Just a few months after POET Bioprocessing – Ashton celebrated its 20th anniversary in the spring of 2024, the plant and its surrounding northwest Iowa communities were hit with massive flooding.
Six inches of rain pummeled the area on a Friday night in June, creating a major flood event for an already waterlogged region. The plant was underwater, and the night shift team members who’d been monitoring the facility were safe but unable to leave the plant on Saturday morning.
Roads leading in and out of the town were submerged, isolating the facility from help. Despite the overwhelming circumstances, the team acted quickly to keep themselves safe as well as protect critical equipment and minimize damage.
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With high water levels not allowing anyone to enter or leave the plant grounds, the team members were stranded. That’s when General Manager Terry Hurlburt hopped in a kayak with a backpack full of McDonald’s. “We knew the team had been at the plant for 16 to 17 hours at that point with no way in or out. We figured they would be hungry, so we came up with a creative way to get them some food,” Hurlburt said.
In the aftermath of the flood, the plant experienced an unplanned five-day outage. All 42 team members assisted in the messy, strenuous job of cleaning up. Whether pumping water, removing mud, ripping up flooring, or replacing damaged equipment, “Everyone pitched in where needed,” said Hurlburt, who has been with POET for eight years. “Job titles and roles went away, and we all did what we needed to move forward. Our recovery and response were great and showed how dedicated our team is.”
More than a slogan
The creativity, resiliency, and teamwork demonstrated during the flood have always been hallmarks of POET Bioprocessing – Ashton. Hurlburt and the rest of the management team — Plant Manager Joe Stephenson, Quality Manager Bethany Groon, and Maintenance Manager Doug Heibult — are proud of the plant’s “all hands on deck” culture.
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Terry Hurlburt bringing lunch to team members stranded at the plant during the flood
Stephenson, who switched from the soybean sector to the bioprocessing sector when he joined POET as Ashton’s plant manager two years ago, was immediately impressed by the environment. “All departments and levels of team members support each other. Our lab team will help run samples if our operations team is shorthanded. Our operations team will help load corn oil trucks if needed. If there is a problem to be solved, the teams get together, pool their knowledge, and collectively solve those problems.”
“A lot of companies claim this is their culture, but at POET, it’s not just a slogan. It’s what we do,” said Stephenson.
The results of this approach have been positive for the plant and its customers, with annual production of 60 million gallons of bioethanol, 140,000 tons of distillers grains, and 10,000 tons of distillers corn oil. Production has
incrementally increased over the years to match improvements in plant reliability and overall uptime.
The improvements in reliability can be attributed to upgrading to more modern equipment as well as switching to a more dependable vendor to maintain the plant’s on-site natural gas turbine. The natural gas turbine, which was built and is owned by POET, is a feature unique to the Ashton facility.
“A lot of our technology has improved, and we are pretty advanced these days,” said Heibult, who grew up seven miles from the plant and remembers when it was built; he started as an operator two years later in 2006. “Our turbine, which provides 90 percent of the power for this plant, has gotten more reliable. We hardly ever have power failures. Through improved maintenance practices we are also able to predict problems a lot earlier and troubleshoot a lot better." Another advantage of the turbine is not having to slow or shut down during peak energy alerts because it runs on natural gas.
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Spring 2024 flooding at POET – Ashton
Besides the turbine, other innovations at POET Bioprocessing – Ashton have occurred in the grain fermentation space. “We’ve been involved in rolling out different yeast and enzyme technologies that make fermentation
more efficient and robust,” said Hurlburt. “Innovation is important to us because it helps us keep our competitive advantage.”
Supporting the community
Another hallmark of POET – Ashton is its support for local farmers and its strong connections to its neighboring communities: Ashton (population 439), Sheldon (population 5,400), and Sibley (population 2,700).
Two members of the management team — Heibult and Groon — grew up on family farms. Groon finds it especially rewarding to be of value to local farmers. “Growing up, I saw the struggle for small farmers to keep up. Then, bioethanol started to offer another avenue for farmers to market their grain. It’s been very lucrative and helpful for farms like the one in my family.”
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Groon has been with POET since 2011 and in her current role as quality manager for 10 years. Prior to this summer’s flood, she recalls a flood in 2018 that was similar in scope and damage to the plant. Through natural disasters and other challenges, the plant has emerged stronger. “Things happen, and the only thing you can control is how you react to it,” Groon said. “Are you going to bounce back or fall apart? Falling apart is not an option. You take it step by step — what you can control, what you can fix.”
Groon heads the plant’s Community Involvement Committee, which facilitates the selection process for local recipients of the POET Community Impact Grant Program. While the grants support a variety of causes, the majority of POET – Ashton’s donations go toward supporting youth and first responders in Ashton, Sheldon, and Sibley, where most of its team members live. Recent grants funded a drone with heat-seeking and night-vision capabilities for a county emergency response office and aided in the purchase of a new ladder truck for a local fire department.
In addition to the plant’s financial contributions, many team members donate their time and talents to support their communities. Team members participate in parades, represent POET at school and job fairs, coach local youth sports teams, volunteer to clean up highways and parks, and more.
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Joe Stephenson, Terry Hurlburt, Bethany Goon, and Doug Heibult at POET Bioprocessing - Ashton
“We just want people to know that we’re here and we care about the community,” Groon said. “Anything they need, we’re here and willing to help.”
The story of POET – Ashton is one of unwavering determination, creativity, and community spirit. The team’s commitment to each other, their work, and their community reflects a culture where everyone pitches in and supports one another.
“When faced with adversity, this team never shies away from doing the right thing,” said Hurlburt. “We don’t just weather the storm; we emerge stronger, ready to take on whatever comes next.”
