and community well-being.” 

Minnesota News

Environmental News

NewsPartners

Homepage

Hannah Yang

Author

The biomanufacturing plant will turn corn sugar into chemicals already used in packaging, construction, food, medicine, fertilizer, water treatment and cosmetics.

Climate technology company breaks ground for new Marshall plant

Go Deeper.

Like this?