Biodiesel Company Chooses Livingston

Livingston, Ala., has landed a $75 million project that will produce biodiesel ethanol. The plant is set to open in a former plywood mill in the town's South Industrial Park.

"It will employ up to 150 people, I believe," said Livingston city administrator Johnny Meadows.

Meadows said the venture will also create a number of other jobs and revenue for the area as well.

"It's gonna be more revenue, I guess, for retail," Meadows said. "You're gonna have more retail coming in here and you've got better wages and good wages."

However, at this time, Meadows said the exact pay scale for the plant is unknown.

As for why Livingston was chosen as the site, Meadows said it was largely because of what the proposed site had to offer.

The old mill has 215,000 square feet and nine rail cars. Aside from the amount of space it has, officials say it was likely the building's access to the railroad which caused this site to be chosen.

With work set to begin within a month on preparing the plant, Meadows said it's expected to be open within six months. Initially he says the plant will hire anywhere from 35 to 50 people. However, he says there is good reason to believe that once open, the plant will expand.

"I think all of their capacity to my understanding is sold and they're already talking about expansions," Meadows said. "So, I think this is the correct industry to be in. This seems to be the wave of the future and I believe it's something that can only grow."