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Within a week, the Great Lakes Sugar Co.
could have new owners, a development that might result in the
return of molasses production at the Fremont plant on North
Front Street.
The Blissfield Sugar Beet Growers
Association plans to officially announce the buyout of the
Michigan Sugar Co., which owns four Michigan sugar plants, one
in Findlay and another in Fremont.
"The buyout has been OK'd,"
said Ron Cousino, president of the Blissfield Sugar Beet
Growers Association. "They offered it to us growers about
a year and a half ago. It just took that long to get it done.
"We hope to have it done within a
week," Cousino said of the formal announcement.
"We'd like to get contracts out to growers within that
time. We were getting worried about the time."
The Blissfield Sugar Beet Growers
Association has about 67 contract holders, according to its
Web site, who produce 0.15 percent of the U.S. beets. In 1998
they harvested 2,469 acres of beets, or roughly 48,958 tons of
beets.
The Michigan Sugar Co. is a subsidiary of
Imperial Sugar Co. and is the producer of Pioneer Sugar, which
is sold primarily in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.
Michigan Sugar is the largest beet sugar
processor east of the Mississippi River and the only
American-owned beet sugar processor in Michigan, according to
its Web site.
The company filed bankruptcy since
negotiations with the growers association began.
Cousino does not foresee any major
changes in the company's operations.
"We hope to keep everything kind of
in place like it was," Cousino said. "In the long
run we hope to do some changes, but we have to get our feet
wet."
One possible change could involve
operations at the Fremont plant.
"It's a possibility to open that
molasses plant (in Fremont)," Cousino said.
The local plant turned to molasses
operations in the 1990s in an effort to remain profitable as
local beet acreage diminished. Eventually, however, Great
Lakes Sugar Co. stopped processing beets in 1996 and area
farmers lost contracts. The Fremont plant has continued to
operate as a distribution site.
Beet acreage in Sandusky County has
dropped precipitously since processing stopped at the Fremont
plant, with only a handful of growers still actively involved
because of the need to transport the beets to plants in
Michigan.
Cousino said it is too early to tell if
or how the buyout could affect beet growers in the county or
jobs at the local plant.
Mike Jay, economic development director,
said he has been keeping an eye on the bankruptcy situation
with Michigan Sugar Co.
"There's always been some glimmer of
hope that the plant here would re-open," Jay said.
He had not heard about the buyout
Wednesday afternoon.
"Over the years, we've talked quite
considerably with the Michigan sugar beet growers," Jay
said. "Ever since the closing, there have been ongoing
talks by somebody that would involve the plant here."
"The re-opening of the molasses
processing would be a very good thing for the city," Jay
said.
The name of the company will change to
Michigan Sugar Inc. and it will become a co-op with every
grower being a member.
"They'll have to put some money into
it to be a member," Cousino said, adding that growers may
like working for themselves instead of a large company. The
association is a cooperative of growers who share the expenses
and profits.
"I believe this is what they growers
want," said Cousino, who farms 1,200 acres, including 100
of sugar beets. "I think it's positive thing."
Jay said the buyout could be a positive
move for the sugar beet industry.
"The sugar beet industry is a
complex industry," he said. "I think if the growers
had ownership in it, there'd be a greater chance for success.
"There could be a trust element that
was lacking before (between the business man and
growers)."
The Fremont plant was built in 1900 by
Continental Sugar Co. Although sugar beets were at times very
profitable for area growers, the plant here had a roller
coaster history, closing in 1914 and 1982 because of a lack of
beets. It was purchased by Michigan Sugar Co. in 1985, but
operations remained uncertain until processing ceased in 1996.
Contact staff writer Amber Edds at
334-1058 or aedds@fremont.gannett.com. |