South Bend-based New Energy Corporation, which runs Indiana's oldest ethanol
plant, has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
New Energy made the filing in a federal bankruptcy court on
Friday.
According to court documents, the company says the amount it
can sell the ethanol it produces has been consistently less than the corn it
takes to make it since late 2011.
In October, New Energy says the Department of Energy, to
which the company owes approximately $33.3 million dollars, requested the
company sell its assets in bankruptcy. The company says the DOE agreed to the
Chapter 11 filing in order to maximize the value of the company in a sale. A
Chapter 11 filing allows the company to restructure.
The company says it has taken several steps to try and get
back to profitability, including cutting its workforce from 126 to 90 in June
2011, cutting payroll by 20% in July of 2012, to buying ethanol instead of
making it to meet customer commitments.
The South Bend
plant has been in operation since 1984. The company says it is capable of
producing 100 million gallons of ethanol a year.
