Make wishtv.com your home page

Ag company to build plant in Rushville, up to 250 jobs expected

RUSHVILLE, Ind. (WANE) — A Switzerland based company has announced plans to build a production facility in Rushville.

The effort was expected to create up to 250 jobs. 

Cormo USA Inc., which uses technology to turn cornfield waste into sustainable products, plans to have the plant up and running by the end of 2023.

The company, which was incorporated as a joint venture between Switzerland-based Cormo AG and Florida-based Sustainable Projects Group Inc. in 2018, will invest approximately $29.5 million to establish what will be its first U.S. production plant in Indiana.

The new facility, which the company plans to break ground on this summer, will process maize straw from up to 150,000 acres of cornfields each year into a 100 percent sustainable peat moss substitute for agricultural uses and into foam products for material science uses. This patented process has been used at the company’s pilot plant in France since 2016. 

To support its growth, Cormo USA plans to begin hiring for plant operations and management positions in the next three to four months, with additional positions added in logistics, scientific testing and marketing in 2020. New positions are expected to offer average salaries 50 percent above the state’s average wage. 

Rushville is about 30 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

“This is an extraordinary addition to the Rush County community,” said Rushville Mayor Mike Pavey.  “We have world-class manufacturing in Rushville, yet Rush County is an agricultural county. Cormo USA will add an agricultural piece to those world-class operations. They not only benefit the employment base of the county, but will also offer income opportunities to Rush County farmers as well as farmers in surrounding counties.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. plans to offer Cormo USA up to $3.5 million in conditional tax credits, according to the Associated Press.