The Greenfield Global ethanol plant in Winnebago has been for sale. Now it was announced that it will close on Monday, March 17 and future plans are unknown at this time.

The Greenfield Global plant in Winnebago is officially closing on March 17, Winnebago Economic Development Authority specialist Dave Schmidt shared in his staff report during the March 12 Winnebago EDA meeting.

“According to my sources, the prospective investors have pulled out, and the plant will be closing next Monday,” Schmidt explained. “The plant itself will eventually be sold off, and they’re trying to help everyone who will be out of a job find employment elsewhere, also by next Monday.”

Greenfield Global, an ethanol company based out of Canada, purchased its current Winnebago location, the 17th location of the company in North America, from previous plant owner Corn Plus in October of 2020 after its previous owners ceased operations in September of 2019.

The plant was officially reopened by Greenfield Global in December of 2021, employing 50 people at the height of its operation, many of them local to the Winnebago community.

The plant was put up for auction by Greenfield Global in January of 2025, and was still in operation at the time, with a staff of 48.

“It’s a shame to see the ethanol plant shut down,” EDA member Paul Eisenmenger remarked. “That’s going to put a lot of people out of a job, and it’s a big blow to Winnebago as well. That kind of business won’t be an easy thing to replace, even if the plant does sell.”

Schmidt announced during the meeting that he will be stepping away from his role as EDA specialist for Winnebago. Schmidt has recently taken on more duties with CEDA (Community and Economic Development Associates).

“With recent staffing changes in the region, I’m no longer able to dedicate the appropriate time to Winnebago,” Schmidt said. “I’ll still be around to assist with projects in the city and will help out as much as I can, but I will no longer be your primary EDA representative.”

Taking Schmidt’s place will be EDA specialist Macey Becker, who has been with CEDA since October of 2024. Originally coming from Granada, Minnesota, Becker will be filling in as the EDA specialist for Winnebago until previous EDA specialist, Jennifer Howard, returns from her deployment in September.

An update on the Winnebago Hearts project was presented to the EDA by Schmidt.

“We were notified earlier this month that we did not receive the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council grant, but they are also offering a smaller grant this summer that we can apply for,” Schmidt related. “We have not yet heard from the Community Change grant, but that decision is scheduled to come out some time this month as well.”

Schmidt also brought forward an update on the Marketplace Foods grants.

“We are still waiting on a determination regarding the Greater Food Access Program Grant, but that notification is scheduled for this month, so the hope is that we hear back from them soon,” Schmidt shared. “We’re also working with USDA on a Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant, which is due in late March. There’s limited funding for that grant, however, and it will be highly competitive.”

EDA member Doug Hill raised a question asking what the REAP grant money would be used for regarding Marketplace Foods.

“What’s the REAP grant money going to be used for?” Hill asked. “As far as I’m aware, there isn’t anything associated with that project that would require a grant like that.”

“The REAP grant money will be used to purchase new equipment for the store,” Schmidt responded. “Their old equipment has passed the end of its useable lifespan, and needs to be replaced in order to cut energy costs. I believe their energy bill last summer was close to $5,000 due to needing to run the air conditioning in their store to offset the heat generated by faulty equipment.”

Eisenmenger inquired as to whether Marketplace Foods would be installing solar panels on their roof, and whether any grant money could be obtained to assist with that construction.

“Are there any plans for Marketplace Foods to install solar panels on their roof?” Eisenmenger asked. “There are a bunch of companies applying for energy grants right now that would fund a project like that, and they could sell the excess power they generate back to the company. They could even get a rebate.”

“That’s a good idea, but I imagine the energy companies won’t be too fond of that suggestion,” Hill replied. “They see solar-generated power as competition, and some companies won’t buy back excess power generated by solar panels.”

“Actually, the energy companies would have no say in that matter, outside of influencing whether the panels are built in the first place,” Schmidt countered. “The company is required by law to purchase any excess energy generated by solar panels in the community. If anything, it could be an extra revenue stream for the city.”

EDA president Jean Anderson brought forward the subject of creating a priority plan, and announced her intention to discuss the issue at the upcoming City Council meeting later that night.

“I agree with Jean that it’s a lot easier to plan for future expenses and projects when a plan and schedule is in place ahead of time,” Schmidt commented. “This is why it’s crucial that we start working on a priority plan, and sooner rather than later.”

Hill suggested that a possible avenue for developing Winnebago could be in expanding the housing options available to the community.

“Winnebago is a bedroom community – most people who live here work outside of town,” Hill said. “Our local rent properties are entirely full, and I’ve heard from some of the people in Mankato that those big low-income housing apartments fill up completely before they finish construction. We could easily make use of some of the open lots here to build one of those.”

“Contracting someone to build low-income housing here might be tricky, but we have something that bigger cities don’t – space and demand,” Eisenmenger added. “If our current rental properties are full, and people are willing to move here to be closer to work, we would likely have no problem convincing a contractor to build even a small eight-room housing block here.”

Further discussion of the topic was tabled, and a unanimous decision was reached to pass the creation of a priority plan forward for discussion and action under jurisdiction of the City Council.

Other topics of discussion at the meeting included:

• A RLF application made by Heartland Healthcare was unanimously approved. The loan will be for $18,629.01 at 4.25 percent interest for five years, with minimum monthly payments of $425.

• An update was provided regarding the upcoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) workshop, which is set for April 29. A motion was made and approved to send a poll out to the Winnebago community in order to determine the best time to hold the workshop that day.

• Schmidt provided an update on the proposed hosting of “Winnebago Night” at a Mankato Moondogs game. The idea was first brought before the EDA at their Feb. 12 meeting. A motion was made and approved to check with the Moondogs and see which dates are still available before deciding whether to proceed with the sale of tickets or not.