GOTHENBURG- Every bag of Frito-Lay corn chips sold west of the Mississippi River is made with corn grown in the Gothenburg area and processed at the town’s Frito-Lay plant. This is due to farmers learning how to grow food grade corn more than 20 years ago. Nate Wyatt, president of his community’s economic development organization, Gothenburg Improvement Co., recalled the Frito-Lay story last week to illustrate the collaborative, visionary risk-taking attitude that underpins Gothenburg’s capacity to attract big business.

Wyatt, a financial adviser at Flatwater Bank, said Gothenburg was in the groove last week when JWC Gburg LLC announced plans to build a $750 million plant to produce liquid fertilizer in Gothenburg. Wyatt said it’s tough to put a number like $750 million into perspective, but the investment by JWC Gburg LLC is just below the $900 million tax base of the Gothenburg Public Schools.

The liquid fertilizer plant will boost Gothenburg’s rank to the top three electrical consumers among Nebraska Public Power District’s heavyweight industrial customers. Delivering all that energy will require infrastructure improvements of nearly $100 million, NPPD President and CEO Tom Kent told a standing-room-only crowd at last week’s announcement. The plant is projected to be done within two years and will serve markets from Kansas to Colorado.

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