Midwest Fertilizer Company is planning to construct a $2.8 billion nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing plant in Mt. Vernon (Posey County) west of Evansville, Indiana, US. The plant will produce 2 million tons of urea ammonium, ammonia nitrate solution and diesel exhaust fluid yearly as soon as it becomes operational in 2018. The planned project is one of the biggest fertilizer investments in the United States in more than two decades.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) expects that the construction of Midwest Fertilizer plant is to have an economic impact of $425 million. At full employment, the firm’s operations are estimated to have a total economic impact of $138.6 million annually on state and local GDP while creating extra 550 jobs throughout the region to support the development of the project. The construction works are meant to support more than 2,500 jobs and, when finished, the plant will have created up to 185 permanent jobs.
The project was initially opposed by then-governor Mike Pence because one of the main investors was the Pakistani-based Fatima Group, who Mr. Pence thought to have had a link to roadside explosives in Afghanistan. However, new Governor Eric Holcomb re-assessed it and gave it the go-ahead. According to Greg Wathen, Director of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana, Mr. Holcomb said the project fits the overall direction of the state.
“From regional investments to our long-term plan for improving the state’s network of roads and bridges, Indiana is an active partner with the business community in supporting economic growth,” Governor Eric J. Holcomb commented and added that “I offer my enthusiastic support for Midwest Fertilizer’s plans to advance in southwest Indiana, and I look forward to seeing increased high-quality job opportunities for Hoosiers.”
