POET LLC

POET

Type	Private
Industry	bioethanol
Founded	1986
Headquarters	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Key people	Jeff Broin, Chairman & CEO Jeff Lautt, President & COO
Number of employees	1600+
Website	www.poet.com

Jeff Broin, Chairman & CEO

POET LLC is a U.S. biofuel company that specializes in the creation of bioethanol. The privately held corporation, which was originally called Broin Companies, is headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 2007, the Renewable Fuels Association named POET the largest U.S. ethanol producer, creating 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m³) of fuel per year. Currently, POET produces 1.7 billion gallons of ethanol per year.

POET operates 27 ethanol plants spread across Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota, and South Dakota. In 2007, the company received a US$80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the creation of a cellulosic ethanol production facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa. A grand opening was held for the facility on September 3rd, 2014. It is expected to produce 25 million gallons of ethanol per year from corncobs, leaves and husks provided by farmers in and around the area.

POET has also collaborated with other companies, including Deere & Co. and Vermeer Company, to develop manufacturing equipment for harvesting corn cobs used in ethanol production. Among its products in the process are distillers grains branded Dakota Gold, Inviz, and Voila.

The company traces its history to the family farm in Wanamingo, Minnesota where the Broins began producing ethanol in 1983. In 1986 it became commercial launching its flagship plant in Scotland, South Dakota in foreclosed ethanol plant under the corporate name Broin Farms which became Broin Companies.