Mt. Carmel Mayor Tom Meeks Thursday said the biodiesel project study grant announced by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is a big first-step in what he hopes will be much new development for Wabash County.

"This is tremendous," he said.

According to the mayor, City Economic Development Consultant Eric Gregg learned from state officials late Wednesday afternoon that the $90,000 grant funding from the Illinois Department of Agriculture's AgriFIRST program had been awarded for the feasibility study of a giant plant that could process some 27 million bushels of soybeans annually.

City officials learned about the business plan last November when Claude Wilson, president of Mid-America Biodiesel, LLC, Enfield, Ill., told Mt. Carmel city commissioners the group wants to conduct the feasibility study for constructing a biodiesel total process unit in Wabash County - a prospect that could bring jobs, tax revenue, and some relief for the area's high unemployment figures.

Joining Wilson for that presentation were Lisa Bute Michels, vice-president of Mid-America Biodiesel, plus Mt. Carmel resident and former city commissioner Jim Pfeister, who was introduced as treasurer of the company. Also attending was Kim Watson, from the state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Pfeister told the Daily Republican Register Thursday that the announcement of study funding is "a big deal" for Mt. Carmel and Wabash County, and that "a tremendous amount of planning will be done in the months ahead."

"This is a giant first-step, and I am pleased to see it happen," Pfeister said.

In November, company president Wilson said the firm would provide upwards of 100 jobs; jobs of the magnitude to support a family, he noted. Construction and building phases of the project could employ 500 to 1,000 people, he estimated.

Though the company did not disclose where it's looking to build in Wabash County, spokespersons did say the location would be outside Mt. Carmel's Enterprise Zone locations; would need access to a railway system; and would require an aquifer for well drilling. The process would require plenty of water, Wilson indicated.

A company news statement said the "ideal site will also need to be close to a state highway."

Biodiesel, as explained by the company, "is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources." It's made with soybeans, and is "blended" with petroleum diesel - making the biodiesel blend - for use in diesel engines.