The plant, which covers 21 acres and is located at 36187 State Highway 30 in Ascension Parish south of Baton Rouge, is scheduled to come online in 2010. According to a spokesman with the Springdale, AR-based Tyson Foods, the plant will employe 45 people once its in operation and generate a payroll of more than $4 million a year. The spokesman also says that during construction, the plant will employ 250 full-time workers.

In conjunction with the plant, Tyson and its Tulsa, OK partner received capital funding of last summer of $100 million from Louisiana's GO Zone bonds. GO Zone, short for "Gulf Opportunity Zone," is part of the state's Gulf Opportunity Zone Act, which awards incentives for businesses seeking to set up shop in areas along Louisiana's gulf coast.

The $38 million balance is being funded through equity cash contributions in the form of $19 million per partner. L-Con Constructors, a Houston-based engineering and construction company, is the project's general contractor.

The spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that Tyson does have plans in the works to build similar plants. However, "we want to get this one up and running before we move forward on others," he adds.

The spokesman explains that Tyson has been involved in other renewable energy initiatives, most recently an alliance with Conoco Phillips in which beef fat, or tallow, would be trucked from a Tyson plant in Amarillo, TX to Conoco's refinery in Midland, TX to produce renewable diesel fuel. However, due to decreased tax credits, that project has been put on hold. "That's why we're trying to determine how we can proceed on other renewable projects in an economic fashion," the spokesman adds.