On Monday evening, Epitome Energy announced that it’s chosen to move its Soybean Processing Facility from Crookston to Grand Forks due to delays from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) review of their permit applications, which could’ve delayed their 2025 opening and providing market benefits for farmers across Northwestern Minnesota.
Crookston Community Director Kari Kirschbaum said it was bad news for Crookston. “We’re obviously extremely sad that Epitome is going to North Dakota, but we understand that the North Dakota Pollution Control Agency is much more friendly than the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and it makes sense for that organization and the investors,” Community Director Kari Kirschbaum explained. “But, on the same part, it leaves a big hole for us, and we’re really sad to hear the news.”
The MPCA’s requirements would increase the costs for the operation of a plant in Crookston and require an application process of 9 to 12 months for minor plant modifications in the future. These requirements would delay the groundbreaking for the plant, which would put them at a competitive disadvantage and make them uncertain if they could meet the needs of farmers and adapt quickly to changing markets and technologies.
With Epitome’s departure, Crookston has 90 acres of land available for development on the south side of Crookston. “Now we have some land that is available. We are hopeful that we can place other entities in there, and you know, one door closes, another one opens,” City Administrator Corky Reynolds explained. “So, we hope that we can entice other businesses to come to our community, and now we have some land for them to be here.” No applicants have come forward about the land yet due to the news being so recent but reported he would meet with Epitome again to discuss having the land released and will begin searching for new entities who may be interested in relocating to the city for business.
With the company’s departure, the city has received $250,000 back from Epitome that it had granted the company for its project, which can now go into other projects around the city. Kirschbaum also noted that even though Epitome has moved away from Crookston, local farmers can still use the plant. “The farmers of Crookston will be able to use that facility as it is only a 20-minute drive over there. It will benefit our farmers, and as their land and sales increase, it will also increase our tax space,” Kari Kirschbaum explained. “We really want to support our farmers. We’ve had a couple of good years and a couple of challenging years, but I think we have some great farmers around Crookston and throughout Northwest Minnesota, and anything we can do in Crookston to support them, we would like to do that.”
