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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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Indeck Energy Services, Inc. of Buffalo Grove, Ill., and Homan Industries of Fulton, Miss., (“The Partners”), invite you to attend the ground breaking ceremony for Indeck Magnolia BioFuel Center wood pellet production plant on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 12:00 p.m., 1610 North Clark Avenue, Magnolia, MS, 39652.

Industries of Fulton, Mississippi (“The Partners”) announce that the ground breaking ceremony for the Magnolia BioFuel Center at the plant site in Magnolia, Mississippi. The Partners received the final air permit for the plant on September 5, from the State of Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. The Partners have pre-sold a significant quantity of the plants wood pellet production. The plant is expected to be in full commercial operation by September 1, 2009. Wood pellets are produced for residential and industrial use. Residential pellets have less than 1% ash and are therefore the premium grade product while industrial pellets may contain more wood bark and therefore up to 3% ash. The plant will be able to produce either grade of pellets. Wood pellets offer significantly lower energy cost as compared to the cost of fuel oil, propane, or natural gas. Wood pellet fuel is CO2 neutral. Pellets can be shipped either in-bulk or in 40 lb or 20 Kg bags by rail on the Canadian National Rail Way or by truck. The Company expects to make significant bulk and bagged sales to European markets. However, local and regional sales to both residential and industrial customers will be key to the long term success of this venture.

“Mississippi is proud to welcome Indeck Energy to Magnolia. This wood pellet mill is an important addition to the state’s energy mix and offers an alternative fuel source to replace a percentage of petroleum-based fuels in certain industrial and agricultural applications. This is another strong testament to our commitment to working with companies to make Mississippi a key energy state,” said Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

“We are pleased about Indeck’s investment in southwest Mississippi,” said Mississippi Development Authority executive director Gray Swoope. “The company brings technologies to the state which offer new uses for our renewable timber resources.”

Indeck Energy Services, Inc. is a privately held developer, owner and operator of renewable and conventional energy projects. As one of the few remaining privately held independent power producers, Indeck Energy has grown into a full-service company that offers biofuels production and electrical generation facilities. For more than 20 years, Indeck Energy has demonstrated the imagination, know-how and determination it takes to succeed in this ever-changing industry. Indeck Energy is dedicated to helping communities achieve energy independence using environmentally sound approaches. The company is headquartered in Buffalo Grove, IL. Homan Industries is a fifth generation forest Products Company headquartered in Fulton, Mississippi. There are six companies that comprise Homan Industries: Tri-State lumber Co., Homan Forest Products of Mississippi, Homan Forest Products of Alabama, Homan Wood Products, Homan Logistics, and American Cellulose Corp. These companies provide goods and services to the construction and paper industry throughout the continental United States.

For more information, please contact: Indeck Energy Services, Inc., Jim Thompson, Vice President Project Management 847.520.3212,

For information on buying wood pellets from the plant, please contact: Indeck Energy Services, Inc., Nunzio

Maniaci, Manager of Business Development 847.520.3212,

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.