More ethanol plants coming

Raleigh company plans up to 20

A Raleigh company planning to build a $150 million ethanol production plant in rural Eastern North Carolina announced Wednesday that it wants to build as many as 20 more facilities on the East Coast.

Agri-Ethanol said it has lined up an investor that can help foot the bill. The company has finalized "a financing agreement with a substantial, international company of worldwide acclaim," chief executive Dave Brady said in a prepared statement.

Terry Ruse, chief operating officer of Agri-Ethanol, declined to release financial details of the agreement or the name of the investor. However, he said two more plants would be in North Carolina.

The company received $3 million in state funding for its previously announced plant, which is expected to open next year in Aurora, a Beaufort County town about 50 miles southeast of Greenville. The plant is projected to employ about 74 workers. Construction is scheduled to start in early September, Ruse said.

The financing agreement has prompted Agri-Ethanol to hire four new employees in the past two weeks at its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, Ruse said. By September, the company's corporate work force could reach 10.

Entrepreneurs have worked for two decades to build ethanol plants in Eastern North Carolina to boost the local economy.

Ethanol is made from grains, mostly corn, and mixed with gasoline to reduce emissions. The fuel alcohol has gained popularity since rising oil prices pushed gasoline into the $3-a-gallon range.