Peoria County's loss is Iowa's gain. It appears Illinois' financial picture prevented it from landing a huge fertilizer plant and its associated jobs. Nassef Sawiris is the C-E-O of Orascom Construction Industries, an Egyptian firm that is the parent company for Iowa Fertilizer Company. He says Illinois' bid for the plant was larger, but Iowa won out because of it's business climate
Sawiris says Iowa also benefited from the number of farmers in the state who could eventually use the products from Iowa Fertilizer Company. The $1.4 Billion plant brings with it 165 permanent, and about a thousand construction jobs. Peoria County is hoping to land some spin-off distribution investment from the Egyptian company.
Support Your Public Radio Station
