“Today, we’re celebrating the startup of our molasses desugarization facility, a project nearly four years in the making and the single largest capital investment made in the history of our company.
It is fitting that we are gathered here today on the cusp of the month of August. It's one of the most important months of the year for our cooperative. August often signals the startup of our sugar beet processing facilities located here in Bay City, as well as Caro, Croswell, and Sebewaing, and it typically marks the beginning of another sugar beet harvest for our 865 grower-owners.
It's also in this place that, in August of 1901, work was underway to construct the factory you see in the distance at a hefty cost of $350,000, which is 13 million in today's dollars. If we were to build a sugar beet facility today, it would cost about a billion dollars. Organizers of the German American Farmers Cooperative Beet Sugar Company had big dreams of how sugar beets could power the local economy in the post-lumbering era of this region's history. Little did they know that more than 120 years later, sugar beets would remain a sweet driver of our economy. Today, Michigan Sugar Company employs more than 1000 year round employees, 1100 seasonal workers, and we pay wages of nearly $90 million dollars each year with a $600 million a year impact on the local economy.
Now, with the startup of our molasses desugarization facility, things are about to get even sweeter.”
—Rob Clark, Senior Director of Communications and Community Relations, Michigan Sugar
“This is a bottle of the first sugar extracted from the original MDS plant in 1999, and a whole lot more will be coming out of this plant.
Making a decision to approve the expenditure of $109 million is no small task and the region sees the impact of that here today. Words cannot really properly express the level of commitment our Board of Directors has shown to this project. They understood from the beginning not only the historic nature of the project, but its importance in moving our cooperative forward and preserving this industry for our children and grandchildren.
I want to build on that. This company has a legacy of over 120 years of existence, and it'll be here another 120 years from now if we take care of it and are good stewards of the industry. This project puts us in a leadership position in the industry: we have the highest capacity to process molasses of any of our competition with fourth generation technology of this process. It really is a stake in the ground and a big step forward for our company.
Today, we celebrate the startup of the single largest investment in our company's history: our new molasses desugarization facility in Bay City, Michigan. Standing at 22,000 square feet, this facility will allow Michigan Sugar Company to process 100% of our molasses that we produce each year as a co-product of sugar extraction. It puts us on the bleeding edge of our industry in terms of capacity and technology. Previously, we were only able to process between 50 and 60% of our molasses, but this new facility will enable us to produce an additional 80 million pounds of each year without planting another sugar beet. Over a ten-year span, that will return, on average, $18 million annually to our grower-owners.
This facility has been built with 4866 cubic yards of concrete, 766 tons of structural steel, 10.4 miles of piping, 3400 feet of cable tray, 18 miles of cable wire, 760 instruments, 2475 valves, 109 motors, 93 pumps, and 3000 feet of fiber optic cable. 160,000 man hours with no lost time incidents, which is a remarkable accomplishment. All of the contractors involved in construction did a world class job for us.
This project was made possible through excellence in planning, execution, and teamwork. I’m just so proud of the team and of everybody pulling together and getting this thing done.”
—Neil Juhnke, President & CEO, Michigan Sugar
“80 million more pounds of sugar are added to our annual production with this molasses desugarization facility in Bay City. We don't have to grow another acre of sugar beets to accomplish that. The equipment we have doesn't burn any more fuel. We're not out doing more spraying for pests and disease to control our beet fields. This is sustainability for our resources and for Michigan Sugar as a company as we lookward to the future generations to come.”
—Jim Roggenbuck, Co-op Board Chairman, Michigan Sugar Company
“We call this project in Bay City ‘The Big One’ because it truly moves the economic needle economically for our company. It brings home another 80 million pounds of sugar a year without putting another beet in the ground. As I stand here today, I can't properly express the level of pride and gratitude I have for our company, our shareholders, our employees, our extended families and the communities that we serve, and all those who played a part in making this facility a reality. This new plant is more than just a place of production, but it's a symbol of innovation, efficiency and progress.
—Nick Klein, Vice President of Operations, Michigan Sugar
“Michigan Sugar has continued to demonstrate commitment, leadership, and major economic impact to our community with the startup of this exciting, substantial, and transformational capital investment. As one of Bay County's top employers, it is the largest sugar beet processor east of the Mississippi. The impact of this project will have a ripple effect throughout Bay County, the Great Lakes Bay Region, the state of Michigan, and beyond. This investment will provide both direct and indirect benefits across businesses and to community members who called Bay County and our region home. Bay Future had the pleasure of working in partnership with the team at Michigan sugar, along with Monitor Township officials and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to make this project a reality. From identifying support programs, coordinating project meetings and discussions, and negotiating support and agreements,
This project speaks to the importance of positive, working relationships between private business entities and public units of government, as well as the role that economic development organizations like Bay Future play in facilitating those relationships and implementing those long-term business friendly strategies that produce investments like we're celebrating today. I am personally and professionally thankful for Michigan Sugar Company and their leadership, and for their long standing financial investment and economic development in Bay County. I'm also honored that Bay Future was able to assist in securing this awesome project in Bay City. It's only through partnership that we can make these types of projects happen to positively impact our economic growth and vitality.”
—Jim Reaume, President & CEO, Bay Future Inc.
“Michigan Sugar has continued to demonstrate commitment, leadership, and major economic impact to our community with the startup of this exciting, substantial, and transformational capital investment. As one of Bay County's top employers, it is the largest sugar beet processor east of the Mississippi. The impact of this project will have a ripple effect throughout Bay County, the Great Lakes Bay Region, the state of Michigan, and beyond. This investment will provide both direct and indirect benefits across businesses and to community members who called Bay City, Bay County, and our region home. Bay Future had the pleasure of working in partnership with the team at Michigan sugar, along with Monitor Township officials and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to make this project a reality. From identifying support programs, coordinating project meetings and discussions, and negotiating support and agreements,
This project speaks to the importance of positive, working relationships between private business entities and public units of government, as well as the role that economic development organizations like Bay Future play in facilitating those relationships and implementing those long-term business friendly strategies that produce investments like we're celebrating today. I am personally and professionally thankful for Michigan Sugar Company and their leadership, and for their long standing financial investment and economic development in Bay County. I'm also honored that Bay Future was able to assist in securing this awesome project in Bay County. It's only through partnership that we can make these types of projects happen to positively impact our economic growth and vitality.”
—Jim Reaume, President & CEO, Bay Future Inc.
