Clinton, Wisconsin-based
The DeLong Co. held a grand opening celebration Tuesday for the $40 million agricultural maritime export facility that it has built at
Port Milwaukee.
Representatives from the company joined city, state and federal officials, who got a look at the completed facility for the first time.
The new facility, located on the west side of Jones Island, is one of the first on the Great Lakes — St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS) system to handle various agricultural commodities via truck, rail, and international vessel, including distillers’ dried grain with solubles (DDGs). DDGs are an animal feed supplement derived as a byproduct of ethanol high in nutrients. The export facility opens Wisconsin’s maritime and agricultural economies to new international markets for this and other products.
The facility is expected to have a $60 million annual impact on the state's economy.
“Wisconsin’s agriculture industry will have a new resource right here in Milwaukee to move their products not only to markets around the state but throughout the entire globe,” said
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
The export facility includes rail and truck gravity dump hoppers connected to a conveyor system to transport the material into a fabric storage building. Inside the building, a reclaim system conveys product to be loaded into bulk material cargo vessels or barges. Vertical storage structures will be added to handle soybeans and other grain in the future. The facility has a storage capacity of 30,000 metric tons of DDGs, or 45,000 metric tons of soybeans, and an annual export capacity 400,000 metric tons.
The facility successfully loaded its first vessel of Wisconsin-produced DDGs, made from corn, back in June.
Financing for the project included $15.9 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation, $9.5 million from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, $5.7 million from Port Milwaukee and $8.8 million from The DeLong Co.
“This (used to be) an aging, under-utilized structure here on the island,” said
Jackie Carter, director of Port Milwaukee. “Over five decades ago, it was built in anticipation of the opening of the Great Lakes — St. Lawrence Seaway. That marked new and exciting shipping opportunities for Port Milwaukee. This investment is about realizing new agricultural trade opportunities.”
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