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[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]

    Archer Daniels Midland Co. was awarded tax benefits from the Iowa’s High Quality Jobs Creation program to build a $542 million ethanol plant in Cedar Rapids. With an annual production capacity of 275 million gallons, the new plant will create 78 jobs at an average wage of $22.71 per hour.

    After completion in March 2008, the new dry corn-milling ethanol plant will provide a market for more than 100 million bushels of corn per year, or roughly 275,000 bushels per day.

    ADM is increasing its capital investment for the Cedar Rapids plant from the $348 million that it announced on May 10. The company operates an ethanol plant in Cedar Rapids, along with facilities that produce high fructose corn syrup used by the food and beverage industry.

    JRS Pharma, a wholly owned subsidiary of J. Rettenmaier & Sohne of Germany, was awarded enterprise zone tax benefits to construct a $15 million plant in southwest Cedar Rapids to manufacture micro-crystalline cellulose.

    The non-active ingredient is used as a binder in pharmaceutical tablets and pills.

    The plant, to be constructed adjacent to its sister company, J. Rettenmaier USA LP at 725 41st Ave. Dr. SW, will create 10 jobs paying an average wage of $18.67 per hour.

    JRS Pharma has another Cedar Rapids plant at First Street and Eighth Avenue SW that will continue to produce the cellulose ingredient.

    Clipper Windpower, 4401 Bowling St. SW, was awarded enterprise zone tax benefits for a further manufacturing expansion that will create 10 jobs paying an average wage of $20.14 per hour.

    Clipper Windpower is increasing production capacity from 250 to 500 wind turbines per year to handle additional orders for its technology. The company last Friday announced an alliance with BP Alternative Energy, a unit of British Petroleum.

    Clipper Windpower and BP Alternative Energy said they plan to jointly develop 2,105 megawatts of wind energy projects already planned by Clipper in New York, Texas and South Dakota over five years. They also announced that BP has secured orders for up to 2,250 megawatts of Clipper wind turbines through its global wind power investments.